BETHLEHEM, Pa. - No. 21 Lehigh will wrestle its third consecutive two-dual weekend. On Friday, the Mountain Hawks will wrap-up a five-match road swing with an EIWA dual at Columbia before returning to Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall Saturday for a nationally-ranked showdown against No. 17 Arizona State. The Mountain Hawks had their second straight 1-1 weekend last weekend, falling at Penn Friday night before bouncing back with a 21-16 victory at Navy. Sophomore
Malyke Hines opened the Navy dual with his second ranked win at 141 in as many weeks. Hines, graduate student
Tate Samuelson (184) and sophomore
Michael Beard (197) are all 4-0 in duals thus far in 2023. Beard picked up a pair of technical falls last weekend to improve to 11-2 on the season.
Saturday's match with Arizona State is Lehigh's first home dual since Dec. 4 and its first inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall since Nov. 12. Saturday's dual will be a white out, with a free Lehigh wrestling rally towel giveaway for all fans in attendance.
Lehigh Probable Starters
125
Carter Bailey (Fy., Livermore, Calif.)
Killian Delaney (Fy., West Chester, Pa.)
133 No. 6
Connor McGonagle (So., Danville, N.H.)
141 No. 28
Malyke Hines (So., Kissimmee, Fla.)
149
Max Brignola (So., Rumson, N.J.)
Manzona Bryant IV (So., Columbus, Ohio)
157 No. 5
Josh Humphreys (Sr., Parkersburg, W. Va.)
Paul Watkins (So., Cumming, Ga.)
165
Luca Frinzi (So., Quakertown, Pa.)
Connor Herceg (Fy., Nazareth, Pa.)
174
Jake Logan (So., New Rochelle, N.Y.)
184 No. 19
Tate Samuelson (Gr., Castle Rock, Colo.)
197 No. 3
Michael Beard (So., Reading, Pa.)
285 No. 31
Nathan Taylor (Fy.. Brookville, Pa.)
Lehigh won five of the first seven bouts on the way to a 21-16 victory over Navy, Jan. 21 at Alumni Hall. Sophomore
Malyke Hines set the tone early with a win over nationally-ranked Josh Koderhandt and after the Mids came back within 17-10, first-year
Carter Bailey clinched the victory with a major decision at 125. Hines (141) and
Manzona Bryant IV (149) opened the dual with victories and after Navy won two straight bouts to even the score at 6-6, the Mountain Hawks took control with three straight victories. Sophomore
Jake Logan and graduate student
Tate Samuelson won decisions and sophomore
Michael Beard won by technical fall to give Lehigh a 17-6 lead with three bouts remaining. Three four-point tilts by Bailey in the third period gave him a 16-3 major decision, clinching the dual for the Mountain Hawks.
Eight Lehigh wrestlers appear in the first NCAA coaches' ranking, announced Jan. 19. The Mountain Hawks have three wrestlers in the top five in their respective weight classes, led by sophomore
Michael Beard, who is third at 197. The coaches' ranking is one of several criteria that will be evaluated by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee during the at-large selection and seeding process for the NCAA Championships. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. Wrestlers must have eight Division I matches in the weight class to be considered with at least one within the last 30 days. The second coaches' ranking and first RPI will be announced in early February.
Lehigh's roster features a pair of accomplished transfer student-athletes who have been regulars in the Lehigh lineup. Sophomore
Michael Beard comes to Lehigh from Penn State, where he earned All-America honors in 2021 with a seventh place finish at 197. Beard has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Tate Samuelson comes to Lehigh as a graduate transfer after four years at Wyoming where he was a four-time NCAA qualifier. Both wrestlers are 4-0 in duals in the new year. Beard is up to 11-2 on the season while Samuelson is now 11-7.
Lehigh has a wrestler ranked in six out of 10 weight classes in the latest rankings from InterMat, with sophomore
Malyke Hines returning to the rankings at 141. Six Mountain Hawks are also ranked by both FloWrestling and WrestleStat, while four are ranked by Amateur Wrestling News. Senior
Josh Humphreys (157) and sophomores
Connor McGonagle (133) and
Michael Beard (197) are all ranked in the top six by InterMat, FloWrestling and AWN. Graduate student
Tate Samuelson is the fourth Mountain Hawk to appear in all four polls.
