Thursday, March 16
St. Louis, Mo.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
at
NCAA Championships
Mountain Hawks look to finish strong as NCAAs begin Thursday in St. Louis
3/13/2017 8:12:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
Lehigh NCAA Tournament Notes | Audio | Watch ESPN | NCAA Wrestling | Brackets announced
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BETHLEHEM, Pa.  – Lehigh sends seven wrestlers to the 87th NCAA Wrestling Championships at Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The Mountain Hawks are coming off their fourth consecutive second place finish at the EIWA Championships, where they had four finalists and a pair of individual champions.
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Five of Lehigh's seven qualifiers have wrestled in the NCAA Tournament previously, with senior Randy Cruz earning All-America honors with an eighth place finish last year and junior Darian Cruz reaching the podium with a seventh place finish in 2014 . Darian Cruz won his second straight EIWA title at 125 two weeks ago and earned the highest seed among Lehigh's qualifiers, coming in at No. 4. Sophomore Scott Parker is coming off a conference title at 133 and is seeded ninth.
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Lehigh finished 14th last year in New York and has crowned three All-Americans in three consecutive NCAA Tournaments. The Mountain Hawks will also be seeking their first top ten team finish since 2012.
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In the last six seasons, Lehigh has produced one NCAA champion, six NCAA finalists, and 17 All-Americans. The Mountain Hawks have had three or more All-Americans in five of the last six NCAA Championships, with a high of four in 2012.
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Junior Darian Cruz and sophomore Scott Parker won individual titles but Lehigh's bid to end Cornell's streak of team titles fell short as the 113th EIWA Championships wrapped up at Bucknell's Sojka Pavilion. The Mountain Hawks placed four wrestlers in the finals, splitting those finals bouts and finished with 117.5 points to finish in second place for the fourth straight year. Saturday's finals session began with Lehigh titles at the first two weight classes as Cruz won his second straight crown at 125 and Parker his first at 133. Cruz reached the finals behind two pins and a technical fall and used a pair of reversals plus riding time advantage to defeat American's Josh Terao 5-4 in the title bout at 125. Parker also had bonus wins in his first three bouts, with a pin and two major decisions before defeating Jeffrey Ott of Harvard 6-2 in the 133 finals.
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The Mountain Hawks extended their streak of consecutive seasons with at least one individual EIWA Champion to 18. Lehigh placed seven of 10 wrestlers, with six of the seven placing in the top three of their respective weight classes. The Mountain Hawks qualified seven wrestlers for the NCAA Championships. Senior Randy Cruz (141) and sophomore Ryan Preisch (174) joined Darian Cruz and Parker as finalists, but fell short in their finals bouts by identical 3-2 scores. Randy Cruz did pick up his 100th career victory with a 3-2 semifinal decision over Bucknell's Tyler Smith. Seniors Laike Gardner (149) and Doug Vollaro (285) both rebounded from semifinal losses to place third, while freshman Cole Walter placed eighth at 165 and eventually received an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament.
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Vollaro will be the first Mountain Hawk on the mats Thursday as he drew a pigtail round matchup at heavyweight against Zack Parker of Ohio. Darian Cruz will be next against Dylan Peters of UNI at 125.
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Cruz was one of five Lehigh qualifiers to earn top 16 seeds as he is seeded fourth at 125. Parker grabbed the No. 9 seed at 133, while Randy Cruz is 11th at 141. Gardner is seeded No. 10 at 149, while Preisch is seeded sixth at 174.
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Lehigh has the sixth most NCAA Champions (27) and the eighth most All-Americans (145) of all Division I wrestling programs. The Brown and White have never won the NCAA Team Championship, coming as close as second in 1939, third in 1965, 1979 and a tie for third in 2004.
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The Mountain Hawks finished 14th last year and will be looking to return to the top ten for the first time since finishing eighth in both 2011 and 2012. Penn State won last year's team title and five of the last six overall, but the Nittany Lions will be challenged by Oklahoma State and Ohio State among others.
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The 87th NCAA Championships get underway Thursday at 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT from Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The opening round will feature pigtail rounds and preliminaries. The three-day tournament concludes Saturday with the national finals set for 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT. Free live audio coverage of all of Lehigh's NCAA Tournament action can be heard for free at Lehighsports.com/watch, while information on ESPN's expansive video coverage is listed below.
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BETHLEHEM, Pa.  – Lehigh sends seven wrestlers to the 87th NCAA Wrestling Championships at Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The Mountain Hawks are coming off their fourth consecutive second place finish at the EIWA Championships, where they had four finalists and a pair of individual champions.
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Five of Lehigh's seven qualifiers have wrestled in the NCAA Tournament previously, with senior Randy Cruz earning All-America honors with an eighth place finish last year and junior Darian Cruz reaching the podium with a seventh place finish in 2014 . Darian Cruz won his second straight EIWA title at 125 two weeks ago and earned the highest seed among Lehigh's qualifiers, coming in at No. 4. Sophomore Scott Parker is coming off a conference title at 133 and is seeded ninth.
