Friday, February 16
Bethlehem, Pa.
7:00 PM
Lehigh University
vs
Oklahoma
No. 9 Lehigh to host Oklahoma, Pitt this weekend to close out dual season
2/14/2018 3:14:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
Match Notes | Tickets | Video | Audio
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – No. 9 Lehigh returns to Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall for the first time in more than a month to close out the regular season with duals against Oklahoma and Pitt. The returns to the lineup for juniors Scott Parker, Cortlandt Schuyler and Ryan Preisch helped propel the Mountain Hawks to an impressive 22-13 win at then-No. 8 Arizona State last week in Tempe, a win that vaulted Lehigh back into the top 10 in the polls. Lehigh will honor its four-wrestler senior class prior to Sunday's regular season finale versus Pitt.
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The return of three injured starters to Lehigh's lineup propelled the Mountain Hawks to a big 22-13 win at No. 8 Arizona State Feb. 9. Juniors Scott Parker, Cortlandt Schuyler and Ryan Preisch all returned after missing time with Parker and Preisch competing in duals for the first time since early December, while Schuyler was sidelined for two weeks. All three wrestlers won their bouts against the Sun Devils, highlighted by Schuyler's 11-3 major decision over former NCAA Champion and All-American Jason Tsirtsis. Parker battled back for an overtime win over Ali Naser at 133, while Preisch posted a major decision over Kordell Norfleet at 184. Lehigh built an early 13-0 lead and won six of ten bouts in the dual at Arizona State. Freshman Chris Weiler clinched the victory with a technical fall win at 197.
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The NCAA released the second of four Coaches' Panel rankings and the first RPI for the 2017-18 season on February 8. The Coaches' Panel 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. Lehigh has wrestlers ranked in the top 33 in all 10 weight classes with Chris Weiler replacing Jake Jakobsen at 197 in the second ranking. Ryan Preisch also joined the second ranking at 184 as he was not eligible for the first ranking due to inactivity. Wrestlers need a minimum of 17 Division I matches to appear in the RPI. Darian Cruz continues to occupy the No. 1 spot at 125.
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Lehigh will recognize its five-member senior class prior to Sunday's dual with Pittsburgh. The class includes three fifth-year senior wrestlers: Darian Cruz, Drew Longo and Jonathan Mele; fourth-year senior Camden Fischer, and manager Kacie Bogar.
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Oklahoma visits Bethlehem for the first time since 2013 and will wrestle in Grace Hall for the first time since 1978. The Sooners own an 8-10 dual record after splitting action last weekend. Oklahoma edged Edinboro 19-16 last Saturday before dropping its annual Bedlam rivalry match at Oklahoma State 31-6 on Sunday. Two Sooners appear in the latest InterMat rankings, Yoanse Mejias, who is ranked 10th at 174 and Christian Moody, who is ranked 16th at 125. Three other Sooners appear in the latest NCAA Coaches Panel rankings, with Mike Longo (141), Davion Jeffries (149) and Dawaylon Barnes (165) joining Moody and Mejias. Long time Ohio State assistant Lou Rosselli is in his second season as Oklahoma's head coach.
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The Pitt Panthers enter the weekend with a 3-10 dual mark. Pitt will host Virginia Friday night before making the trek to Bethlehem on Sunday. The Panthers split a pair of home duals last weekend, falling 25-13 to South Dakota State before bouncing back with a 23-10 win over Duke. Pitt's other wins were in its season opener at CSU Bakersfield and a 19-18 win over Oklahoma on January 7. The Panthers have just one wrestler in the latest InterMat rankings, Dom Forys, who is ranked 11th 133, but four others appear in the latest NCAA Coaches Panel rankings: Nick Zanetta (141), Taleb Rahmani (157), Gregg Harvey (184) and Ryan Solomon (285). Solomon clinched the Oklahoma win with a fall in the final bout. Former Pitt NCAA Champion Keith Gavin is in his first season as head coach at his alma mater.
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Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro wrestled for the Panthers from 1985-1989, under the guidance of the late Rande Stottlemyer, who retired following the 2012-13 season and passed away last month. Pittsburgh's only four-time All-American, Santoro amassed a 167-13 record in four seasons for the Panthers, and won national titles at 142 in 1988 and 1989. A three-time EWL Champion, Santoro is also the Panthers' career leader with 43 falls and posted an incredible 97-3 record over his final two seasons. Pittsburgh assistant coach Drew Headlee returned to his alma mater in 2014 after two seasons as Lehigh's volunteer assistant coach. First-year Panthers head coach Keith Gavin is also a Pitt graduate. After graduation, Gavin trained and competed in freestyle with the Lehigh Valley Athletic Club (now Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club) before moving on to coaching positions at Virginia and Oklahoma.
