Sunday, November 19
Bethlehem, Pa.
2:00 PM
Lehigh University
vs
Pittsburgh
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
No. 17 Lehigh Hosts No. 23 Pitt Sunday In Dual Meet Opener
11/16/2023 4:11:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - After competing in tournaments in the season's first two weekends, No. 17 Lehigh opens its dual schedule Sunday when the Mountain Hawks welcome No. 23 Pittsburgh to Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Lehigh opened its season by crowning seven individual champions at the Nov. 5 Princeton Open and last weekend had a successful showing at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic, highlighted by a 3-0 showing by deferred first-year Ryan Crookham, who defeated Cornell's returning NCAA Champion and 2023 world champion VIto Arujau 8-4. Five other Mountain Hawks finished second in their top-flight pools. Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro once again squares off against his alma mater, which enters with a 2-1 dual record. Lehigh will recognize the accomplishments of its 4-peat EIWA Championship teams on Sunday as well.
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Lehigh Probable Starters (Rankings InterMat/FloWrestling 11/14/23)
125 Sheldon Seymour (So., Troy, Pa.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
133 No. 5/1 Ryan Crookham (Fy., Hellertown, Pa.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
      Connor McGonagle (Jr., Danville, N.H.)     Â
141 No. 11/11 Malyke Hines (Jr., Kissimmee, Fla.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
149 Kelvin Griffin (Fy., Berwick, Maine)Â
       Drew Munch (Jr., East Stroudsburg, Pa.)  Â
       Owen Reinsel (Fy., Summerville, Pa.)       Â
157 No. 25/28 Max Brignola (Jr., Fair Haven, N.J.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
165 No. 32/29 Jake Logan (Jr., New Rochelle, N.Y.)Â Â Â Â Â Â
174 Thayne Lawrence (So., Perryopolis, Pa.)Â Â Â Â
184 JT Davis (Jr., Smyrna, Del.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
       Caden Rogers (Fy., Lancaster, Pa.)                      Â
197 No. 11/10 Michael Beard (Jr., Reading, Pa.)
285 No. 11/11 Nathan Taylor (So.. Brookville, Pa.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
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A big Sunday for deferred first-year Ryan Crookham led to conference and national honors this week. Crookham knocked off Cornell's top-ranked Vito Arujau, the defending NCAA champion and a recently-crowned world champion, in the finals of the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. The win was the first ever for a Lehigh wrestler over a reigning world or Olympic champion. Crookham became the second Lehigh wrestler in as many seasons to knock off a top-ranked wrestler. Michael Beard defeated then-No. 1 Max Dean of Penn State last December. The victory vaulted Crookham into the top five of the national rankings, including a No. 1 ranking by FloWrestling. Crookham is off to a 6-0 start this season, after going 8-1 last year and earning Lehigh's Deferred Eligibility Wrestler of the Year award at the year-end Lewis Dinner.
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Junior Connor McConagle will represent Lehigh at the NWCA All-Star Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at Penn State's Rec Hall. McGonagle was ranked sixth in the preseason and is set to square off against Virginia Tech's Sam Latona at 133 pounds. After dropping down from 141 to 133, McGonagle enjoyed an outstanding 2022-23 campaign, going 12-3 and being ranked in the top 10 nationally for most of the season. McGonagle earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships but was unable to compete due to an injury sustained in the EIWA quarterfinals. Last week, McGonagle made his season debut at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic, going 2-1 with the lone loss against teammate Ryan Crookham in sudden victory. He will be the first Lehigh wrestler to compete in the NWCA All-Star Classic since Darian Cruz wrestled Oklahoma State's Nick Piccininni in the 2017 All-Star Classic.
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Lehigh is welcoming back members of the teams that won four consecutive EIWA team championships from 2017-18 through 2020-21. The Mountain Hawks ended a 12-year team title drought at Hofstra in March 2018 and proceeded to win three more titles, extending Lehigh's league-leading number of conference championships to 38. During this time frame, Lehigh had 15 individual EIWA champions and 11 wrestlers were recognized as All-Americans.
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Lehigh kicks off its 115th season of wrestling on Sunday. The Mountain Hawks are 10-5 in dual meet openers under Pat Santoro. Lehigh's snapped a two-opener losing streak last November with a 20-13 win over Oregon State at Stabler Arena.
