Wrestling Blogs - Joe Williamson

Alright guys, the season has begun and we got our first taste of wrestling from the super 32, the Buffalo Open, and the Iron Horse. Now this Sunday we bring you the first dual of the year. We could not be more excited to kick off the dual season with Maryland traveling to the Lehigh Valley to wrestle the Mountain Hawks.

Besides that fact that two great teams will be stepping on the mat to battle through ten weight classes head to head, this dual has an interesting background story. Pat Santoro was the assistant coach for the Hawks for nine years before he took over the head coaching job at Maryland for five years. During those five years, Santoro coached the Terps to its first ACC title in 35 years, entered the national rankings for the first time since 93, and produced Maryland's first All-American since 97. During his last two years at Maryland, the team finished with a 33-9 dual meet record. Now Pat Santoro will be squaring off in his first dual meet back at Lehigh against the team he coached for the past 5 years.

If this is not enough, Marylands head coach, Kerry McCoy, spent time on Lehigh's coaching staff. Before becoming Stanfords head coach and coaching the Cardinals to their second highest finish ever. McCoy also coached along side Santoro at Lehigh. He helped 14 wrestlers at Lehigh earn All-American honors and two national champs. Finally, it may be noted that while McCoy was wrestling at Penn State, Pat Santoro was on staff at Penn State.

We hope to be LIVE on Sunday Nov. 9th for the Maryland at Lehigh dual 1:00 P.M. ET. SEE YOU THEN!!!!