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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Coming off a 1-1 trip to New York last weekend, no. 19 Lehigh returns to the road with EIWA duals at Penn Friday at the Palestra in Philadelphia and then at Navy Saturday at Alumni Hall in Annapolis, Md. 6 Cornell last Saturday, falling 18-15 before defeating Binghamton 26-12 on Sunday. Sophomore Malyke Hines (141), graduate student Tate Samuelson (184) and sophomore Michael Beard (197) all went 2-0 on the weekend to pace the Mountain Hawks. Hines opened the Cornell dual with a top-15 victory and added a technical fall against Binghamton. Sophomore Max Brignola had the biggest win against the Bearcats, overcoming a late third period deficit with a win by fall that gave Lehigh a 14-6 lead at intermission.
Lehigh Probable Starters
125 Carter Bailey (Fy., Livermore, Calif.)
Killian Delaney (Fy., West Chester, Pa.)
133 no. 6 Connor McGonagle (Sun, Danville, NH)
141 Malyke Hines (Sun., Kissimmee, Fla.)
149 no. 26 Max Brignola (Sun, Rumson, NJ)
Manzona Bryant IV (Sun., Columbus, Ohio)
157 no. 5 Josh Humphreys (Sr., Parkersburg, W.Va.)
Tyler Sung (Sun., New Canaan, Conn.)
165 Luca Frinzi (Sun., Quakertown, Pa.)
Connor Herceg (Fy., Nazareth, Pa.)
174 Jake Logan (Sun., New Rochelle, NY)
AJ Burkhart (Jr., Athens, Pa.)
184 no. 19 Tate Samuelson (Gr., Castle Rock, Colo.)
197 no. 3 Michael Beard (Sun., Reading, Pa.)
285 no. 31 Nathan Taylor (Fy. Brookville, Pa.)
Lehigh capped his weekend trip to New York with a 26-12 victory over Binghamton on Jan. 15. The host Bearcats won two of the first three bouts before a technical fall by Malyke Hines and a third-period pin by Max Brignola propelled the Mountain Hawks into the lead for good. In all, Lehigh won five of the nine contested bouts plus the Mountain Hawks earned a forfeit in the finale at 197. With Lehigh trailing 6-3, Hines used a late six-point move to secure a technical fall victory at 141, which gave the Mountain Hawks at 8-6 lead. Brignola trailed Michael Zarif in the final minute of the third period but was able to come back with his first fall of the season to give Lehigh an eight point cushion at intermission. Carter Bailey (125), AJ Burkhart (174) and Tate Samuelson (184) all won decisions for the Mountain Hawks.
Sophomore Malyke Hines was one of three Mountain Hawks to go 2-0 in Lehigh’s trip to Cornell and Binghamton, along with Tate Samuelson and Michael Beard. Hines opened the Cornell dual with a 4-2 decision over Cornell’s 13th-ranked Vince Cornella, the biggest win of the season for Hines and a key win that kept the Mountain Hawks in the dual until the very end. The following day, Hines put Lehigh in front of Binghamton for good with a technical fall victory over Christian Gannone, that was secured with a late takedown and four point near fall. Hines is a two-time NCAA qualifier and 2021 EIWA champion at 133 who has switched lineup spots with Connor McGonagle.
Lehigh has a wrestler ranked in six out of 10 weight classes in the latest rankings from InterMat and WrestleStat, with first-year heavyweight Nathan Taylor entering both polls. Five Mountain Hawks are ranked by FloWrestling (plus two honorable mentions) and 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 seven by InterMat, FloWrestling and AWN. Graduate student Tate Samuelson is the fourth Mountain Hawk to appear in all four polls. InterMat and WrestleStat both rank wrestlers from 1-33, FloWrestling ranks 1-24 plus honorable mentions and AWN ranks 1-20.
Penn carries a 2-4 dual mark into Friday’s meeting at the Palestra. The Quakers are looking to bounce back from a 16-15 loss at Stanford last weekend. Penn owns dual wins over Army West Point and North Carolina and has lost to three nationally-ranked Big Ten programs. The Quakers also posted runner-up team finishes at the Keystone Classic and Midlands Championships. Seven Quakers appear in the latest InterMat rankings, led by Michael Colaiocco at 133. Doug Zapf (149) and Anthony Artalona (157) are also ranked in the top 12 in their respective weight classes. Roger Reina is in his 24th season leading the Quakers overall and the fifth season of this, his second stint.
Lehigh and Penn will meet for the 61st time and the 26th time in 27 seasons after not having wrestled during the dual season between 1956 and 1996. Penn’s win last year at Grace Hall snapped a seven dual Lehigh winning streak in the series. The only break in the series over the last 27 seasons was 2021 when the Ivy League did not participate in intercollegiate athletics. Pat Santoro is 11-2 all-time against the Quakers as Lehigh’s head coach.
Navy hosts just its second home dual of the season when the Mountain Hawks visit on Saturday. The Midshipmen are 1-4 on the dual season after a 1-3 showing at the Virginia Duals last weekend that was highlighted by a win over Kent State. The Mids spent most of the first semester on the tournament circuit. Navy has four wrestlers ranked by InterMat, led by heavyweight Grady Greiss, who is 20th. Josh Koderhandt (141), David Key (184) and Jacob Koser (197) also appear in the top 33 at their respective weight classes. Cary Kolat is in his second season as Navy’s head coach.
Navy is Lehigh’s second most often-wrestled rival trailing only Penn State. Lehigh has won 10 of the last 11 duals with Navy’s victory in 2021 in Annapolis snapping a nine dual winning streak in the series for the Mountain Hawks. Navy was Lehigh’s second-ever opponent in Lehigh’s inaugural 1910 season. Lehigh now leads the all-time series 54-48. Pat Santoro is 12-2 against the Midshipmen.
Friday’s Lehigh-Penn match begins at 6 pm from the Palestra in Philadelphia, while Saturday’s Lehigh-Navy dual is set for a 7 pm start from Alumni Hall in Annapolis, Md. Both duals will be broadcast on ESPN+. Audio coverage of the Penn match will be available on Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM and LVFoxSports.com beginning at 5:45 pm
Lehigh will wrap up a five dual road swing against EIWA opponents with a visit to Columbia on Friday, Jan. 27. It will be the Mountain Hawks’ first dual in Columbia’s home gym since January 2007. The following day, Lehigh will return to Leeman -Turner Arena at Grace Hall for the first time since early November to battle Arizona State, with match time set for 6 pm
The 2022-23 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
| dates: | January 20, 2023 |
| Opponent: | Penn Quakers |
| First match: | 6:05pm |
| Arena: | The Palestra |
| Location: | Philly, Pa. |
| Lehigh’s record: | 5-6 overall, 2-1 EIWA |
| Penn’s record: | 2-4 overall, 1-0 EIWA |
| Series: | Lehigh leads 48-11-1 |
| Television: | None |
| Radio: | Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM beginning at 5:45 pm |
| internet broadcast: | Video on ESPN+ Audio at LVFoxSports.com |
| dates: | January 21, 2023 |
| Opponent: | Navy Midshipmen |
| First match: | 7:05pm |
| Arena: | Alumni Hall |
| Location: | Annapolis, Md. |
| Lehigh’s record: | 5-6 overall, 2-1 EIWA |
| Navy’s record: | 1-4 overall, 0-0 EIWA |
| Series: | Lehigh leads 54-48 |
| TV/Radio: | None |
| internet broadcast: | Video on ESPN+ |
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