Friday, January 26
Blacksburg, Va.
7:00 PM
Lehigh University
at
Virginia Tech
No. 9 Lehigh continues road swing Friday at No. 10 Virginia Tech
1/24/2018 12:26:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
Match Notes | Video | Audio
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – No. 9 Lehigh returns to the road to take on No. 10 Virginia Tech Friday in a top-10 showdown at Cassell Coliseum. The Mountain Hawks went 1-1 on last week's trip to New York, suffering their first EIWA loss of the season 23-14 at Cornell before bouncing back with a convincing 30-6 win at Army West Point. Four Mountain Hawks went 2-0 in last weekend's action with senior Darian Cruz posting a pair of wins by major decision and junior Ian Brown, sophomore Jordan Kutler and freshman Jordan Wood also posting 2-0 marks. Virginia Tech is 10-2 on the season and is coming off a pair of road victories at Edinboro and Pitt last weekend.
The NCAA released the first of four Coaches' Panel rankings for the 2017-18 season on January 18. The final rankings will be one of the tools used as part of the selection process to determine the qualifiers for the NCAA Championships. A panel of coaches ranked the top 33 in each weight class with the Mountain Hawks well represented. Lehigh has wrestlers ranked in the top 33 in nine of 10 weight classes, led by senior Darian Cruz, who holds the top spot at 125. Three of Lehigh's wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in their respective weight classes, with junior Scott Parker and sophomore Jordan Kutler joining Cruz. Junior Ryan Preisch is not yet ranked by the coaches at 184 because he has not competed in more than a month.
Seven Mountain Hawks appear in the latest rankings by InterMat and Amateur Wrestling News, while eight are ranked by The Open Mat and six are ranked by FloWrestling. Three Mountain Hawks: senior Darian Cruz, junior Scott Parker and sophomore Jordan Kutler, are all ranked in the top 10 by all four outlets, with Cruz ranked no lower than second in any of the four polls. Freshmen Jordan Wood and Luke Karam are also ranked across the board. Junior Gordon Wolf appears in three polls along with junior Ryan Preisch. Junior Cortlandt Schuyler is ranked by The Open Mat while classmate Ian Brown is only ranked by AWN.
Lehigh has enjoyed a run of quality heavyweights under Pat Santoro, beginning with NCAA Champion and three-time All-American Zach Rey, All-American Max Wessell and last year Doug Vollaro, who reached the round of 12 in his senior campaign. Deferred freshman Jordan Wood has taken the reins at heavyweight and owns a 12-4 record and No. 12 ranking. Wood went 11-3 competing unattached in open tournaments last season, highlighted by a runner-up finish at the prestigious Midlands Championships. The Gilbertsville, Pa. native was Lehigh's Deferred Eligibility Wrestler of the Year last season. On the freestyle circuit, Wood was a Cadet World silver medalist in 2014 and represented the United States at the Junior World Championships in 2016.
Virginia Tech comes in ranked 10th with a 10-2 dual mark. The Hokies are coming off a 31-6 win at Pitt in their ACC opener on Sunday. Virginia Tech's losses have come at the hands of Missouri and Arizona State, with the loss to the Sun Devils coming in the finals of the Virginia Duals. Like Lehigh, Virginia Tech owns dual wins over Princeton and Edinboro. The Hokies finished sixth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in December. Six Hokies are ranked by InterMat, including three who are ranked in the top 10 at their respective weights: David McFadden (No. 4 at 165), Zack Zavatsky (No. 8 at 184) and Jared Haught (No. 2 at 197). Longtime Virginia Tech assistant Tony Robie is in his first season as the Hokies' head coach.
Lehigh will face Virginia Tech for the fifth time with the series knotted at two. The Hokies have won the last two meetings, including last year's dual at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall and the only other previous meeting in Blacksburg in 2011.
Lehigh and Virginia Tech both competed at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic, with Mountain Hawk and Hokie wrestlers crossing paths nine times on Nov. 12. Mountain Hawk wrestlers won three of those nine bouts, with Scott Parker beating Dennis Gustafson and Ryan Preisch topping Zack Zavatsky, with both wins coming in sudden victory. Jordan Kutler also beat Cody Hughes by major decision.
Friday's match is set for a 7 p.m. start from Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va. The match will be streamed on ACC Network Extra, while audio coverage will be available on ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley (1230/1320/1160-AM) and ESPNLV.com.
Lehigh will be off from competition next weekend and will return to action with a trip to No. 9 Arizona State on Friday February 9. It will mark the Mountain Hawks' first dual against the Sun Devils since the 2011 Journeymen Northeast Duals and Lehigh's first visit to Tempe, Ariz. since 2007. Match time is set for 9 p.m. ET (7 p.m. MST) from Wells Fargo Arena. Following the trip to ASU, Lehigh will close out the dual season with home duals against Oklahoma (Feb. 16) and Pitt (Feb. 18).
