No. 20 Lehigh to host Penn in dual season finale on Senior Day Sunday

Sunday, February 24

Bethlehem, Pa.

2:00 PM

Lehigh University

Penn

No. 20 Lehigh to host Penn in dual season finale on Senior Day Sunday

2/21/2019 12:23:00 PM | Men's Wrestling

Match Notes Tickets Watch on PLN

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – No. 20 Lehigh will close out the regular season on Sunday when the Mountain Hawks host EIWA rival Penn on Senior Day at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks will recognize their 10-member senior class prior to Sunday's dual and will then try to close out the dual season by winning nine of their last 11 duals. Following a weekend off from competition, Lehigh rolled to a 28-6 win over No. 25 Army West Point last Saturday, winning eight of 10 bouts, including major decision victories by freshman Dan Moran, senior Cortlandt Schuyler, junior Jordan Kutler and senior Ryan Preisch.

Lehigh returned from its late-season bye week with a dominant 28-6 win over Army West Point on Feb. 16. The Mountain Hawks won eight bouts, including for major decisions as Lehigh completed a sweep of the other four Patriot League schools that sponsor wrestling (American, Army, Bucknell, Navy) for the third straight season. Lehigh has won 17 straight duals against that Patriot League quartet since dropping its 2013-14 dual opener to Bucknell on criteria.

Lehigh will recognize its 10-member senior class prior to Sunday's dual. The class includes six fifth-year senior wrestlers: Ian Brown, Brandon Diaz, Scott Parker, Ryan Preisch, Cortlandt Schuyler and Gordon Wolf; three fourth-year grapplers: Tyler Casamenti, Paul Dunn and Andrew Price; and manager Kallie Ziltz. Five of the six fifth-year wrestlers were starters and NCAA qualifiers for last season's EIWA championship team.

Five wrestlers appear in the latest InterMat rankings, with the trio of senior Ryan Preisch (184), junior Jordan Kutler (174) and sophomore Jordan Wood (285) all in the top five at their respective weights. Lehigh also has four wrestlers ranked by FloWrestling and The Open Mat, while five are ranked by Amateur Wrestling News. In addition to Preisch, Kutler and Wood, freshman Josh Humphreys (157) is ranked across the board. Lehigh has two wrestlers ranked by one of the four outlets. Sophomore Brandon Paetzell is 17th at 133 by AWN, and sophomore Chris Weiler comes in at No. 14 in the latest InterMat poll.

Penn brings a 5-8 dual meet record into its dual season finale. The Quakers have a young squad with many underclassmen featuring prominent roles. Penn is coming off a 1-2 weekend in which the Quakers fell to Princeton on Saturday, then picked up two wins on Sunday, beating Cal Baptist at home and falling at Franklin & Marshall. The Quakers went 2-3 against the Ivy League and are 3-6 overall versus EIWA opponents. Penn's top wrestler has been freshman Anthony Artalona, who is ranked 15th in the latest Coaches' Panel rankings at 149. The only other Quaker in the top 33 is freshman Carmen Ferrante, who is ranked 29th by the coaches at 125. Roger Reina is in the second season of his second stint as Penn's head coach. He is in his 21st season overall as head wrestling coach for the Quakers and led Penn to four straight EIWA titles from 1996-99.

Lehigh and Penn will meet for the 58th time and the 23rd consecutive season after not having wrestled during the dual season between 1956 and 1996. Pat Santoro is 9-1 versus the Quakers as Lehigh's head coach. The Mountain Hawks previously closed the dual season against the Quakers in 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11.

Saturday's dual begins at 2 p.m. from Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Tickets are still available and can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during business hours. The dual will be broadcast locally on Service Electric 2 Sports and streamed on the Patriot League Network but there will be no Lehigh radio or audio-only coverage for this dual.

Lehigh will shift focus to the 115th EIWA Championships, hosted by Binghamton March 8-9 at the Events Center in Vestal, N.Y. The Mountain Hawks are the defending champions, after stopping Cornell's 11-year run last year at Hofstra. Jordan Kutler, Ryan Preisch and Jordan Wood will be pursuing their second consecutive individual titles. Automatic berths to the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh will also be at stake.

The 2018-19 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.

Date:	February 24, 2019
Opponent:	Penn Quakers
First match:	2:05 p.m.
Arena:	Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall
Location:	Bethlehem, Pa.
Lehigh's record:	8-9 overall, 5-1 EIWA
Penn's record:	5-8 overall, 3-6 EIWA
Series:	Lehigh leads 46-10-1
Streak:	Lehigh has won the last five duals
Television:	Service Electric 2 Sports
Radio:	None
Internet broadcast:	Video on the Patriot League Network (PatriotLeague.TV)
Behind enemy lines:	http://www.pennathletics.com