Sunday, November 3
Princeton, N.J.
9:00 AM
Lehigh University
at
Princeton Open
Mountain Hawks to open season by sending large contingent to Princeton Open
10/31/2019 2:53:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – As the calendar turns to November, the college wrestling preseason comes to an end and the competition begins for real. Lehigh will not wrestle a dual until the Mountain Hawks host Oklahoma State at Stabler Arena on Saturday, Nov. 16, but the Mountain Hawks will begin competition this weekend by sending a large contingent to the Princeton Open, Sunday in New Jersey.
More than 20 attached wrestlers and as many as six unattached wrestlers are slated to compete in the all-day event that begins at 9 a.m. over 10 mats at Princeton's Jadwin Gym.
"We just need to go out and compete and be excited to be competing," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "We're looking for the guys who are excited to compete and who want to go out and have good performances. Guys who aren't holding back, they're just letting it fly. We want it to be an exciting group to coach."
Participating teams include Army West Point, Binghamton, Columbia, Hofstra, Penn, Rider, Rutgers, and Sacred Heart, in addition to Lehigh and the host Princeton Tigers. The Mountain Hawks have regularly sent wrestlers to the Princeton Open in recent years, but this marks the first time Lehigh will send close to a full squad.
"We haven't done it in the past, but we wanted to get matches for as many guys on the team as we could," Santoro said. "We'll start working towards that 17 match total (for RPI) as quickly as we can. We'll have other opportunities later, but this is a good opportunity to get guys a good amount of matches early on."
Last year, Lehigh entered 11 wrestlers at the Princeton Open with a pair of place winners. Chase Gallik finished second at 174 and Jaret Lane took sixth at 165. Senior Ryan Pomrinca won a Princeton Open title at 141 in 2017.
Following the Princeton Open, Lehigh will send a contingent of attached wrestlers to the Journeymen Collegiate Classic, Nov. 10 in Troy, N.Y. These two events will provide another opportunity for Santoro and his staff to evaluate the roster and begin to determine what the lineup will look like for early season duals.
"We'll get our first evaluation of how Lehigh does against the rest of the country," Santoro said. "It's important to see how we're doing against outside competition, not just the other guys in the room. Anything can happen in the room, so we want to see how our guys compete against open competition."
Brackets and live scoring will be available on Trackwrestling.com, while Princeton will offer video coverage on ESPN+.
Earlier this week, Lehigh came in at No. 11 in the initial NWCA Coaches' Poll. The Mountain Hawks are slated to face eight teams in the preseason top 25 this season in dual meet competition.
The November dual schedule begins with the Oklahoma State match and also features a return trip to Princeton on Nov. 23 and a home dual with Pitt at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall on Sunday, Nov. 24. Tickets for all Lehigh wrestling duals and the EIWA Championships can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during business hours.
The 2019-20 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
More than 20 attached wrestlers and as many as six unattached wrestlers are slated to compete in the all-day event that begins at 9 a.m. over 10 mats at Princeton's Jadwin Gym.
"We just need to go out and compete and be excited to be competing," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "We're looking for the guys who are excited to compete and who want to go out and have good performances. Guys who aren't holding back, they're just letting it fly. We want it to be an exciting group to coach."
Participating teams include Army West Point, Binghamton, Columbia, Hofstra, Penn, Rider, Rutgers, and Sacred Heart, in addition to Lehigh and the host Princeton Tigers. The Mountain Hawks have regularly sent wrestlers to the Princeton Open in recent years, but this marks the first time Lehigh will send close to a full squad.
"We haven't done it in the past, but we wanted to get matches for as many guys on the team as we could," Santoro said. "We'll start working towards that 17 match total (for RPI) as quickly as we can. We'll have other opportunities later, but this is a good opportunity to get guys a good amount of matches early on."
Last year, Lehigh entered 11 wrestlers at the Princeton Open with a pair of place winners. Chase Gallik finished second at 174 and Jaret Lane took sixth at 165. Senior Ryan Pomrinca won a Princeton Open title at 141 in 2017.
Following the Princeton Open, Lehigh will send a contingent of attached wrestlers to the Journeymen Collegiate Classic, Nov. 10 in Troy, N.Y. These two events will provide another opportunity for Santoro and his staff to evaluate the roster and begin to determine what the lineup will look like for early season duals.
"We'll get our first evaluation of how Lehigh does against the rest of the country," Santoro said. "It's important to see how we're doing against outside competition, not just the other guys in the room. Anything can happen in the room, so we want to see how our guys compete against open competition."
Brackets and live scoring will be available on Trackwrestling.com, while Princeton will offer video coverage on ESPN+.
Earlier this week, Lehigh came in at No. 11 in the initial NWCA Coaches' Poll. The Mountain Hawks are slated to face eight teams in the preseason top 25 this season in dual meet competition.
The November dual schedule begins with the Oklahoma State match and also features a return trip to Princeton on Nov. 23 and a home dual with Pitt at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall on Sunday, Nov. 24. Tickets for all Lehigh wrestling duals and the EIWA Championships can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during business hours.
The 2019-20 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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