Announcing one of its smallest recruiting classes in recent history, Lehigh University wrestling head coach Pat Santoro officially names six recruits on Friday, led by two-time PIAA champion Darian Cruz of Bethlehem Catholic.

   Cruz is one of three of the recruits projected at 125 pounds for the college ranks, joined by Dean Somers of Lapeer, Michigan, a two-time state finalist, and Artem Timchenko of Columbus, Ohio, a three-time state place winner and three-time high school All-American.

   Cruz is the younger brother of Randy Cruz, who started at 133 pounds for Lehigh lat season.

   “We are very excited to welcome in this class,” Santoro said. “While not as large in numbers as last year’s class [of 15 recruits], this is a group of strong wrestlers and good students who will mesh well with the wrestles in our current program.”

   One of those recruits who should mesh well is Axel Wessell, the younger brother of Lehigh heavyweight Max Wessell. The younger Wessell was a Colorado state finalist as a junior but suffered a season-ending shoulder injury as a senior.

   Drew Longo, who projects at 141, is a three-time New York State place winner from Ardley High School. Billy Ramsey from Stafford, Va. is transferring after a year at Old Dominion and projects at 157.

The Lehigh Valley Athletic Club's Junior Mountain Hawks program will take place 13 consecutive Sundays from Sept. 5 through Nov. 28 at the Lehigh University Wrestling Room on the fifth floor of Taylor Gymnasium.

The program is limited to 50 wrestlers in grades 6-8. A USA Wrestling card is required to complete the registration form. The deadline for application is Aug. 31. Contact Lehigh U. assistant wrestling coach John Hughes at 610-758-6912 or jhughes@lehigh.edu to register or for more information.

No. 11 Lehigh moved into the semifinals at the 30th
annual Virginia Duals, winning seven of ten bouts in a 26-10 win over
No. 16 Edinboro Friday afternoon at Hampton Coliseum.

Sophomore Sean Bilodeau picked up his second pin of the day, and freshman Robert
Hamlin and sophomore Joe Kennedy added

major decisions as the Mountain Hawks improve to 8-2 on the season. Lehigh, the tournament?s No. 3
seed, will face No. 2 seed and tenth-ranked Oklahoma in Saturday's
semifinals.

"We were really sloppy this morning against UC Davis," said Lehigh
head coach Pat Santoro. "We were much better against Edinboro. A lot
of our guys wrestled well this afternoon."

Sophomore John McDonald staked the Brown and White to an early 3-0
lead as he made two first period takedowns stand in a 5-2 win over
Micheal Bunn at 125. The lead was short-lived however, as Ashton
Osterberg answered with a 12-3 major decision over junior Mitch Berger
at 133.

Lehigh went in front for a second time as Seth Ciasulli downed Joel
Webster 7-4 at 141. Ciasulli scored a takedown in the first period and
added a reversal off a Peterson roll plus a two-point near fall in the
second to earn the win.

The Fighting Scots went back in front after 149 as Torsten Gillespie
scored a third period takedown to defeat sophomore Brian Tanen 3-1.
Bilodeau answered with his second pin of the day to give the Mountain
Hawks a lead they would not relinquish. The Massachusetts native
scored two early takedowns and added a three-point near fall and two
two-point near falls, and built a 13-4 first period advantage before
reversing John Greisheimer onto his back for the fall in 2:47.

"The bonus points from the fall were big," explained Santoro. "Anytime
you're in a dual tournament bonus points, especially pins are
important, in case you end up going to criteria."

At 165, national champion Jarrod King brought Edinboro within two
points at 12-10 with a 9-2 win over senior Mike Galante, but Lehigh
captured the final four bouts to account for the 16-point margin of
victory.

Hamlin needed two third period takedowns to register his major
decision, and he did just that, scoring the decisive two points in the
final seconds to give him a 10-2 win over Paul Paddock at 174.

After senior David Craig held off Pat Bradshaw 2-1 at 184, Kennedy
notched his second bonus win of the day, scoring a reversal and
two-point near fall in the second period plus two takedowns in the
third to earn a 9-1 major over Shawn Fendone.