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Six Lehigh wrestlers appear in the latest rankings from InterMat, FloWrestling and WrestleState, while four Mountain Hawks are ranked by Amateur Wrestling News and The Open Mat. Ryan Crookham's win over previous No. 1 Vito Arujau of Cornell vaulted him into FloWrestling's No. 1 spot at 133. Crookham, juniors Malyke Hines (141) and Michael Beard (197) and sophomore Nathan Taylor (285) are ranked across all five outlets. InterMat, FloWrestling and WrestleStat rank from 1-33, while AWN and The Open Mat rank 1-20.
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Pittsburgh brings a 2-1 dual record into Sunday's match. The Panthers went 2-1 last week at the Navy Duals, shutting out VMI and Morgan State before falling to the host Midshipmen 21-12. Reece Heller (184) and Mac Stout (197) won individual titles at the Nov. 5 Clarion Open. Heller and Stout are two of the eight Panthers that appear in InterMat's rankings, led by Cole Matthews, who is ranked seventh at 141. Heavyweight Dayton Pitzer wrestled in last year's Lehigh dual, one of his allowed competition dates while redshirting. Keith Gavin is in his seventh season as Pittsburgh's head coach.
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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. 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. He was inducted into the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021. Pittsburgh assistant coach Drew Headlee returned to his alma mater in 2014 after two seasons as Lehigh's volunteer assistant coach. Seventh-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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Pitt is Lehigh's sixth oldest rival with Sunday's dual marking the 68th meeting in a series that dates back to 1916. Lehigh leads the series 45-20-2. Pitt has won three of the last four duals in the series, with Lehigh last winning inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall in November 2021. Pat Santoro is 9-5 in duals against his alma mater.
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Sunday's dual begins at 2 p.m. from Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Tickets can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-758-4263 during business hours.
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Lehigh will be off from competition Thanksgiving weekend and will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 3 when the Mountain Hawks travel to No. 1 Penn State. The match is set for a 2 p.m. start from Rec Hall in University Park, Pa. The 111th meeting of Lehigh's most-contested dual series will be televised nationally on Big Ten Network.
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The 2023-24 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
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Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on X/Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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Lehigh Probable Starters (Rankings InterMat/FloWrestling 11/14/23)
125 Sheldon Seymour (So., Troy, Pa.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
133 No. 5/1 Ryan Crookham (Fy., Hellertown, Pa.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
      Connor McGonagle (Jr., Danville, N.H.)     Â
141 No. 11/11 Malyke Hines (Jr., Kissimmee, Fla.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
149 Kelvin Griffin (Fy., Berwick, Maine)Â
       Drew Munch (Jr., East Stroudsburg, Pa.)  Â
       Owen Reinsel (Fy., Summerville, Pa.)       Â
157 No. 25/28 Max Brignola (Jr., Fair Haven, N.J.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
165 No. 32/29 Jake Logan (Jr., New Rochelle, N.Y.)Â Â Â Â Â Â
174 Thayne Lawrence (So., Perryopolis, Pa.)Â Â Â Â
184 JT Davis (Jr., Smyrna, Del.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
       Caden Rogers (Fy., Lancaster, Pa.)                      Â
197 No. 11/10 Michael Beard (Jr., Reading, Pa.)
285 No. 11/11 Nathan Taylor (So.. Brookville, Pa.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
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A big Sunday for deferred first-year Ryan Crookham led to conference and national honors this week. Crookham knocked off Cornell's top-ranked Vito Arujau, the defending NCAA champion and a recently-crowned world champion, in the finals of the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. The win was the first ever for a Lehigh wrestler over a reigning world or Olympic champion. Crookham became the second Lehigh wrestler in as many seasons to knock off a top-ranked wrestler. Michael Beard defeated then-No. 1 Max Dean of Penn State last December. The victory vaulted Crookham into the top five of the national rankings, including a No. 1 ranking by FloWrestling. Crookham is off to a 6-0 start this season, after going 8-1 last year and earning Lehigh's Deferred Eligibility Wrestler of the Year award at the year-end Lewis Dinner.