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Lehigh and Oklahoma will meet for the 20th time and the first time in Grace Hall since 1978. The Mountain Hawks are 4-1-1 in the last six duals with the Sooners after Oklahoma won 12 of the first 13 duals. Lehigh and Pitt will meet for the 62nd time with the Mountain Hawks holding a 43-17-2 advantage. The Mountain Hawks have won 17 of the last 20 duals against the Panthers. Pat Santoro is 7-2 versus his alma mater.
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Friday's match with Oklahoma gets underway at 7 p.m. from Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall, while Sunday's Pitt dual is slated for a 2 p.m. start. Â Tickets for both duals are still available and can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during normal business hours.
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Lehigh will shift focus to the 114th EIWA Championships, March 3-4 at Hofstra's David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex in Hempstead, N.Y. The Mountain Hawks will be looking to win their first EIWA title since 2006 while trying to deny Cornell a 12th straight crown. Darian Cruz will look to win his third straight EIWA title at 125, while Scott Parker will attempt to win his second straight at 133. Automatic berths to the NCAA Championships in Cleveland will also be at stake.
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – No. 9 Lehigh returns to Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall for the first time in more than a month to close out the regular season with duals against Oklahoma and Pitt. The returns to the lineup for juniors Scott Parker, Cortlandt Schuyler and Ryan Preisch helped propel the Mountain Hawks to an impressive 22-13 win at then-No. 8 Arizona State last week in Tempe, a win that vaulted Lehigh back into the top 10 in the polls. Lehigh will honor its four-wrestler senior class prior to Sunday's regular season finale versus Pitt.
Â
The return of three injured starters to Lehigh's lineup propelled the Mountain Hawks to a big 22-13 win at No. 8 Arizona State Feb. 9. Juniors Scott Parker, Cortlandt Schuyler and Ryan Preisch all returned after missing time with Parker and Preisch competing in duals for the first time since early December, while Schuyler was sidelined for two weeks. All three wrestlers won their bouts against the Sun Devils, highlighted by Schuyler's 11-3 major decision over former NCAA Champion and All-American Jason Tsirtsis. Parker battled back for an overtime win over Ali Naser at 133, while Preisch posted a major decision over Kordell Norfleet at 184. Lehigh built an early 13-0 lead and won six of ten bouts in the dual at Arizona State. Freshman Chris Weiler clinched the victory with a technical fall win at 197.
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The NCAA released the second of four Coaches' Panel rankings and the first RPI for the 2017-18 season on February 8. The Coaches' Panel 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. Lehigh has wrestlers ranked in the top 33 in all 10 weight classes with Chris Weiler replacing Jake Jakobsen at 197 in the second ranking. Ryan Preisch also joined the second ranking at 184 as he was not eligible for the first ranking due to inactivity. Wrestlers need a minimum of 17 Division I matches to appear in the RPI. Darian Cruz continues to occupy the No. 1 spot at 125.
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Lehigh will recognize its five-member senior class prior to Sunday's dual with Pittsburgh. The class includes three fifth-year senior wrestlers: Darian Cruz, Drew Longo and Jonathan Mele; fourth-year senior Camden Fischer, and manager Kacie Bogar.
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Oklahoma visits Bethlehem for the first time since 2013 and will wrestle in Grace Hall for the first time since 1978. The Sooners own an 8-10 dual record after splitting action last weekend. Oklahoma edged Edinboro 19-16 last Saturday before dropping its annual Bedlam rivalry match at Oklahoma State 31-6 on Sunday. Two Sooners appear in the latest InterMat rankings, Yoanse Mejias, who is ranked 10th at 174 and Christian Moody, who is ranked 16th at 125. Three other Sooners appear in the latest NCAA Coaches Panel rankings, with Mike Longo (141), Davion Jeffries (149) and Dawaylon Barnes (165) joining Moody and Mejias. Long time Ohio State assistant Lou Rosselli is in his second season as Oklahoma's head coach.
