BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh wrestling team leaves the friendly confines of Bethlehem for the first time this dual season as the Mountain Hawks return to Troy, N.Y. for the Northeast Duals Saturday at Hudson Valley Community College. The Mountain Hawks have competed at the Northeast Duals in five of the first seven years of its existence and return to New York’s capital region for the first time since 2011. Lehigh will be looking to bounce back from a tough one-point home loss to Pittsburgh last Friday. The Mountain Hawks won five of the first six bouts against the Panthers claimed the last four including a major decision at 184 and overtime decisions at 197 and heavyweight. At the Northeast Duals, Lehigh will square off against a tough Central Michigan squad, 11th-ranked Virginia and EIWA foe Columbia.

 

Three Mountain Hawks are ranked in the latest Amateur Wrestling News poll. Sophomore Laike Gardner joined Mason Beckman and Joey Napoli in the rankings last week and shot up four spots to No. 15 this week after his dramatic come-from-behind win versus. Gardner also entered the InterMat rankings at No. 20 at 141 with freshman Mitch Minotti ranked 19th at 149. Four Mountain Hawks are ranked by W.I.N. Magazine.

 

The Mountain Hawks roster features five wrestlers who hail from New York State, including three who are expected to make the trip to the Northeast Duals. Junior Jim Carucci and senior Austin Meys both attended Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park, N.Y., near Albany. Freshman Zach Diekel hails from Whitehall, north of Albany near the Vermont state border. Sophomore Ben Haas hails from Little Valley in the western part of the state, while freshman Drew Longo is from Ardsley in Westchester County, just north of New York City.

 

Lehigh is making its sixth trip in the last seven years to the Northeast Duals, which is now in its eighth year of existence overall. The Mountain Hawks went 3-0 in 2011 with wins over Arizona State, North Carolina and Purdue. Lehigh is now 13-4 all-time at the Northeast Duals, including an 0-1 mark versus Central Michigan and a 1-1 record against Virginia.

 

Central Michigan enters the Northeast Duals with a 2-2 dual meet record. The Chippewas have also been active on the tournament circuit, sending wrestlers to both the Michigan State and Eastern Michigan Opens this month. Last time out, Central Michigan dropped an 18-13 decision to No. 23 Stanford Monday night in a match that pitted Chippewa coach Tom Borelli against his son Jason, the head coach at Stanford. That loss dropped the Chippewas from the national dual meet rankings.

 

Central MichiganÂ’s lineup features four wrestlers ranked by Amateur Wrestling News, including a pair of Lehigh Valley natives. Zach Horan from Nazareth is ranked 14th at 141 while Mike Ottinger from Parkland is ranked 14th at 174. Freshman Cory Keener from Blue Mountain High School in Schuylkill Haven is ranked 12th at 125. Illinois product Joe Roth is ranked 12th at 133. In addition to Lehigh, Central Michigan will wrestle North Carolina and Sacred Heart at the Northeast Duals.

 

Virginia brings an impressive 6-1 dual record into the Northeast Duals. The Cavaliers are coming off an upset of arch rival and eighth ranked Virginia Tech Sunday by a 19-16 score in Charlottesville, Va. The win snapped an eight match losing streak against the Hokies. VirginiaÂ’s lone loss came by a 19-17 score against Wisconsin at the Hokie Duals.

 

The CavaliersÂ’ probable lineup features five ranked wrestlers led by Nick Sulzer who is ranked fourth at 165. Juniors Joe Spisak and Gus Sako are ranked 11th at 141 and 149 respectively, while seniors Stephen Doty and Jon Fausey come in at No. 17 at 174 and 184 respectively. Steve Garland is in his eighth season as the head coach at UVa. The Cavaliers will battle Clarion and Rutgers in addition to the Mountain Hawks in New York.

 

Columbia opens its dual season at the Northeast Duals. So far this season the Lions have sent a contingent to the Michigan State Open and last weekend the Lions finished fifth at the New York State Championships at Cornell.

 

Junior Eric Fajardo captured the 174 pound title to lead the Lions, while seniors Penn Gottfried (125) and Matt Bystol (141) earned runner-up finishes for the Lions. Bystol is the only Lion wrestler ranked by Amateur Wrestling News as he comes in at No. 18 at 141. Lehigh followers will remember Bystol as the Columbia wrestler who lost to Mountain Hawk Randy Cruz in last yearÂ’s EIWA finals at 133. Carl Fronhofer is in his third season as ColumbiaÂ’s head coach. The Lions will also wrestle Clarion and Michigan State at the Northeast Duals.

 

Historically, Lehigh is 3-2 all-time against Central Michigan with recent victories against the Chippewas in December 2010 and January 2012. The Mountain Hawks are 5-2 against Virginia with two of those meetings coming at the Northeast Duals. Although they both compete in the EIWA, Lehigh and Columbia havenÂ’t met in a dual since 2007. Lehigh holds a 16-1 lead in the series. Prior to the 2007 meeting, the previous meeting between Lehigh and Columbia was in January 1997.

 

Action gets underway at 11:15 a.m. Saturday when Lehigh meets Central Michigan at the McDonough Sports Complex at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, N.Y. The Mountain Hawks will face No. 11 Virginia at 1:30 p.m. before wrapping-up the day against Columbia at 3:30.

 

There will be no broadcast coverage of the Northeast Duals, but fans are encouraged to follow the action with live scoring at trackwrestling.com. Live updates will also be available on Twitter @LehighSports and @LehighWrestling.

 

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Steve Lomangino
Media Relations Director - Lehigh University Athletics
sjl304@lehigh.edu
610-758-3174