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Junior Connor McConagle will represent Lehigh at the NWCA All-Star Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at Penn State's Rec Hall. McGonagle was ranked sixth in the preseason and is set to square off against Virginia Tech's Sam Latona at 133 pounds. After dropping down from 141 to 133, McGonagle enjoyed an outstanding 2022-23 campaign, going 12-3 and being ranked in the top 10 nationally for most of the season. McGonagle earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships but was unable to compete due to an injury sustained in the EIWA quarterfinals. Last week, McGonagle made his season debut at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic, going 2-1 with the lone loss against teammate Ryan Crookham in sudden victory. He will be the first Lehigh wrestler to compete in the NWCA All-Star Classic since Darian Cruz wrestled Oklahoma State's Nick Piccininni in the 2017 All-Star Classic.
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Lehigh is welcoming back members of the teams that won four consecutive EIWA team championships from 2017-18 through 2020-21. The Mountain Hawks ended a 12-year team title drought at Hofstra in March 2018 and proceeded to win three more titles, extending Lehigh's league-leading number of conference championships to 38. During this time frame, Lehigh had 15 individual EIWA champions and 11 wrestlers were recognized as All-Americans.
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Lehigh kicks off its 115th season of wrestling on Sunday. The Mountain Hawks are 10-5 in dual meet openers under Pat Santoro. Lehigh's snapped a two-opener losing streak last November with a 20-13 win over Oregon State at Stabler Arena.
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Six Lehigh wrestlers appear in the latest rankings from InterMat, FloWrestling and WrestleState, while four Mountain Hawks are ranked by Amateur Wrestling News and The Open Mat. Ryan Crookham's win over previous No. 1 Vito Arujau of Cornell vaulted him into FloWrestling's No. 1 spot at 133. Crookham, juniors Malyke Hines (141) and Michael Beard (197) and sophomore Nathan Taylor (285) are ranked across all five outlets. InterMat, FloWrestling and WrestleStat rank from 1-33, while AWN and The Open Mat rank 1-20.
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Pittsburgh brings a 2-1 dual record into Sunday's match. The Panthers went 2-1 last week at the Navy Duals, shutting out VMI and Morgan State before falling to the host Midshipmen 21-12. Reece Heller (184) and Mac Stout (197) won individual titles at the Nov. 5 Clarion Open. Heller and Stout are two of the eight Panthers that appear in InterMat's rankings, led by Cole Matthews, who is ranked seventh at 141. Heavyweight Dayton Pitzer wrestled in last year's Lehigh dual, one of his allowed competition dates while redshirting. Keith Gavin is in his seventh season as Pittsburgh's head coach.
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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. 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. He was inducted into the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021. Pittsburgh assistant coach Drew Headlee returned to his alma mater in 2014 after two seasons as Lehigh's volunteer assistant coach. Seventh-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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Pitt is Lehigh's sixth oldest rival with Sunday's dual marking the 68th meeting in a series that dates back to 1916. Lehigh leads the series 45-20-2. Pitt has won three of the last four duals in the series, with Lehigh last winning inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall in November 2021. Pat Santoro is 9-5 in duals against his alma mater.
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Sunday's dual begins at 2 p.m. from Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Tickets can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-758-4263 during business hours.
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Lehigh will be off from competition Thanksgiving weekend and will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 3 when the Mountain Hawks travel to No. 1 Penn State. The match is set for a 2 p.m. start from Rec Hall in University Park, Pa. The 111th meeting of Lehigh's most-contested dual series will be televised nationally on Big Ten Network.
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The 2023-24 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
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| Date: | November 19, 2023 |
| Opponent: | No. 23 Pitt Panthers |
| First match: | 2:05 p.m. |
| Arena: | Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall |
| Location: | Bethlehem, Pa. |
| Lehigh's record: | 0-0 overall, 0-0 EIWA |
| Pitt's record: | 2-1 overall, 0-0 ACC |
| Series: | Lehigh leads 45-20-2 |
| Streak: | Pitt won last year's dual |
| Television: | Service Electric Network 2/502 |
| Radio: | None |
| Internet broadcast: | Video on FloWrestling.org |
Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on X/Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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Players Mentioned
197
/ Men's Wrestling
157
/ Men's Wrestling
133
/ Men's Wrestling
184/197
/ Men's Wrestling
141/149
/ Men's Wrestling
141
/ Men's Wrestling
174
/ Men's Wrestling
165
/ Men's Wrestling
133
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
184
/ Men's Wrestling
125
/ Men's Wrestling
285
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