Columbia brings a 2-5 dual mark into Friday night's match in New York. The Lions split a pair of home duals last weekend, defeating Princeton 27-13 Friday night before falling to Penn 25-9 on Sunday. All four of Columbia's non-league duals have come against nationally-ranked opponents (Ohio State, Michigan, Pitt and Oklahoma State). Six Lions appear in the latest InterMat rankings, led by Josh Ogunsanya, who is ranked 16th at 165. Cesar Alvan (157) and Matt Kazimir (141) are also ranked in the top 26 at their respective weight classes. Kazimir, Alvan and Ogunsanya accounted for Columbia's victories in the dual against Penn. Zach Tanelli is in his seventh season as Columbia's head coach.
Lehigh and Columbia will meet for the 21st time with Lehigh owning a 19-1 lead in the series. The Mountain Hawks have won 13 straight duals in the series since Columbia picked up its only win by a 17-8 margin on Feb. 18, 1922. Lehigh and Columbia met 13 times from 1913 to 1931 and have only met four times in this century. Friday's dual marks the Lions' first dual in Levien Gymnasium since 2007.
Pat Santoro is 3-0 versus Columbia as Lehigh's head coach.
Arizona State brings a 3-4 record into Saturday's dual. The Sun Devils were ranked in the top 10 most of the season and are coming off a 25-14 win at Stanford, which snapped a four dual losing streak. Arizona State returns to Bethlehem for the second time this season, after competing at the two Journeymen events in November. Seven Sun Devils appear in the InterMat rankings, with four in the top 10 led by Michael McGee (No. 4 at 133) and Kyle Parco (No. 5 at 149). Former U.S. National Team head coach Zeke Jones is in his ninth season as head coach at his alma mater.
Lehigh and Arizona State meet for the 11th time. The Sun Devils' win last February snapped a six dual Lehigh winning streak in the series. Lehigh is 3-0 all-time against Arizona State in Bethlehem.
Friday's Lehigh-Columbia dual begins at 7 p.m. from Levien Gymnasium in New York. The dual will be streamed on ESPN+ with audio coverage on Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM and LVFoxSports.com beginning at 6:45 p.m. Saturday's Arizona State dual will begin at 6 p.m. from Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. A limited number of tickets are still available and can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during business hours.
After three straight double dual weekends, the Mountain Hawks will wrestle just one dual next weekend as Lehigh hosts Army West Point, Feb. 4 at 2 p.m. on Salute to Service Day, presented by Weis Markets. The Mountain Hawks will be looking to avenge a road loss at Army last season, while also recognizing the members of their senior class prior to the dual.
The 2022-23 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
| Date: |
January 27, 2023 |
| Opponent: |
Columbia Lions |
| First match: |
7:05 p.m. |
| Arena: |
Levien Gymnasium |
| Location: |
New York, N.Y. |
| Lehigh's record: |
6-7 overall, 3-2 EIWA |
| Columbia's record: |
2-5 overall, 2-1 EIWA |
| Series: |
Lehigh leads 19-1 |
| Television: |
None |
| Radio: |
Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM beginning at 6:45 p.m. |
| Internet broadcast: |
Video on ESPN+
Audio at LVFoxSports.com |
| Date: |
January 28, 2023 |
| Opponent: |
No. 17 Arizona State Sun Devils |
| First match: |
6:05 p.m. |
| Arena: |
Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall |
| Location: |
Bethlehem, Pa. |
| Lehigh's record: |
6-7 overall, 3-2 EIWA |
| Arizona State's record: |
3-4 overall, 1-1 Pac-12 |
| Series: |
Lehigh leads 7-3 |
| Television: |
Service Electric Network 2/502 |
| Radio: |
Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM immediately following Lehigh women's basketball at Boston University |
| Internet broadcast: |
Video on ESPN+
Audio at LVFoxSports.com |
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