In the final bout of the day, sophomore Zach Rey scored takedowns in
the first and third periods to defeat Chris Birchler 6-3 at heavyweight.

The Mountain Hawks will now face No. 10 Oklahoma Saturday in the
semifinals, which begin at 2 p.m. Oklahoma State and Penn State will
square off in the other semifinal, with the finals and third place
match scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Saturday night. All of Lehigh's Virginia
Duals action can be heard online at Lehighsports.com.

Weight  Match-up        Result          Score/Time
125     John McDonald (Lehigh)  dec.    Micheal Bunn (Edinboro) 5-2
133     Ashton Osterberg (Edinboro)     maj. dec.       Mitch Berger (Lehigh)   12-3
141     Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh)  dec.    Joel Webster (Edinboro) 7-4
149     Torsten Gillespie (Edinboro)    dec.    Brian Tanen (Lehigh)    3-1
157     Sean Bilodeau (Lehigh)  Fall    John Greisheimer (Edinboro)     2:47
165     Jarrod King (Edinboro)  dec.    Mike Galante (Lehigh)   9-2
174     Robert Hamlin (Lehigh)  maj. dec.       Paul Paddock (Edinboro) 10-2
184     David Craig (Lehigh)    dec.    Pat Bradshaw (Edinboro) 2-1
197     Joe Kennedy (Lehigh)    maj. dec.       Shawn Fendone (Edinboro)        9-1
285     Zach Rey (Lehigh)       dec.    Chris Birchler (Edinboro)       6-3

No. 11 Lehigh opened up action at the Virginia Duals by defeating UC Davis 31-12 Friday morning at Hampton Coliseum. The Mountain Hawks earned a forfeit win at 141 and captured six of the

 eight contested bouts, including three additional bonus wins to pick up the victory in their first dual of the new year. Sophomores Sean Bilodeau and Joe Kennedy picked up wins by fall for Lehigh, which moves to 7-2 on the dual season.

Things looked grim at the start for Lehigh, as sophomore John McDonald fell into an early hole in his match against Kody Klaus at 125. McDonald trailed 4-1 after one period and trailed 8-4 early in the third before netting an escape and takedown, while negating Klaus’ riding time advantage. Still down by one in the final seconds, McDonald turned Klaus for a three point near fall to win 10-8 to give Lehigh the early 3-0.

The Mountain Hawks entered the Virginia Duals without senior co-captain Matt Fisk who is out with a skin infection, so junior Mitch Berger filled in and fought valiantly at 133, but ultimately dropped a 9-4 decision to Justin Arredondo.

A forfeit to senior Seth Ciasulli put Lehigh up 9-3 but Barrett Abel blanked freshman Joey Napoli 5-0 at 149 to put the Aggies within three at 9-6 after four bouts.

Bilodeau kicked-off a five bout Lehigh run by building a 9-2 lead over Trevor Machado-Ching, before picking up his third pin of the season at 4:52. In Lehigh’s next two bouts, sophomore Brandon Hatchett and junior Alex Caruso narrowly missed bonus points but did post convincing wins by decision to extend the Lehigh lead. Hatchett earned a 7-1 major decision over Joey Wilson at 165 while Caruso racked up seven takedowns to defeat Alex Darkhovsky 14-7 at 174.

At 184, senior David Craig was dominant in posting a 10-1 major decision over Stephan Hampton. Kennedy followed with his first fall of the season, as he caught Brian Herrera in a tilt and Herrera’s shoulder blades touched the mat long enough for the referee to signal the pin at 6:23.

At heavyweight, Lehigh chose to rest sophomore Zach Rey for later in the day as the Mountain Hawks forfeited to Ricky Alcala.

Lehigh will now face No. 16 Edinboro in the quarterfinals, beginning at 3 p.m. The match can be heard live online at Lehighsports.com.

