Mountain Hawks officially kick off preparations for 2018-19 season
10/15/2018 3:10:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh wrestling team officially began preparations for the 2018-19 season last week as Oct. 10 marked the first official day of practice for Division I wrestling programs. The Mountain Hawks are coming off an EIWA Championship campaign that followed a 12-3 dual meet season. EIWA and NWCA National Coach of the Year Pat Santoro begins his 11th season with a 45-man squad that includes a mix of accomplished returners and young talent.
The roster features three All-Americans, four EIWA champions and 11 wrestlers who have qualified for the NCAA championships. The Oct. 10 start date gave Lehigh 22 days to the annual Brown and White wrestle-offs and just over a month to the first competition – the Journeymen Collegiate Classic – and Santoro plans to use this preseason time to lay a strong foundation, with the goal of improving on a week-to-week basis and peaking when it matters most in March.
"We're going to use this time of year to work on getting really strong in our fundamentals," Santoro said. "Having a strong foundation so we can climb higher. We're not going to focus on wrestle-offs or our early dual meets, we're just looking to get better each week and perform at a higher level. If we can do that, when we get to March, those things will take care of themselves."
Among the top returners are two-time All-American Scott Parker at 133 and 2018 All-American Jordan Kutler at 174. Both men also won EIWA titles last March, with Parker capturing his second. Senior Ryan Preisch (184) and sophomore Jordan Wood (285) also won EIWA titles last year, with Preisch winning the Coaches' Trophy as the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler.
(10/15/2018) Wrestling Opens Practice, 10/15/18
Lehigh is expected to return eight starters from its EIWA championship team, all eight of who qualified for the NCAA Championships. The Mountain Hawks return 10 wrestlers who deferred eligibility last season, including Matt Parker, who was Lehigh's Deferred Eligibility Wrestler of the Year in 2018, plus seven true freshmen and graduate transfer Connor Schram, a former Pac 12 champion and All-American at Stanford.
"We have a lot of experience back and a lot of talent that we're excited about," Santoro said. It will be interesting to see how wrestle-offs go because there should be some very competitive matches.
"Iron sharpens iron," Santoro continued. "We have a great room. We have a good group of men on our team who are pushing each other every day. They all want to be starters and are going to work hard to make that happen."
With the start of the season less than a month away, several media outlets have started releasing preseason rankings. Lehigh has wrestlers ranked in nine of 10 weight classes by FloWrestling, led by Scott Parker and Wood, who are ranked sixth at their respective weights. Mountain Hawks are ranked at all 10 weight classes by The Open Mat, with Parker, Wood and Preisch all coming in at No. 6 at their respective weights.
Lehigh wrestling season tickets and mini plans have been on sale for more than a month. Single match tickets are on sale as of Monday, Oct. 15. All Lehigh wrestling tickets can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during business hours.
The annual Brown and White Wrestle-offs will be held on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Lehigh's first two competition dates will be the Nov. 11 Journeymen Collegiate Classic in Troy, N.Y. and a Nov. 16 dual at Michigan. The home opener is set for Friday, Nov. 30 when Princeton visits Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall.
The 2018-19 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates throughout the season.
The roster features three All-Americans, four EIWA champions and 11 wrestlers who have qualified for the NCAA championships. The Oct. 10 start date gave Lehigh 22 days to the annual Brown and White wrestle-offs and just over a month to the first competition – the Journeymen Collegiate Classic – and Santoro plans to use this preseason time to lay a strong foundation, with the goal of improving on a week-to-week basis and peaking when it matters most in March.
"We're going to use this time of year to work on getting really strong in our fundamentals," Santoro said. "Having a strong foundation so we can climb higher. We're not going to focus on wrestle-offs or our early dual meets, we're just looking to get better each week and perform at a higher level. If we can do that, when we get to March, those things will take care of themselves."
Among the top returners are two-time All-American Scott Parker at 133 and 2018 All-American Jordan Kutler at 174. Both men also won EIWA titles last March, with Parker capturing his second. Senior Ryan Preisch (184) and sophomore Jordan Wood (285) also won EIWA titles last year, with Preisch winning the Coaches' Trophy as the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler.
Lehigh is expected to return eight starters from its EIWA championship team, all eight of who qualified for the NCAA Championships. The Mountain Hawks return 10 wrestlers who deferred eligibility last season, including Matt Parker, who was Lehigh's Deferred Eligibility Wrestler of the Year in 2018, plus seven true freshmen and graduate transfer Connor Schram, a former Pac 12 champion and All-American at Stanford.
"We have a lot of experience back and a lot of talent that we're excited about," Santoro said. It will be interesting to see how wrestle-offs go because there should be some very competitive matches.
"Iron sharpens iron," Santoro continued. "We have a great room. We have a good group of men on our team who are pushing each other every day. They all want to be starters and are going to work hard to make that happen."
With the start of the season less than a month away, several media outlets have started releasing preseason rankings. Lehigh has wrestlers ranked in nine of 10 weight classes by FloWrestling, led by Scott Parker and Wood, who are ranked sixth at their respective weights. Mountain Hawks are ranked at all 10 weight classes by The Open Mat, with Parker, Wood and Preisch all coming in at No. 6 at their respective weights.
Lehigh wrestling season tickets and mini plans have been on sale for more than a month. Single match tickets are on sale as of Monday, Oct. 15. All Lehigh wrestling tickets can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during business hours.
The annual Brown and White Wrestle-offs will be held on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Lehigh's first two competition dates will be the Nov. 11 Journeymen Collegiate Classic in Troy, N.Y. and a Nov. 16 dual at Michigan. The home opener is set for Friday, Nov. 30 when Princeton visits Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall.
The 2018-19 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Players Mentioned
174
/ Men's Wrestling
125
/ Men's Wrestling
133
/ Men's Wrestling
184
/ Men's Wrestling
125/133
/ Men's Wrestling
285
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