Posted: 02/09/2012
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After a weekend off from competition, No. 15 Lehigh heads to New England for its final road trip of the dual meet season. The Mountain Hawks will first head to Providence, R.I. to meet Brown on Saturday before facing off against Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. on Sunday. Two weeks ago Lehigh split two matches on its longest road trip of the season, winning at Central Michigan on January 27 before falling at Oklahoma two days later.
Lehigh should be helped by the expected returns of senior Joe Kennedy and junior Shane Welsh to the lineup at 197 and 149 respectively, while senior heavyweight Zach Rey is on the verge of the school’s career dual meet wins record.
Kennedy and Welsh are two of the Mountain Hawks’ three place winners from the Midlands Championships and have combined to wrestle just once since late December. Kennedy suffered a hand injury prior to Lehigh’s dual at Cornell. Prior to his injury, Kennedy was 14-4 on the season and ranked in the top ten at 197, where he fell one in shy of All-American status a year ago. At 149, a weight class where Lehigh had three Midlands entries, Welsh earned a spot in the top eight and then defaulted to eighth place with a knee injury. He returned to pick up a win in the dual against Navy but has been out of the lineup ever since. Welsh owns a strong 16-5 mark this season.
Brown brings a 6-9 dual meet mark into a very busy weekend of wrestling. The Bears’ Saturday afternoon dual with Lehigh will be their fourth of the weekend after Brown wrestles Boston University and Roger Williams on Friday and Harvard prior to the Mountain Hawks on Saturday. Brown upset Princeton 28-21 last Friday but enters this weekend looking to bounce back from losses to Penn and Drexel last Saturday.
Dave Amato is in his 26th season as Brown’s head coach, while Brown assistant coach John Clark spent the 2006-07 season at Lehigh as a volunteer assistant on Greg Strobel’s staff. The Bears have no wrestlers ranked by Amateur Wrestling News, but freshman Ophir Bernstein is ranked 31st at 184 in the NCAA Coaches’ Panel Rankings. Bernstein is ranked fourth in the latest EIWA rankings, while Billy Watterson is ranked fifth at 125.
Harvard has historically been a better tournament team than a dual team, with a history of several strong individuals amongst the Crimson lineup. The Crimson’s early-season schedule was heavy on tournaments, but since January 1, Harvard is 5-6 in dual meets after upsetting Penn 23-19 last Saturday before falling to Princeton 25-14. The Crimson will face Brown and Boston University on Saturday before Lehigh visits the Malkin Athletic Center on Sunday.
Lehigh Valley native Jay Weiss is in his 18th season at Harvard. His team features three wrestlers ranked nationally by Amateur Wrestling News. The highest-ranked Crimson is Corey Jantzen at 149, but Jantzen is not listed among Harvard’s probable starters. Harvard also has 11th-ranked Walter Peppelman at 157 and No. 12 Steven Keith at 133. Peppelman is ranked fourth in the first Coaches’ Panel rankings, while James Fox also appears in the rankings at 197.
Lehigh has dominated the all-time series against both teams it will face this weekend. The Mountain Hawks are a combined 32-5 all-time versus Harvard and Brown and have won their last 14 duals against the Bears and their last 13 versus the Crimson.
Action begins Saturday afternoon when Lehigh visits Brown at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon’s Lehigh-Harvard dual is slated for a 1 p.m. start. Both duals can be heard on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 as well as Lehighsports.com with coverage beginning 15 minutes prior to both duals.
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Date:
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February 11, 2012
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Opponent:
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Brown Bears
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First match:
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3:00 p.m.
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Arena:
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Pizzitola Sports Center (2,800)
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Location:
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Providence, R.I.
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Lehigh’s record:
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9-5 overall, 4-1 EIWA
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Brown’s record:
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6-9, 3-4 EIWA
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Series:
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Lehigh leads 18-4
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Streak:
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Lehigh has won the last 14 duals
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Television:
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None
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Radio:
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ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 with Steve Lomangino beginning at 2:45 p.m.
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Internet broadcast:
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Live audio at Lehighsports.com
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Behind enemy lines:
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Date:
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February 12, 2012
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Opponent:
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Harvard Crimson
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First match:
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12:00 p.m.
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Arena:
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Malkin Athletic Center (1,400)
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Location:
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Cambridge, Mass.
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Lehigh’s record:
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9-5 overall, 4-1 EIWA
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Harvard’s record:
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5-6, 2-4 EIWA
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Series:
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Lehigh leads 14-1
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Streak:
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Lehigh has won the last 13 duals
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Television:
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None
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Radio:
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ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 with Steve Lomangino beginning at 11:45 a.m.
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Internet broadcast:
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Live audio at Lehighsports.com
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Behind enemy lines:
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