Weight Match-up Result  Score/Time
125 John McDonald (Lehigh) dec. Kody Klaus (UCD) 10-8
133 Justin Arredondo(UCD) dec. Mitch Berger (Lehigh) 9-4
141 Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) Win Forfeit 
149 Barrett Abel (UCD) dec. Joey Napoli (Lehigh) 5-0
157 Sean Bilodeau (Lehigh) Fall Trevor Machado-Ching (UCD) 4:52
165 Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) dec. Joey Wilson (UCD) 7-1
174 Alex Caruso (Lehigh) dec. Alex Darkhovsky (UCD) 14-7
184 David Craig (Lehigh) maj. dec. Stephan Hampton (UCD) 10-1
197 Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) Fall Brian Herrera (UCD) 6:23
285 Ricky Alcala (UCD) Win Forfeit 

Click on these web sites for the latest results from the Virginia Duals:

www.VirginiaDuals.org will provide live results.

www.TheMat.com is video streaming key dual meet events.

With another season of Lehigh University wrestling set to get underway with the annual wrestle-offs on Friday, Lehigh Athletics has announced its 2009-10 wrestling broadcast schedule.  Once again, most dual meets can be heard live in the Lehigh Valley on

 ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 or WLVR-FM (91.3), with live coverage, interviews, and more.  Lehigh has also teamed up with the Lehigh Valley’s largest cable television provider – Service Electric – to televise a number of home matches on its award-winning 2 Sports outlet.  Plans call for four home duals to be shown on Service Electric, the Lehigh Valley’s largest cable provider.  In addition, the Big Ten Conference has granted Lehigh permission to produce Lehigh’s dual at Michigan to air live on WFMZ-TV (channel 69) in Allentown, Pa.
 
For the third consecutive season, all eight home matches – including the wrestle-offs – can be seen live and on-demand via the Lehigh web site at Lehighsports.com.
 
“We are thrilled with the depth and breadth of our Lehigh wrestling broadcast coverage this season,” said Jeff Tourial, Lehigh’s Director of Broadcast & Multimedia.  “We have one of the most passionate and knowledgeable fan bases in the nation, and our broadcast partners have been extremely supportive in helping us put together one of the most comprehensive wrestling broadcast schedules of any school anywhere.”
 
 In addition to the 12 matches that can be heard on the radio, at least five more matches can be heard exclusively on-line as part of the Yahoo! Sports College Broadcast.  An industry leader in on-line broadcasts, Lehigh Athletics will stream well over 200 events on its web site in 2009-10.  On-line broadcasts of Lehigh wrestling are being underwritten by the Lehigh Athletics Partnership and will be free of charge this season.  The Athletics Partnership is the fundraising arm for the department, funding travel, recruiting and more.
 
“We are extremely grateful that the Partnership has stepped up to fund the production costs of our Internet broadcasts,” Tourial explained.  “As we increase our video presence on-line, the support of our alumni base and loyal fans will enable us to present more in-depth coverage than ever before.”

For the sixth straight season, the broadcast team of Steve Lomangino and Gary Brownell ’72 will call the action on the radio.  2 Sports’ Doug Heater and Kyle Berger will team up on each of the televised broadcasts.
 
Three Lehigh wrestling matches will also air nationally on Fox College Sports.  Available in over 56 million homes on cable systems around the country, FCS has partnered with Lehigh for the last five years to air a variety of content, including Lehigh wrestling. 
 
The 2009-10 Lehigh wrestling broadcast schedule gets underway on Friday night, when Lehighsports.com presents live exclusive coverage of the annual wrestle-offs at 7 p.m. with Steve Lomangino and Lehigh wrestling historian Denny Diehl ’70.  That broadcast will feature live video for the fourth consecutive year.
 
For more information on Lehigh’s on-line broadcasts or on the Lehigh Athletics Partnership, please click on the link above.        
 
