It's October, and you know what that means. This is the month official practice starts, the month in which weights are certified and teams have their wrestle-offs.

In that vein, we have been going over lineups for teams all across the country. Our lineup look for today focuses on Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, home to the storied Lehigh program.

After crowning their first national champion since 2011, the Mountain Hawks' offseason started with rumors of head coach Pat Santoro's potential departure. But he's back for his 10th season, with six ranked wrestlers in the lineup.

Lehigh Lineup Option 1

125: No. 3 Darian Cruz
133: No. 4 Scotty Parker
141: Luke Karam
149: Cortlandt Schuyler
157: No. 16 Cole Walter
165: No. 7 Jordan Kutler
174: No. 6 Ryan Preisch
184: Chris Weiler
197: Jake Jakobsen
285: No. 18 Jordan Wood

It took Darian Cruz about four years, but he grew into a full-sized 125-pounder and a national champ at that. Cruz has always been a dynamic wrestler, but his creativity is what put him over the top in St. Louis this past March. His behind-the-head low single finish against Thomas Gilman and roll-through single off a whizzer in the finals against Ethan Lizak were the differences in those matches.



Scotty Parker starts the year ranked in the top five of a wide-open 133-pound weight class. Parker was surrounded by Darian and Randy Cruz last year, and it's easy to see how all three developed into All-Americans. Parker is very strong from both an inside tie and collar tie and has some of the smoothest level changes on his low-leg attacks, gliding into his singles and doubles.

Returning All Americans: 133

If you don't follow the redshirt scene, your last big memory of Luke Karam may be him riding out and turning Daton Fix at Super 32 in 2015. Karam spent the majority of his true freshman season wrestling 141, but he did post wins over two-time All-American Earl Hall and NCAA qualifier Alex Madrigal at the Midlands down at 133.

Cortlandt Schuyler is yet another example of Lehigh taking a guy who only placed once at Pennsylvania states and turning them into the caliber of a NCAA qualifier or better. The son of former Mountain Hawk All-American Pete Schuyler, the junior has career wins over Jimmy Gulibon, Brock Zacherl, Tyler Smith, and Zach Finesilver.

Besides doing an excellent Jon Snow impression in his team picture, No. 16 Cole Walter should also be Lehigh's starter at 157 this year. The "Mifflinburg Mustache" qualified for NCAAs last year up at 165lb.

Lehigh Lineup Option 2

125: No. 3 Darian Cruz
133: No. 4 Scotty Parker
141: Luke Karam
149: Cortlandt Schuyler
157: No. 16 Cole Walter
165: Drew Longo/Ian Brown
174: No. 7 Jordan Kutler
184: No. 6 Ryan Preisch
197: Chris Weiler
285: No. 18 Jordan Wood

Lehigh's lineup questions this year center around Jordan Kutler. Despite losing only one match last season, he didn't weigh in for the EIWA tournament at 157. Three months later, he wrestled 176lb (on day before weigh-ins) at University Nationals and won. Right now, we have Kutler ranked at 165, but there is still a chance he bumps up to 174.



The thing about Kutler bumping all the way up to 174 is that Ryan Preisch could be more than OK with it. He wrestled 189lb at University Nationals, and 174 was not exactly an easy cut for him. Preisch was one of the strongest 174s in the country and can finish a single leg on just about anyone because he is so adept at keeping one or both of his opponent's feet off the ground.

Let's get into some options for Santoro and his staff. If Kutler stays at 165, Chris Weiler will be the man at 184 and Jake Jakobsen will man 197. If Kutler bumps, Weiler could still go but would be an undersized 197, and the coaches may still go with Jakobsen. On the other end, it will come down to Ian Brown or Drew Longo at 165.

Who's #1 alum Jordan Wood enters the fold at 285 as one of the more intriguing heavyweight prospects of the past few years. A 2014 cadet world silver medalist, Wood would also go on to make the 2016 junior world team. His misdirection single powered him to a 12-3 record during his redshirt year, and he should now be a four year starter for the Brown and White.

The last time Lehigh finished in the top 10 was 2012, when the Mountain Hawks were eighth with 61 points. They may finally break through this year, with four guys on pace to finish as All-Americans based on their preseason rankings as well as the common belief that Jordan Wood can climb into that range this season. We have them No. 6 in our rankings right now, meaning a lot would have to go wrong for other teams to knock them out of the single-digit range.

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