Sunday, December 8
Allentown, Pa.
2:00 PM
Lehigh University
vs
Penn State
Photo by: Matt Hawley
No. 22 Lehigh Hosts No. 1 Penn State Sunday At Sold-Out PPL Center
12/5/2024 11:23:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Following a break for the Thanksgiving holiday, No. 22 Lehigh will host top-ranked and three-time defending NCAA champion Penn State Sunday at a sold-out PPL Center in Allentown. The dual will mark the 112th meeting of Lehigh's most-contested dual series. The Mountain Hawks and Nittany Lions return to the venue that set a Lehigh home dual record attendance record of 9,896 in December 2017. Lehigh is looking to bounce back from a 21-12 loss at Pitt on Nov. 24. In a dual where six bouts were decided by three points or less, Pitt won four of those bouts and six of the 10 overall. Lehigh picked up wins by decision by junior Sheldon Seymour (125), first-year Matty Lopes (133) and seniors Thayne Lawrence (165) and Michael Beard (197). Penn State won its dual opener against Drexel on Nov. 17 and most recently competed at Army's Black Knight Invitational on Nov. 24, where Nittany Lion wrestlers won nine weight classes.
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Lehigh Probable Starters (Rankings FloWrestling/InterMat 12/3/24)
125 No. 17/15 Sheldon Seymour (Jr., Troy, Pa.)
133 No. 1 /1 Ryan Crookham (So., Hellertown, Pa.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
141 Carter Bailey (Jr., Livermore, Calif.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
       No. 28/22 Malyke Hines (Sr., Kissimmee, Fla.)      Â
149 No. 31/29 Kelvin Griffin (So., Berwick, Maine)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
        Drew Munch (Sr., East Stroudsburg, Pa.) Â
        Matt Repos (Fy., Palmyra, Pa.)                Â
157 Griffin Gonzalez (Fy., Lebanon, Pa.)
      Logan Rozynski (Fy., Sparta, N.J.)Â
165 Zeke Dubler (Fy., Irvona, Pa.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
       Richie Grungo (Fy., Shamong, N.J.)         Â
       Thayne Lawrence (Sr., Perryopolis, Pa.)   Â
174 Rylan Rogers (So., Coeur d'Alene, Idaho)Â Â Â
184 Caden Rogers (So., Lancaster, Pa.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
        Jack Wilt (Jr., Madison, N.J.)                   Â
197 No. 6/6 Michael Beard (Sr., Reading, Pa.)Â Â Â
       JT Davis (Jr., Middletown, Del.)                Â
285 Calvin Lachman (Fy., Quakertown, Pa.)
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No. 18 Lehigh raced to an early 6-0 lead, but No. 21 Pitt claimed the next three bouts to take an 11-6 lead on the way to a 21-12 win over the Mountain Hawks Sunday at Fitzgerald Field House. A last-second victory at 141 sparked the Panthers, who took the lead with a technical fall at 149 and never looked back. Six of the 10 bouts were decided by three points or fewer, with Pitt claiming four of those six bouts. Lehigh won the first two bouts with junior Sheldon Seymour winning a 6-3 decision at 125 and first-year Matty Lopes stepping in for Ryan Crookham to defeat Vinnie Santaniello 3-2 with a late takedown. An upset win at 141 sparked the Panthers, who won five of the next six bouts. Seniors Thayne Lawrence (165) and Michael Beard (197) delivered Lehigh's other two victories on the afternoon.
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Lehigh will face its first top five-ranked opponent of the season Sunday. The Mountain Hawks own five dual wins over top five teams under Pat Santoro including two (No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 5 Arizona State) during the 2019-20 season. In addition, Lehigh has defeated No. 1 Cornell in 2010-11, No. 3 Ohio State in 2014-15 and No. 4 Michigan in 2017-18. All of Lehigh's top five wins under Santoro have come at home except for the win over Ohio State, which came at the NWCA National Duals in Iowa City, Iowa.