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – No. 9 Lehigh returns to the road to take on No. 10 Virginia Tech Friday in a top-10 showdown at Cassell Coliseum. The Mountain Hawks went 1-1 on last week's trip to New York, suffering their first EIWA loss of the season 23-14 at Cornell before bouncing back with a convincing 30-6 win at Army West Point. Four Mountain Hawks went 2-0 in last weekend's action with senior Darian Cruz posting a pair of wins by major decision and junior Ian Brown, sophomore Jordan Kutler and freshman Jordan Wood also posting 2-0 marks. Virginia Tech is 10-2 on the season and is coming off a pair of road victories at Edinboro and Pitt last weekend.
The NCAA released the first of four Coaches' Panel rankings for the 2017-18 season on January 18. The final rankings will be one of the tools used as part of the selection process to determine the qualifiers for the NCAA Championships. A panel of coaches ranked the top 33 in each weight class with the Mountain Hawks well represented. Lehigh has wrestlers ranked in the top 33 in nine of 10 weight classes, led by senior Darian Cruz, who holds the top spot at 125. Three of Lehigh's wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in their respective weight classes, with junior Scott Parker and sophomore Jordan Kutler joining Cruz. Junior Ryan Preisch is not yet ranked by the coaches at 184 because he has not competed in more than a month.
Seven Mountain Hawks appear in the latest rankings by InterMat and Amateur Wrestling News, while eight are ranked by The Open Mat and six are ranked by FloWrestling. Three Mountain Hawks: senior Darian Cruz, junior Scott Parker and sophomore Jordan Kutler, are all ranked in the top 10 by all four outlets, with Cruz ranked no lower than second in any of the four polls. Freshmen Jordan Wood and Luke Karam are also ranked across the board. Junior Gordon Wolf appears in three polls along with junior Ryan Preisch. Junior Cortlandt Schuyler is ranked by The Open Mat while classmate Ian Brown is only ranked by AWN.
Lehigh has enjoyed a run of quality heavyweights under Pat Santoro, beginning with NCAA Champion and three-time All-American Zach Rey, All-American Max Wessell and last year Doug Vollaro, who reached the round of 12 in his senior campaign. Deferred freshman Jordan Wood has taken the reins at heavyweight and owns a 12-4 record and No. 12 ranking. Wood went 11-3 competing unattached in open tournaments last season, highlighted by a runner-up finish at the prestigious Midlands Championships. The Gilbertsville, Pa. native was Lehigh's Deferred Eligibility Wrestler of the Year last season. On the freestyle circuit, Wood was a Cadet World silver medalist in 2014 and represented the United States at the Junior World Championships in 2016.
Virginia Tech comes in ranked 10th with a 10-2 dual mark. The Hokies are coming off a 31-6 win at Pitt in their ACC opener on Sunday. Virginia Tech's losses have come at the hands of Missouri and Arizona State, with the loss to the Sun Devils coming in the finals of the Virginia Duals. Like Lehigh, Virginia Tech owns dual wins over Princeton and Edinboro. The Hokies finished sixth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in December. Six Hokies are ranked by InterMat, including three who are ranked in the top 10 at their respective weights: David McFadden (No. 4 at 165), Zack Zavatsky (No. 8 at 184) and Jared Haught (No. 2 at 197). Longtime Virginia Tech assistant Tony Robie is in his first season as the Hokies' head coach.
Lehigh will face Virginia Tech for the fifth time with the series knotted at two. The Hokies have won the last two meetings, including last year's dual at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall and the only other previous meeting in Blacksburg in 2011.
Lehigh and Virginia Tech both competed at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic, with Mountain Hawk and Hokie wrestlers crossing paths nine times on Nov. 12. Mountain Hawk wrestlers won three of those nine bouts, with Scott Parker beating Dennis Gustafson and Ryan Preisch topping Zack Zavatsky, with both wins coming in sudden victory. Jordan Kutler also beat Cody Hughes by major decision.
Friday's match is set for a 7 p.m. start from Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va. The match will be streamed on ACC Network Extra, while audio coverage will be available on ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley (1230/1320/1160-AM) and ESPNLV.com.
Lehigh will be off from competition next weekend and will return to action with a trip to No. 9 Arizona State on Friday February 9. It will mark the Mountain Hawks' first dual against the Sun Devils since the 2011 Journeymen Northeast Duals and Lehigh's first visit to Tempe, Ariz. since 2007. Match time is set for 9 p.m. ET (7 p.m. MST) from Wells Fargo Arena. Following the trip to ASU, Lehigh will close out the dual season with home duals against Oklahoma (Feb. 16) and Pitt (Feb. 18).
| Date: | January 26, 2018 |
| Opponent: | No. 10 Virginia Tech Hokies |
| First match: | 7 p.m. |
| Arena: | Cassell Coliseum |
| Location: | Blacksburg, Va. |
| Lehigh's record: | 9-2 overall, 7-1 EIWA |
| Virginia Tech's record: | 10-2 overall, 1-0 ACC |
| Series: | Tied 2-2 |
| Streak: | Virginia Tech has won the last two duals |
| Television: | None |
| Radio: | ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley (1230/1320/1160-AM) with Steve Lomangino beginning at 6:45 p.m. |
| Internet broadcast: | Video on ACC Network Extra Audio at ESPNLV.com |
| Behind enemy lines: | http://www.hokiesports.com |
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