2009-10 Lehigh Wrestling Regular Season Broadcasts
Date Opponent Television Radio Internet
Oct. 30 Wrestle-Offs     Lehighsports.com
Nov. 8 Rider   WLVR-FM Lehighsports.com
Nov. 13 Penn State   WLVR-FM Lehighsports.com
Nov. 15 Pittsburgh SE2, FCS   Lehighsports.com
Nov. 20 at Ohio State   ESPN LV Lehighsports.com*
Nov. 22 at Michigan WFMZ-TV WLVR-FM Lehighsports.com*
Nov. 28 Nebraska     Lehighsports.com*
  Maryland     Lehighsports.com*
Jan. 15 West Virginia SE2, FCS ESPN LV Lehighsports.com
Jan. 16 Navy   WLVR-FM Lehighsports.com
Jan. 22 at Cornell   ESPN LV Lehighsports.com*
Feb. 5 Virginia Tech   ESPN LV Lehighsports.com
Feb. 6 Rutgers SE2, FCS WLVR-FM Lehighsports.com
Feb. 13 at Brown   WLVR-FM Lehighsports.com*
Feb. 14 at Harvard   ESPN LV Lehighsports.com*
Feb. 21 at Penn   ESPN LV Lehighsports.com*
* denotes audio only
SE2 = Service Electric 2 Sports
WFMZ-TV = WFMZ-TV of Allentown, Pa.
FCS = Fox College Sports (check local listings)
ESPN LV = ESPN Radio 1230 AM and 1320 AM in the Lehigh Valley
WLVR-FM = 91.3 FM in the Lehigh Valley
 
All broadcast outlets are subject to change.  Please log on to the wrestling schedule on Lehighsports.com for the most up-to-date broadcast information.

2009-2010 Season  (0-0-0)  (0-0-0) 
Date Opponent Time/Result
10/30/2009 Wrestle-Offs (Leeman-Turner Arena) 7:00 PM
11/8/2009 Rider (Leeman-Turner Arena) 2:00 PM
11/13/2009 Penn State (Stabler Arena) 7:00 PM
11/15/2009 Pittsburgh (Leeman-Turner Arena) 2:00 PM
11/20/2009 at Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio)  7:00 PM
11/22/2009 at Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)  1:00 PM
11/28/2009 vs. North Carolina (Troy, N.Y.) (Northeast Duals) 9:15 AM
11/28/2009 vs. Nebraska (Troy, N.Y.) (Northeast Duals) 1:15 PM
11/28/2009 vs. Maryland (Troy, N.Y.) (Northeast Duals) 3:15 PM
12/29/2009 vs. Midlands (Evanston Ill.) (Through Dec. 30th) All Day
1/8/2010 vs. Virginia Duals (Hampton, Va.) (Through Jan. 9th) TBA
1/15/2010 West Virginia (Leeman-Turner Arena) 7:00 PM
1/16/2010 * Navy (Leeman-Turner Arena) 3:00 PM
1/22/2010 * at Cornell (Ithaca, N.Y.)  7:00 PM
2/5/2010 Virginia Tech (Leeman-Turner Arena) 7:00 PM
2/6/2010 * Rutgers (Stabler Arena) 1:00 PM
2/12/2010 * at Brown (Providence, R.I.)  7:00 PM
2/13/2010 * at Harvard (Cambridge, Mass.)  1:00 PM
2/21/2010 * at Penn (Philadelphia, Pa.)  1:00 PM
3/6/2010 EIWA Championships (Stabler Arena) (Through Mar. 7th) TBA
3/18/2010 vs. NCAA Championship (Omaha, Neb.) (Through Mar. 20th) TBA
 

    Pat Santoro’s first recuiting class for Lehigh University’s wrestling team isn’t very long, but it’s deep on talent.
 On Wednesday, Lehigh officially released its list of recruits for the 2009-10 season, and the five-member group is led by Austin Meys, a three-time New York state champion projected at 174 or 184.
   Other members of the class include two-time PIAA finalist and one-time champion Joey Napoli of Cumberland Valley (149/157), two-time New Jersey place-winner David Della Torre (125), Maryland Independent School state champion Albert Woody (133) and Watson Sweat, a 197-pounder from Tennessee.  Napoli was ranked ninth among all senior recruits by InterMat.
   “We had just one senior in our lineup, so we were not looking for a big class,” said Santoro, the 2009 EIWA Coach of the year. “We wanted to fill a couple of weight classes, which we did. It’s a small-but-talented class and one that should be a great addition to what we have in the room.”
   “Both Meys and Napoli are tough on top, they’re both goers,” said Santoro. “They wrestle hard and like to pin. The big thing with this class is we brought in five guys who love to compete. That’s what we’re looking for. We also have a couple guys who have the ability to make an impact on our program fairly quickly.”

