Four Mountain Hawks earn seeds as NCAA Championship brackets announced Wednesday
3/9/2016 6:41:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
Brackets
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Four of Lehigh's nine qualifiers earned seeds as the seeds and brackets for next week's NCAA Wrestling Championships at New York's Madison Square Garden were announced Wednesday evening. Leading the way for the Mountain Hawks is sophomore Darian Cruz, who earned the No. 7 seed at 125. Also earning seeds were seniors Nathaniel Brown and Max Wessell and junior Randy Cruz.
Darian Cruz's bid for a second All-America honor will begin against Wisconsin's Johnny Jimenez. Wessell is the next highest seeded Mountain Hawk as he is seeded eighth at 285. The EIWA Champion is one of three Mountain Hawks who drew EIWA opponents in the first round. He will open with Hofstra's Mike Hughes, in a rematch of the EIWA semifinals, won by Wessell 7-2.
Last year, Brown reached the national finals as the No. 7 seed. This time around he will come from a lower seed as he was seeded 10th. Like Darian Cruz, Brown will open with a Wisconsin wrestler, Ryan Christensen.
Randy Cruz garnered the No. 16 seed at 141 and also has an EIWA opponent in round one. He will face Princeton's Jordan Laster, who he pinned in a dual meet in December, and beat twice last year including the EIWA finals.
Senior John Bolich will be the first Mountain Hawk on the mats next Thursday. Bolich drew a pigtail round matchup with Shawn Scott of Northern Illinois at 197. The winner of that match will get the No. 9 seed Reuben Franklin of Cal State Bakersfield in the round of 32.
The other four unseeded Lehigh wrestlers drew seeded opponents. Senior two-time All-American Mason Beckman drew arguably the toughest opening round matchup in top seed Nahshon Garrett of Cornell in round one at 133. Garrett defeated Beckman 12-1 in the EIWA finals on Sunday.
At 149, junior Laike Gardner was paired with No. 12 seed Geo Martinez of Boise State.
The two Lehigh freshmen drew double-digit seeds in round one. Ryan Preisch will face No. 15 Clark Glass of Oklahoma at 165. Preisch beat Glass 5-2 in Lehigh's 30-7 win at Oklahoma in December. Gordon Wolf will open with No. 13 seed Alex Meyer of Iowa at 174.
Action at the 86th NCAA Championships begins Thursday March 17 New York's Madison Square Garden and runs through Saturday March 19. Live audio for all of Lehigh's NCAA Tournament action will be broadcast online at Lehighsports.com, while for the third straight year the entire tournament will be televised by the ESPN family of networks (Sessions 1-3, 5 on ESPNU, sessions 4 and 6 on ESPN) and streaming coverage of every mat will be available online via ESPN3 and WatchESPN.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Four of Lehigh's nine qualifiers earned seeds as the seeds and brackets for next week's NCAA Wrestling Championships at New York's Madison Square Garden were announced Wednesday evening. Leading the way for the Mountain Hawks is sophomore Darian Cruz, who earned the No. 7 seed at 125. Also earning seeds were seniors Nathaniel Brown and Max Wessell and junior Randy Cruz.
Darian Cruz's bid for a second All-America honor will begin against Wisconsin's Johnny Jimenez. Wessell is the next highest seeded Mountain Hawk as he is seeded eighth at 285. The EIWA Champion is one of three Mountain Hawks who drew EIWA opponents in the first round. He will open with Hofstra's Mike Hughes, in a rematch of the EIWA semifinals, won by Wessell 7-2.
Last year, Brown reached the national finals as the No. 7 seed. This time around he will come from a lower seed as he was seeded 10th. Like Darian Cruz, Brown will open with a Wisconsin wrestler, Ryan Christensen.
Randy Cruz garnered the No. 16 seed at 141 and also has an EIWA opponent in round one. He will face Princeton's Jordan Laster, who he pinned in a dual meet in December, and beat twice last year including the EIWA finals.
Senior John Bolich will be the first Mountain Hawk on the mats next Thursday. Bolich drew a pigtail round matchup with Shawn Scott of Northern Illinois at 197. The winner of that match will get the No. 9 seed Reuben Franklin of Cal State Bakersfield in the round of 32.
The other four unseeded Lehigh wrestlers drew seeded opponents. Senior two-time All-American Mason Beckman drew arguably the toughest opening round matchup in top seed Nahshon Garrett of Cornell in round one at 133. Garrett defeated Beckman 12-1 in the EIWA finals on Sunday.
At 149, junior Laike Gardner was paired with No. 12 seed Geo Martinez of Boise State.
The two Lehigh freshmen drew double-digit seeds in round one. Ryan Preisch will face No. 15 Clark Glass of Oklahoma at 165. Preisch beat Glass 5-2 in Lehigh's 30-7 win at Oklahoma in December. Gordon Wolf will open with No. 13 seed Alex Meyer of Iowa at 174.
Action at the 86th NCAA Championships begins Thursday March 17 New York's Madison Square Garden and runs through Saturday March 19. Live audio for all of Lehigh's NCAA Tournament action will be broadcast online at Lehighsports.com, while for the third straight year the entire tournament will be televised by the ESPN family of networks (Sessions 1-3, 5 on ESPNU, sessions 4 and 6 on ESPN) and streaming coverage of every mat will be available online via ESPN3 and WatchESPN.
Players Mentioned
133
/ Men's Wrestling
197
/ Men's Wrestling
184
/ Men's Wrestling
125
/ Men's Wrestling
141
/ Men's Wrestling
149
/ Men's Wrestling
165
/ Men's Wrestling
285
/ Men's Wrestling
174
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