No. 13 Lehigh Faces First Road Test Saturday at No. 17 Pittsburgh

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – No. 13 Lehigh will depart the Lehigh Valley for the primary time this season because the Mountain Hawks head to western Pennsylvania to battle No. 17 Pitt Saturday evening at Fitzgerald Field House. The Panthers would be the third prime 20-ranked opponent for Lehigh in its first 5 duals. Lehigh break up a pair of duals towards Oklahoma foes in two separate Bethlehem areas final weekend. The Mountain Hawks fell to No. 11 Oklahoma State 25-6 inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall, however then got here again to defeat Oklahoma 24-17 at Liberty High School as a part of Journeymen WrangleMania. Lehigh posted bonus wins within the ultimate three bouts to erase a 17-9 deficit. First-year heavyweight Nathan Taylor clinched the victory with a pin of Seventeenth-ranked Josh Heindselman within the ultimate bout of the twin.
 
Lehigh Probable Starters
125 No. 16 Carter Bailey (Fy., Livermore, Calif.)
133 No. 22 Connor McGonagle (So., Danville, N.H.)      
141 No. 28 Malyke Hines (So., Kissimmee, Fla.)
149 Max Brignola (So., Rumson, N.J.)              
        No. 22 Manzona Bryant IV (So., Columbus, Ohio)  
157 No. 9 Josh Humphreys (Sr., Parkersburg, W. Va.)   
165 Brian Meyer (Jr., Phillipsburg, N.J.)            
174 No. 31 Jake Logan (So., New Rochelle, N.Y.)         
184 No. 14 Tate Samuelson (Gr., Castle Rock, Colo.)    
197 No. 8 Michael Beard (So., Reading, Pa.)     
285 No. 17 Nathan Taylor (Fy.. Brookville, Pa.)
 
Deferred first-year heavyweight Nathan Taylor delivered a second interval pin towards Seventeenth-ranked Josh Heindselman to safe a 24-17 victory for No. 14 Lehigh towards Oklahoma at the Journeymen WrangleMania at Liberty High School’s Memorial Gymnasium. The Mountain Hawks trailed 17-9 after seven bouts however Taylor’s fall capped a run of three straight bonus level wins to provide Lehigh the come-from-behind victory. Graduate scholar Tate Samuelson (184) and sophomore Michael Beard (197) received by main resolution and technical fall, respectively, to place Lehigh up 18-17 heading into the ultimate bout. The win over the Sooners offered a bounce again for the Mountain Hawks, who fell to No. 11 Oklahoma State 25-6 earlier earlier within the day inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall.
 
In addition to final week’s two duals, Lehigh had 5 wrestlers compete at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic, Nov. 13 at close by Freedom High School in Bethlehem. Sophomore Luca Frinzi led the best way, going 3-0 to win the 165C pool championship. Connor Herceg completed third at 165B, going 1-2. Also competing for the Mountain Hawks had been Thayne Lawrence (2-1 at 174B), AJ Burkhart (0-2 at 184B) and Elijah Jones (1-1 at 285A).
 
Senior Josh Humphreys is essentially the most completed of all of the returning Mountain Hawks. In his first three seasons, Humphreys received a pair of EIWA titles at 157, certified for the NCAA Championships on three events and in 2020 was acknowledged as a NWCA first staff All-American. Humphreys went 20-5 final season with 4 falls and 12 bonus wins. He received the 2020 Coaches Trophy because the Outstanding Wrestler at the EIWA Championships. The Parkersburg, W. Va., native has opened his senior season with 4 victories, together with a pair of bonus wins, working his profession file to 64-18.
 
Lehigh has a wrestler ranked in 9 out of 10 weight lessons within the newest nationwide rankings from InterMat and WrestleStat, whereas 5 Mountain Hawks are ranked by FloWrestling and 4 by Amateur Wrestling News. Senior Josh Humphreys (157) and sophomore Michael Beard (197) seem within the prime 10 in all 4 polls, with Beard the highest-ranked Mountain Hawk in accordance with InterMat,  FloWrestling and Amateur Wrestling News. Carter Bailey is new to the nationwide rankings in all 4 shops. InterMat and WrestleState each rank wrestlers from 1-33, FloWrestling ranks 1-24 plus honorable mentions and Amateur Wrestling News ranks 1-20.
 
No. 17 Pittsburgh opens its dwelling slate this weekend because the Panthers will wrestle Maryland Friday evening earlier than Lehigh visits on Saturday. Pitt opened its twin season with a 36-0 shutout win at Cleveland State final Friday. The Panthers had been 8-6 in duals final season, completed third within the ACC and twenty fourth at the NCAA Championships. Six Panthers seem within the newest InterMat rankings, led by senior Cole Matthews, who’s ranked No. at 141. Matthews is one in every of three returning All-Americans for the Panthers, becoming a member of Micky Phillippi (133) and 2021 NCAA finalist Nino Bonaccorsi (285). Brothers Holden and Reece Heller have joined the Pitt program after starting their faculty careers at Hofstra. Keith Gavin is in his sixth season as head coach at his alma mater.
 
Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro wrestled for the Panthers from 1985-1989, beneath the steerage of the late Rande Stottlemyer, who retired following the 2012-13 season. Pittsburgh’s solely four-time All-American, Santoro amassed a 167-13 file in 4 seasons for the Panthers, and received nationwide titles at 142 in 1988 and 1989. A 3-time EWL Champion, Santoro can also be the Panthers’ profession chief with 43 falls and posted an unbelievable 97-3 file over his ultimate two seasons. He was inducted into the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame earlier this fall. Pittsburgh assistant coach Drew Headlee returned to his alma mater in 2014 after two seasons as Lehigh’s volunteer assistant coach. Sixth-year Panthers head coach Keith Gavin can also be a Pitt graduate. After commencement, Gavin skilled and competed in freestyle with the Lehigh Valley Athletic Club (now Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club) earlier than shifting on to teaching positions at Virginia and Oklahoma.
 
Pitt is Lehigh’s sixth oldest rival with Saturday’s twin marking the 67th assembly in a sequence that dates again to 1916. Lehigh leads the sequence 45-19-2. Lehigh’s win final 12 months snapped a two-match Pitt profitable streak within the sequence. Pat Santoro is 9-4 in duals towards his alma mater.
 
Saturday’s twin begins at 7 p.m. from Fitzgerald Field House in Pittsburgh. The twin will probably be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
 
The Mountain Hawks will probably be off from competitors Thanksgiving weekend and can return to motion on Sunday, Dec. 4 when Lehigh welcomes top-ranked and defending nationwide champion Penn State to Stabler Arena for the a hundred and tenth version of Lehigh’s most-contested twin sequence. Match time is about for two p.m.
 
The 2022-23 Lehigh wrestling season is introduced by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
 

 
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