   Zach Rey is every Lehigh University wrestling fan’s favorite heavyweight.
   Last week, he went unscored upon to win the 120-kilogram (264-pound) weight class at the University Nartional Freestyle Championships in Akron, Ohio.
    “It was actually a very tough tournament,” Rey said. “Ever round, even my first round, was tough. I wrestled a guy who won junior nationals, one who will be next year’s starter at Ohio Statem then the heavuweight from Rutgers, and finally the heavyweight from Michigan.”
    Rey said that he takea more relaxed approach into freestyle tournaments, but still loves college folkstyle.
  “Freesytle is more about positioning and mat control than folkstyle,” he said.
   Lehigh’s 13-man contingent was coached by head coach Pat Santoro and assistnat John Hughes.
     “We had some strong results in some big time tournaments,” explained Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. “Competing and doing well in these tournaments are important for our program, important as we get ready for next season.”
  Rey went 5-0 at the tournament. Lehgih’s Alex Caruso took third at 174, Matt Fisk took fifth at 132 and Sean Bilodeau took eighth at 163.

    Easton’s Alex Krom, a junior at the University of Maryland, has earned a spot in the semifinals of the 2009 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
   The unseeded Krom scored a 10-1 major  decision over Kent State’s Drew Lashaway in this morning’s quarterfinal round to secure his spot in the 141-pound semifinals. Krom (24-4) scored a takedown in each period and added near fall points in the third against the 12th-seeded Lashaway for the big victory.
  Krom will meet No. 8 seed Ryan Williams of Old Dominion in tonight’s semifinals, which are scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. tonight. The semifinals of the 79th annual championships will be telecast live on ESPN2 and ESPNU.

    Lehigh freshman heavyweight Zach Rey gave up a takedown in the final seconds against once-beaten Kent State giant Jermail Porter in the quarterinfals. The 4-3 loss against the third-seeded Porter, a 6-foot-7 red-shirt senior, dropped Rey into the quarterfinals.

   Northampton's Jon Oplinger, a senior at Drexel, lost his 197-pound quarterfinals bout to fourth-seeded Tyrel Todd of Michigan by a major decision. Todd scored takedowns in every period and added riding time for the 8-0 major.

   Advancing in the wrestlebacks were Seth Ciasulli (Easton/Lehigh), who scored a pin at 14. Ciasulli, a junior, pinned UNC-Greensboro's Chris Bencivenga in 1:37.

    Lehigh senior co-captin Trevor Chinn needed a takedown in the final two seconds to nip West Virginia's David Jarequi 6-4 in the 149 consolations.

   N.C. State's Joe Caramanica (Nazareth) was eliminated in the morning conoslations with an 11-6 loss to Hofstra's Justin Accordino, a fellow Pennsylvanian. Caramanica got hit with a five-point move in the final 30 seconds of the bout.

    Lehigh 165-pounder Mike Galante was also eliminated in Friday's opening consolation round, losing 4-2 to Tyler Sherfey of Boise State. Sherfey scored a takedown in the first period and gave up a stalling point and an escape in the final period, but still picked up riding time. It seems odd that the wrestler on top is allowed to collect riding time even when it's a direct result of penalized stalling.

    Lehigh 174-pounder Alex Caruso gave up three takedowns and fell to Iowa State's Ryan Burk 7-6 after rallying for a takedown  and two escapes in the second period. Caruso went on the offensive in the third, but Burk was penalized for just one stalling point en route to eliminating the Lehigh sophomore.

     Lehigh 184-pounder David Craig also remained alive in the consys. The No. 8 seed Craig used a second-period escape to hold off Christopher McNeill of Oklahoma State 1-0.

   Also at 184, Quakertown's Pat Flynn, a sophomore at Oklahoma, was eliminated after losing 9-5 in the consys to Kent State's Dustin Kilgore.

  And, at heavyweight, ESU's Chris Birchler remained alive with a takedown in the final 30 seconds to edge No. 6 seed Mitchell Monteiro of Cal-Bakersfield.