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Four wrestlers made their Lehigh dual debuts in the win over Morgan State. Deferred first-years Griffin Gonzalez (157) and Zeke Dubler (165) both posted bonus point victories in their first dual appearances for the Brown and White. Deferred first-year Richie Grungo made his dual debut up at 174 against Morgan State, while true first-year Calvin Lachman debuted at heavyweight. Three more Mountain Hawks made their dual debuts at Pitt. First-year Matty Lopes stepped in for Ryan Crookham to win at 133, while first-year Logan Rozynski (157) and sophomore Rylan Rogers (174) also wrestled in their first duals in the Brown and White.
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Over the last 15 years, visits from Penn State have brought some of the largest Lehigh wrestling crowds in program history. Seven years ago, Lehigh nearly upset Penn State in front of a Lehigh home dual meet record crowd of 9,896 at PPL Center in Allentown. Penn State's last four visits to Lehigh have accounted for the four largest dual meet crowds in program history, with Sunday's sold-out match set to make it five straight. Six of the top seven home dual meet crowds and five of the top six Stabler Arena crowds in Lehigh history have come against Penn State. The Grace Hall record attendance is 4,650 from a Lehigh-Navy dual on February 4, 1967.
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Five Lehigh wrestlers appear in the latest rankings from InterMat and FloWrestling, while six are ranked in the WrestleStat top 33. Three Mountain Hawks are ranked by Amateur Wrestling News and The Open Mat. Sophomore Ryan Crookham, the consensus No. 1 at 133, senior Michael Beard (197) and junior Sheldon Seymour (125) are ranked across the board. InterMat, FloWrestling and WrestleStat rank from 1-33, while AWN and The Open Mat rank 1-20.
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Top-ranked and three-time defending national champion Penn State brings a 1-0 mark into Sunday's dual. The Nittany Lions rolled to a 41-3 victory over Drexel in their Nov. 17 dual meet opener. Penn State wrestlers won nine titles at the Nov. 24 Black Knight Invitational at Army. The Nittany Lions have a wrestler ranked in each weight class, with sophomore Mitchell Mesenbrink (165) and graduate student Carter Starocci (184) ranked No. 1. Starocci is already a four-time NCAA champion at 174. Members of Penn State's probably lineup have combined for six NCAA titles and 15 All-America medals. Levi Haines and Greg Kerkvliet joined Starocci in winning individual NCAA titles last March. NCAA wrestling legend Cael Sanderson is in his 16th season as Penn State's head coach.
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Penn State serves as Lehigh's most-often wrestled opponent. Sunday's dual marks the 112th meeting of Lehigh's most-contested series. Lehigh and Penn State met at least once in 87 consecutive seasons before the 2020-21 meeting was erased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Nittany Lions have won the last 13 duals in the series. Lehigh won the first two duals with Penn State under Pat Santoro, but Santoro is now 2-13 versus the Nittany Lions as Lehigh's head coach. The Mountain Hawks' last dual win over the Nittany Lions was Cael Sanderson's first dual as Penn State head coach in Nov. 2009.
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Sunday's dual begins at 2 p.m. from PPL Center in Allentown. The match is sold out but a limited number of resale tickets are available on TicketMaster.com. The match will be televised live on Service Electric Network 2/502 and streamed at FloWrestling.org.
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Lehigh will break for final exams, which begin Dec. 10 and will return to action on Friday, Dec. 20 when the Mountain Hawks host the 2024 Sheridan Tournament at Stabler Arena. Six teams are confirmed thus far to join the Mountain Hawks in the tournament, which returned in 2023: Brown, Drexel, F&M, Indiana, NC State and Virginia. Lehigh had a trio of champions in last year's event: Sheldon Seymour (125), Max Brignola (157) and Nathan Taylor (285). Wrestling begins at 10 a.m.
