BETHLEHEM, Pa. – In its first action of 2013, No. 25 Lehigh welcomes EIWA rival and eighth-ranked Cornell to Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall Sunday afternoon. Both teams enjoyed success in recent holiday tournament action. The Mountain Hawks were the only school to place three wrestlers in the finals at the Midlands Championships as Lehigh finished sixth as a team. Cornell finished fourth at the Southern Scuffle on the strength of two individual champions.
Top five-ranked rivals Robert Hamlin and Steve Bosak are expected to meet at 184, with Hamlin leading the series 4-1. Two years ago, Lehigh knocked off the then-No. 1 ranked Big Red 17-15 at Stabler Arena. These two teams will be meeting at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall for the first time since 2005.
The Mountain Hawks placed three wrestlers in the finals en route to a sixth place finish at the 50th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships last weekend. Lehigh was the only school to place three wrestlers in the finals, but the Mountain Hawks were unable to crown a champion as junior Joey Napoli, sophomore Nathaniel Brown and t Hamlin all lost decisions in finals bouts. Four of Lehigh’s ten point scorers placed in the tournament with senior Shane Welsh joining the three finalists with a seventh place finish at 149. In addition sophomore Mason Beckman (4th) and freshman Randy Cruz (7th) both placed at 133 while competing unattached.
Brown enjoyed perhaps the most surprising performance of any Lehigh wrestler at the Midlands Championships. The No. 9 seed at 174, Brown reached the finals, defeating a pair of top ten wrestlers (Jordan Blanton of Illinois and Dan Yates of Michigan) along the way. He also scored the first takedown in his finals match versus Robert Kokesh of Nebraska before falling 8-4. Brown qualified for NCAAs as a freshman last season but was unable to compete due to injury. Thanks to his Midlands performance, he jumped eight spots from No. 19 to No. 11 in the latest InterMat rankings.
Cornell, the six-time defending EIWA Champions, brings a 4-2 dual record into Sunday’s match. While Lehigh was at the Midlands Championships, Cornell competed at the Southern Scuffle, Jan. 1-2 in Chattanooga, Tenn., where the Big Red finished fifth in a 24-team field. Cornell crowned two champions in Mike Nevinger (141) and Kyle Dake (165), the latter of whom is ranked No.1 in the country at his weight class and is a three-time NCAA Champion who is bidding to win four titles at four different weight classes. The Big Red features a second returning National Champion in senior Steve Bosak at 184. Bosak is currently ranked No. 2 by Amateur Wrestling News. He has lost EIWA finals to Lehigh’s Robert Hamlin in each of the last two seasons.
In total, Cornell has seven wrestlers ranked by A.W.N. The Big Red are 4-2 in duals, with wins over Binghamton, Drexel, Central Michigan and Oklahoma and losses to Missouri and Oklahoma State. Cornell also won the N.Y. State Collegiate Tournament and placed third at the Las Vegas Invitational.
Lehigh and Cornell will meet for the 90th time Sunday afternoon. The Big Red serve as Lehigh’s third most often wrestled opponent, behind just Penn State and Navy. The Mountain Hawks have won seven of the last ten duals in the series.
Sunday’s match gets underway at 2 p.m. from Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. A limited number of tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling 610-7LU-GAME or by logging on to Lehighsports.com.
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Date:
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January 6, 2013
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Opponent:
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No. 8 Cornell Big Red
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First match:
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2:05 p.m.
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Arena:
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Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall
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Location:
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Bethlehem, Pa.
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Lehigh’s Record:
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3-3 overall, 0-1 EIWA
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Cornell’s Record:
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4-2 overall, 0-0 EIWA
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Series:
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Lehigh leads 59-26-3
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Streak:
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Cornell won last year’s meeting.
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Television:
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Service Electric 2 Sports Live with Doug Heater and Kyle Berger
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Radio:
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WLVR-FM (91.3) with Steve Lomangino and Gary Brownell beginning at 1:45 p.m.
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Internet broadcast:
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Video and audio at Lehighsports.com
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Behind enemy lines:
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