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The Pitt Panthers enter the weekend with a 3-10 dual mark. Pitt will host Virginia Friday night before making the trek to Bethlehem on Sunday. The Panthers split a pair of home duals last weekend, falling 25-13 to South Dakota State before bouncing back with a 23-10 win over Duke. Pitt's other wins were in its season opener at CSU Bakersfield and a 19-18 win over Oklahoma on January 7. The Panthers have just one wrestler in the latest InterMat rankings, Dom Forys, who is ranked 11th 133, but four others appear in the latest NCAA Coaches Panel rankings: Nick Zanetta (141), Taleb Rahmani (157), Gregg Harvey (184) and Ryan Solomon (285). Solomon clinched the Oklahoma win with a fall in the final bout. Former Pitt NCAA Champion Keith Gavin is in his first season as head coach at his alma mater.
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Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro wrestled for the Panthers from 1985-1989, under the guidance of the late Rande Stottlemyer, who retired following the 2012-13 season and passed away last month. Pittsburgh's only four-time All-American, Santoro amassed a 167-13 record in four seasons for the Panthers, and won national titles at 142 in 1988 and 1989. A three-time EWL Champion, Santoro is also the Panthers' career leader with 43 falls and posted an incredible 97-3 record over his final two seasons. Pittsburgh assistant coach Drew Headlee returned to his alma mater in 2014 after two seasons as Lehigh's volunteer assistant coach. First-year Panthers head coach Keith Gavin is also a Pitt graduate. After graduation, Gavin trained and competed in freestyle with the Lehigh Valley Athletic Club (now Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club) before moving on to coaching positions at Virginia and Oklahoma.
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Lehigh and Oklahoma will meet for the 20th time and the first time in Grace Hall since 1978. The Mountain Hawks are 4-1-1 in the last six duals with the Sooners after Oklahoma won 12 of the first 13 duals. Lehigh and Pitt will meet for the 62nd time with the Mountain Hawks holding a 43-17-2 advantage. The Mountain Hawks have won 17 of the last 20 duals against the Panthers. Pat Santoro is 7-2 versus his alma mater.
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Friday's match with Oklahoma gets underway at 7 p.m. from Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall, while Sunday's Pitt dual is slated for a 2 p.m. start. Â Tickets for both duals are still available and can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during normal business hours.
Â
Lehigh will shift focus to the 114th EIWA Championships, March 3-4 at Hofstra's David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex in Hempstead, N.Y. The Mountain Hawks will be looking to win their first EIWA title since 2006 while trying to deny Cornell a 12th straight crown. Darian Cruz will look to win his third straight EIWA title at 125, while Scott Parker will attempt to win his second straight at 133. Automatic berths to the NCAA Championships in Cleveland will also be at stake.
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| Date: | February 16, 2018 |
| Opponent: | Oklahoma Sooners |
| First match: | 7:05 p.m. |
| Arena: | Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall |
| Location: | Bethlehem, Pa. |
| Lehigh's record: | 10-3 overall, 7-1 EIWA |
| Oklahoma's record: | 8-10 overall, 3-6 Big 12 |
| Series: | Oklahoma leads 13-5-1 |
| Streak: | Lehigh has won the last two duals |
| Television: | None |
| Radio: | ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley (1230/1320/1160-AM) with Steve Lomangino and Gary Brownell beginning at 6:45 p.m. |
| Internet broadcast: | Video at PatriotLeague.tv Audio at ESPNLV.com |
| Behind enemy lines: | http://www.soonersports.com |
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| Date: | February 18, 2018 |
| Opponent: | Pitt Panthers |
| First match: | 2:05 p.m. |
| Arena: | Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall |
| Location: | Bethlehem, Pa. |
| Lehigh's record: | 10-3 overall, 7-1 EIWA |
| Pitt's record: | 3-10 overall, 1-3 ACC |
| Series: | Lehigh leads 43-17-2 |
| Streak: | Lehigh has won the last three duals |
| Television: | Service Electric 2 Sports |
| Radio: | ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley (1230/1320/1160-AM) with Steve Lomangino and Gary Brownell beginning at 1:45 p.m. |
| Internet broadcast: | Video at PatriotLeague.tv Audio at ESPNLV.com |
| Behind enemy lines: | http://www.pittsburghpanthers.com |
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Players Mentioned
125
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
197
/ Men's Wrestling
157/165
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
133
/ Men's Wrestling
184
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
184/197
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