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The 2024-25 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
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Follow Lehigh Wrestling on X/Twitter and Instagram and like on Facebook for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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Lehigh Probable Starters (Rankings FloWrestling/InterMat 12/3/24)
125 No. 17/15 Sheldon Seymour (Jr., Troy, Pa.)
133 No. 1 /1 Ryan Crookham (So., Hellertown, Pa.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
141 Carter Bailey (Jr., Livermore, Calif.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
       No. 28/22 Malyke Hines (Sr., Kissimmee, Fla.)      Â
149 No. 31/29 Kelvin Griffin (So., Berwick, Maine)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
        Drew Munch (Sr., East Stroudsburg, Pa.) Â
        Matt Repos (Fy., Palmyra, Pa.)                Â
157 Griffin Gonzalez (Fy., Lebanon, Pa.)
      Logan Rozynski (Fy., Sparta, N.J.)Â
165 Zeke Dubler (Fy., Irvona, Pa.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
       Richie Grungo (Fy., Shamong, N.J.)         Â
       Thayne Lawrence (Sr., Perryopolis, Pa.)   Â
174 Rylan Rogers (So., Coeur d'Alene, Idaho)Â Â Â
184 Caden Rogers (So., Lancaster, Pa.)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
        Jack Wilt (Jr., Madison, N.J.)                   Â
197 No. 6/6 Michael Beard (Sr., Reading, Pa.)Â Â Â
       JT Davis (Jr., Middletown, Del.)                Â
285 Calvin Lachman (Fy., Quakertown, Pa.)
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No. 18 Lehigh raced to an early 6-0 lead, but No. 21 Pitt claimed the next three bouts to take an 11-6 lead on the way to a 21-12 win over the Mountain Hawks Sunday at Fitzgerald Field House. A last-second victory at 141 sparked the Panthers, who took the lead with a technical fall at 149 and never looked back. Six of the 10 bouts were decided by three points or fewer, with Pitt claiming four of those six bouts. Lehigh won the first two bouts with junior Sheldon Seymour winning a 6-3 decision at 125 and first-year Matty Lopes stepping in for Ryan Crookham to defeat Vinnie Santaniello 3-2 with a late takedown. An upset win at 141 sparked the Panthers, who won five of the next six bouts. Seniors Thayne Lawrence (165) and Michael Beard (197) delivered Lehigh's other two victories on the afternoon.
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Lehigh will face its first top five-ranked opponent of the season Sunday. The Mountain Hawks own five dual wins over top five teams under Pat Santoro including two (No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 5 Arizona State) during the 2019-20 season. In addition, Lehigh has defeated No. 1 Cornell in 2010-11, No. 3 Ohio State in 2014-15 and No. 4 Michigan in 2017-18. All of Lehigh's top five wins under Santoro have come at home except for the win over Ohio State, which came at the NWCA National Duals in Iowa City, Iowa.
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Four wrestlers made their Lehigh dual debuts in the win over Morgan State. Deferred first-years Griffin Gonzalez (157) and Zeke Dubler (165) both posted bonus point victories in their first dual appearances for the Brown and White. Deferred first-year Richie Grungo made his dual debut up at 174 against Morgan State, while true first-year Calvin Lachman debuted at heavyweight. Three more Mountain Hawks made their dual debuts at Pitt. First-year Matty Lopes stepped in for Ryan Crookham to win at 133, while first-year Logan Rozynski (157) and sophomore Rylan Rogers (174) also wrestled in their first duals in the Brown and White.
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Over the last 15 years, visits from Penn State have brought some of the largest Lehigh wrestling crowds in program history. Seven years ago, Lehigh nearly upset Penn State in front of a Lehigh home dual meet record crowd of 9,896 at PPL Center in Allentown. Penn State's last four visits to Lehigh have accounted for the four largest dual meet crowds in program history, with Sunday's sold-out match set to make it five straight. Six of the top seven home dual meet crowds and five of the top six Stabler Arena crowds in Lehigh history have come against Penn State. The Grace Hall record attendance is 4,650 from a Lehigh-Navy dual on February 4, 1967.