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Lehigh finished 14th last year in New York and has crowned three All-Americans in three consecutive NCAA Tournaments. The Mountain Hawks will also be seeking their first top ten team finish since 2012.
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In the last six seasons, Lehigh has produced one NCAA champion, six NCAA finalists, and 17 All-Americans. The Mountain Hawks have had three or more All-Americans in five of the last six NCAA Championships, with a high of four in 2012.
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Junior Darian Cruz and sophomore Scott Parker won individual titles but Lehigh's bid to end Cornell's streak of team titles fell short as the 113th EIWA Championships wrapped up at Bucknell's Sojka Pavilion. The Mountain Hawks placed four wrestlers in the finals, splitting those finals bouts and finished with 117.5 points to finish in second place for the fourth straight year. Saturday's finals session began with Lehigh titles at the first two weight classes as Cruz won his second straight crown at 125 and Parker his first at 133. Cruz reached the finals behind two pins and a technical fall and used a pair of reversals plus riding time advantage to defeat American's Josh Terao 5-4 in the title bout at 125. Parker also had bonus wins in his first three bouts, with a pin and two major decisions before defeating Jeffrey Ott of Harvard 6-2 in the 133 finals.
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The Mountain Hawks extended their streak of consecutive seasons with at least one individual EIWA Champion to 18. Lehigh placed seven of 10 wrestlers, with six of the seven placing in the top three of their respective weight classes. The Mountain Hawks qualified seven wrestlers for the NCAA Championships. Senior Randy Cruz (141) and sophomore Ryan Preisch (174) joined Darian Cruz and Parker as finalists, but fell short in their finals bouts by identical 3-2 scores. Randy Cruz did pick up his 100th career victory with a 3-2 semifinal decision over Bucknell's Tyler Smith. Seniors Laike Gardner (149) and Doug Vollaro (285) both rebounded from semifinal losses to place third, while freshman Cole Walter placed eighth at 165 and eventually received an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament.
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Vollaro will be the first Mountain Hawk on the mats Thursday as he drew a pigtail round matchup at heavyweight against Zack Parker of Ohio. Darian Cruz will be next against Dylan Peters of UNI at 125.
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Cruz was one of five Lehigh qualifiers to earn top 16 seeds as he is seeded fourth at 125. Parker grabbed the No. 9 seed at 133, while Randy Cruz is 11th at 141. Gardner is seeded No. 10 at 149, while Preisch is seeded sixth at 174.
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Lehigh has the sixth most NCAA Champions (27) and the eighth most All-Americans (145) of all Division I wrestling programs. The Brown and White have never won the NCAA Team Championship, coming as close as second in 1939, third in 1965, 1979 and a tie for third in 2004.
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The Mountain Hawks finished 14th last year and will be looking to return to the top ten for the first time since finishing eighth in both 2011 and 2012. Penn State won last year's team title and five of the last six overall, but the Nittany Lions will be challenged by Oklahoma State and Ohio State among others.
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The 87th NCAA Championships get underway Thursday at 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT from Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The opening round will feature pigtail rounds and preliminaries. The three-day tournament concludes Saturday with the national finals set for 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT. Free live audio coverage of all of Lehigh's NCAA Tournament action can be heard for free at Lehighsports.com/watch, while information on ESPN's expansive video coverage is listed below.
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| Event: | 87th NCAA Championships |
| Dates: | March 16-18, 2017 |
| Session 1: | Thursday, March 16, 11 a.m. (pigtail round, round of 32) |
| Session 2: | Thursday, March 16, 6 p.m. (round of 16 and wrestleback prelims) |
| Session 3: | Friday, March 17, 10 a.m. (quarterfinals and wrestlebacks) |
| Session 4: | Friday, March 17, 7 p.m. (semifinals and wrestlebacks) |
| Session 5: | Saturday, March 18, 10 a.m. (consolation semifinals and medal rounds – 3rd-8th) |
| Session 6: | Saturday, March 18, 7 p.m. (national finals) All session times listed are Central Daylight |
| Location | St. Louis, Mo. |
| Arena | Scottrade Center (22,000) |
| History: | Lehigh's best finish was second in 1939. The Mountain Hawks finished 14th last year with three All-Americans. Penn State is the defending team champion. |
| Television: | Sessions 1, 3 and 5 live on ESPNU (SE Dial Position 174/523 (HD), DirecTV channel 208). Sessions 2, 4 (semifinals) and 6 (finals) live on ESPN. |
| Radio: | None |
| Internet: | FREE live audio of all Lehigh matches at Lehighsports.com/watch Streaming video of entire tournament on ESPN3/WatchESPN. |
Players Mentioned
125
/ Men's Wrestling
141
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
133
/ Men's Wrestling
165/174
/ Men's Wrestling
285
/ Men's Wrestling
157/165
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