Three Mountain Hawks Advance To NCAA Quarterfinals

KANSAS CITY – The Lehigh wrestling team advanced three wrestlers to Friday's championship quarterfinals at session two of the NCAA Championships, Thursday night at T-Mobile Center. First-year Ryan Crookham (133), junior Michael Beard (197) and sophomore Nathan Taylor (285) all won Thursday night to advance to the quarterfinals on an evening where Lehigh went 3-5 in the session.

The Mountain Hawks finished day one with 10.5 points and are tied for 17th place.

Crookham, the No. 2 seed at 133, defeated No. 15 Brody Teske of Iowa by an 8-3 decision Thursday night. Crookham scored a pair of quick first period takedowns and added a second period reversal, while showcasing strong defense. He will next face the No. 7 seed Nasir Bailey of Little Rock in Friday's quarterfinals.

Beard registered his second bonus win of the day and 26th of the season with a 12-3 major decision over Evan Bockman of Utah Valley. The No. 4 seed at 197, Beard totaled three takedowns in the first two periods and added an escape, a penalty point for stalling and riding time. Next up for Beard is No. 12 seed Rocky Elam of Missouri.

Taylor capped the evening session for Lehigh with an impressive 6-1 decision over Konner Doucet of Oklahoma State. The fifth-seeded Taylor struck for the only takedown of the bout 13 seconds into the opening period and proceeded to ride out. He added an escape and a point for locked hands and riding time to defeat Doucet for the second time this season. Taylor will next face No. 4 seed Cohlton Schultz of Arizona State.

The only Mountain Hawk knocked out of the championship bracket Thursday night was first-year Luke Stanich, who dropped a 4-1, sudden-victory decision to Nebraska's Caleb Smith. The bout was tied 1-1 through regulation before Smith converted a low double leg shot for a takedown early in the sudden victory period. Stanich's first wrestleback will be against Dean Peterson of Rutgers.

All four Mountain Hawks who lost in Thursday's afternoon session were eliminated in close decisions Thursday night.

Senior Jake Logan was eliminated after giving up a takedown in sudden victory to lose 4-1 to Virginia's Nick Hamilton. Logan was 12-13 this season and finishes his Lehigh career at 40-49.

After scoring the first takedown, junior Malyke Hines led Columbia's Kai Owen rally, eventually going ahead late and holding on for a 10-9 decision to eliminate Hines at 141. Hines wraps up his junior campaign at 18-9.

First-year Kelvin Griffin went 0-2 at his first NCAA championships after falling 7-1 to Rutgers' Michael Cetta at 149. Griffin finished his first season at 26-11 with a Lehigh first-year record 15 falls.

Junior Max Brignola was done in by a second period takedown in a 5-2 loss to Legend Lamer of Cal Poly. Brignola also finishes his season at 18-9.

Penn State leads the team race with 34.5 points, with Iowa and Iowa State tied for second (24.5) and Michigan and NC State tied for fourth (22).

The 2024 NCAA Championships continue Friday morning with session three, featuring the quarterfinals and two rounds of consolations, beginning at 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT. Session three will be televised on ESPNU with streaming video of every mat available on ESPN+.

The 2023-24 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.

125 – No. 2 Luke Stanich
Rd. of 32: major dec. No. 31 Tyler Klinsky (Rider) 11-2
Rd. of 16: L by dec. No. 15 Caleb Smith (Nebraska) 4-1, sv
Second round consolation: No. 16 Dean Peterson (Rutgers)

133 – No. 2 Ryan Crookham
Rd. of 32: dec. No. 31 Maximillian Leete (American) 4-3
Rd. of 16: dec. No. 15 Brody Teske (Iowa) 8-3
Quarterfinal: No. 7 Nasir Bailey (Little Rock)

141 – No. 19 Malyke Hines - eliminated
Rd. of 32: L by dec. No. 14 Jesse Vasquez (Arizona State) 5-2
First round consolation: L by dec. No. 30 Kai Owen (Columbia) 10-9

149 – No. 16 Kelvin Griffin - eliminated
Rd. of 32: L by dec. No. 17 Graham Rooks (Indiana) 12-5
First round consolation: L by dec. No. 33 Michael Cetta (Rutgers) 7-1

157 – No. 20 Max Brignola - eliminated
Rd. of 32: L by dec. No. 13 Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) 6-4
First round consolation: L by dec. No. 26 Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) 5-2

165 – No. 32 Jake Logan - eliminated
Pigtail: L by major dec. No. 33 Jack Thomsen (UNI) 14-3
Consolation pigtail: L by dec. No. 30 Nick Hamilton (Virginia) 4-1, sv

197 – No. 4 Michael Beard
Rd. of 32: tech fall No. 29 Justin Rademacher (Oregon State) 26-10, 4:02
Rd. of 16: major dec. No. 20 Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) 12-3
Quarterfinal: No. 12 Rocky Elam (Missouri)

285 – No. 5 Nathan Taylor
Rd. of 32: dec. No. 28 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) 11-4
Rd. of 16: dec. No. 12 Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State) 6-1
Quarterfinal: No. 4 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State)

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Three Mountain Hawks Advance To NCAA Quarterfinals

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Players Mentioned

Michael Beard

Max Brignola

Ryan Crookham

Kelvin Griffin

Malyke Hines

Jake Logan

Luke Stanich

Nathan Taylor

Lehigh University Athletics

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Three Mountain Hawks Advance To NCAA Quarterfinals

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Michael Beard

Max Brignola

Ryan Crookham

Kelvin Griffin

Malyke Hines

Jake Logan

Luke Stanich

Nathan Taylor

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