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Five Lehigh wrestlers appear in the latest rankings from InterMat and FloWrestling, while six are ranked in the WrestleStat top 33. Three Mountain Hawks are ranked by Amateur Wrestling News and The Open Mat. Sophomore Ryan Crookham, the consensus No. 1 at 133, senior Michael Beard (197) and junior Sheldon Seymour (125) are ranked across the board. InterMat, FloWrestling and WrestleStat rank from 1-33, while AWN and The Open Mat rank 1-20.
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Top-ranked and three-time defending national champion Penn State brings a 1-0 mark into Sunday's dual. The Nittany Lions rolled to a 41-3 victory over Drexel in their Nov. 17 dual meet opener. Penn State wrestlers won nine titles at the Nov. 24 Black Knight Invitational at Army. The Nittany Lions have a wrestler ranked in each weight class, with sophomore Mitchell Mesenbrink (165) and graduate student Carter Starocci (184) ranked No. 1. Starocci is already a four-time NCAA champion at 174. Members of Penn State's probably lineup have combined for six NCAA titles and 15 All-America medals. Levi Haines and Greg Kerkvliet joined Starocci in winning individual NCAA titles last March. NCAA wrestling legend Cael Sanderson is in his 16th season as Penn State's head coach.
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Penn State serves as Lehigh's most-often wrestled opponent. Sunday's dual marks the 112th meeting of Lehigh's most-contested series. Lehigh and Penn State met at least once in 87 consecutive seasons before the 2020-21 meeting was erased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Nittany Lions have won the last 13 duals in the series. Lehigh won the first two duals with Penn State under Pat Santoro, but Santoro is now 2-13 versus the Nittany Lions as Lehigh's head coach. The Mountain Hawks' last dual win over the Nittany Lions was Cael Sanderson's first dual as Penn State head coach in Nov. 2009.
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Sunday's dual begins at 2 p.m. from PPL Center in Allentown. The match is sold out but a limited number of resale tickets are available on TicketMaster.com. The match will be televised live on Service Electric Network 2/502 and streamed at FloWrestling.org.
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Lehigh will break for final exams, which begin Dec. 10 and will return to action on Friday, Dec. 20 when the Mountain Hawks host the 2024 Sheridan Tournament at Stabler Arena. Six teams are confirmed thus far to join the Mountain Hawks in the tournament, which returned in 2023: Brown, Drexel, F&M, Indiana, NC State and Virginia. Lehigh had a trio of champions in last year's event: Sheldon Seymour (125), Max Brignola (157) and Nathan Taylor (285). Wrestling begins at 10 a.m.
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The 2024-25 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
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| Date: | December 8, 2024 |
| Opponent: | No. 1 Penn State Nittany Lions |
| First match: | 2:05 p.m. |
| Arena: | PPL Center |
| Location: | Allentown, Pa. |
| Lehigh's record: | 1-1 overall, 1-0 EIWA |
| Penn State's record: | 1-0 overall, 0-0 B1G |
| Series: | Penn State leads 74-34-3 |
| Streak: | Penn State has won the last 13 duals in the series |
| Television: | Service Electric Network 2/502 |
| Radio: | None |
| Internet broadcast: | Video on FloWrestling.org |
Follow Lehigh Wrestling on X/Twitter and Instagram and like on Facebook for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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Players Mentioned
141
/ Men's Wrestling
197
/ Men's Wrestling
157/165
/ Men's Wrestling
133
/ Men's Wrestling
197
/ Men's Wrestling
165
/ Men's Wrestling
157
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
165
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
285
/ Men's Wrestling
165/174
/ Men's Wrestling
125/133
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
184
/ Men's Wrestling
174/184
/ Men's Wrestling
157
/ Men's Wrestling
125
/ Men's Wrestling
285
/ Men's Wrestling
184
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