Weekend Wrapup: Wrestlers Close Dual Season With Big Win

Of all the ation this weekend, it was the match that didn't make ESPNU - the Lehigh grapplers' final home wrestling dual before the EIWA championships in two weeks - that was the story of thw weekend.

The Mountain Hawk wrestlers ended their historic dual season in style with a 24-12 win, giving them a perfect dual record against EIWA foes and also set a school record for dual wrestling wins in a season (23). Tied going into the final three matches, it was junior 184 lb David Craig, freshman 197 lb Joe Kennedy and freshman heavyweight Zach Rey who swept the last three bouts to secure the historic win at home.

Probably the best match of the afternoon came with senior 149 ln Trevor Chinn, wrestling for the last time in Leeman-Turner arena:

Once again the Lehigh fans were on their feet after No. 15 Trevor Chinn earned a tight 3-1 victory over No. 11 Cesar Grajales at 149. Each wrestler earned an escape to start the second and third periods, and with less than one minute remaining the match appeared to be heading for overtime. With 40 seconds left, Chinn scored the only takedown of the bout, grabbing Grajales ankle at the edge of the mat and slipping around for the points as the grapplers went out of bounds. After Chinn held off a Grajales attempt at a reversal, the Leeman-Turner Arena crowd rose to give the senior a standing ovation as he walked off the mat for the final time in Grace Hall.

Lehigh's grapplers get a well-deserved rest before the EIWA championships in two weeks, followed shortly thereafter by the NCAA's.

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As good as the Lady Hawks have been this year, they've had another item on their bucket list they've been unable to check off until now: beating "that school in Easton" at Kirby Field House, something Lehigh hasn't been able to do since 2005. But this year's 21-6 women's basketball team was able to cross off another goal off their checklist as they disposed of the Leopards 73-58.
In what must be demoralizing for the Lady Leopards, four Lady Hawks hit double figures scoring, and all are underclassmen (underclasswomen?): junior G Alex Ross (16 points), sophomore G Erica Prosser (15 points, 4 steals), junior G Kristen Dalton (10 points) and freshman F Emily Gratch (15 points, 9 rebounds).

Now at 21-6, Lehigh (Real Time RPI: 84) is in the driver's seat for home court advantage throughout the playoffs (since Lehigh is hosting the first two rounds of the Patriot League women's tourney). Thanks to Holy Cross' 58-55 win over American, if Lehigh can manage to beat 15-10 Bucknell (Real Time RPI: 182) at home the Wednesday, they will clinch the regular-season Patriot League title and should they win two games in the tourney the final will be broadcast from Stabler as a Lady Hawks home game.

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The Lady Hawks might want to hope that the game is blocked out on ESPNU, however. Lehigh sports teams have been 0-2 on "El Ocho" this year - the latest an extremely disappointing 68-66 loss to Lafayette on Sunday. It seems like this Lehigh team cannot win a close game when it counts this year in Patriot League play - one time losing with six men on the court in the final seconds, two others on late-game collapses - and the latest one with an errant in-bounds pass in the closing seconds.

Senior F Phil Anderson had a great game in what could be his home finale as a Mountain Hawk with 8 points and 9 boards, while junior G Marquis Hall (12 points, 6 rebounds), junior F Zahir Carrington (15 points, 5 rebounds), sophomore G Prentice Small (10 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) and junior G Dave Buchburger (10 points, 4 rebounds) had good games. But free throws were a killer - the Thud Hawks hit a dismal 12-of-23 from the charity stripe - as was a defense that gave up 50% shooting to the Leopards.

15-11 Lehigh (Real Time RPI: 238) right now is in a dogfight for the No. 4 seed in the Patriot League tournament with 9-17 Colgate (Real Time RPI: 291). In order to get the No. 4 seed and a home game in Stabler, a win this Wednesday at Sojka against 6-21 Bucknell (Real Time RPI: 296) would go a long way towards getting that goal. But the Bison, unfortunately, are showing signs of seriously hitting their stride after beating Holy Cross a week ago in Worcester and playing Delware very tough in a "Bracket Buster" game this past weekend. Their depth will not make this an easy game at all.

How The Ivy League Is Able To Break the NCAA's Scholarship Limits and Still Consider Themselves FCS

By now you've seen the results. In 2018, the Ivy League has taken the FCS by storm. Perhaps it was Penn's 30-10 defeat of Lehigh a couple of weeks ago . Or maybe it was Princeton's 50-9 drubbing of another team that made the FCS Playoffs last year, Monmouth. Or maybe it was Yale's shockingly dominant 35-14 win over nationally-ranked Maine last weekend. The Ivy League has gone an astounding 12-4 so far in out-of-conference play, many of those wins coming against the Patriot League. But it's not just against the Patriot League where the Ivy League has excelled. Every Ivy League school has at least one out-of-conference victory, which is remarkable since it is only three games into their football season. The four losses - Rhode Island over Harvard, Holy Cross over Yale, Delaware over Cornell, and Cal Poly over Brown - were either close losses that could have gone either way or expected blowouts of teams picked to be at the bottom of the Ivy League. W

Made-Up Midseason Grades for Lehigh Football

We are now officially midway through the 2023 Lehigh football season. The Mountain Hawks sit at 1-5 overall, and 0-1 in the Patriot League. I thought I'd go ahead and make up some midseason grades, and set some "fan goals" for the second half. The 2023 Mountain Hawks were picked to finish fifth in the seven team Patriot League. In order to meet or exceed that expectation, they'll probably have to go at least 3-2 the rest of the way in conference play. Their remaining games are vs. Georgetown, at Bucknell, vs. Holy Cross, at Colgate, and vs. Lafayette in The Rivalry. Can they do it? Culture Changing: B+ . I was there in the Bronx last week after the tough 38-35 defeat to Fordham, and there wasn't a single player emerging from the locker room that looked like they didn't care. Every face was glum. They didn't even seem sad. More frustrated and angry. That may seem normal, considering the agonizing way the Mountain Hawks lost, but it was a marked chan

Fifteen Guys Who Might be Lehigh's Next Football Coach (and Five More)

If you've been following my Twitter account, you might have caught some "possibilities" as Lehigh's next head football coach like Lou Holtz, Brett Favre and Bo Pelini . The chance that any of those three guys actually are offered and accept the Lehigh head coaching position are somewhere between zero and zero. (The full list of my Twitter "possibilities" are all on this thread on the Lehigh Sports Forum .) However the actual Lehigh head football coaching search is well underway, with real names and real possibilities. I've come up with a list of fifteen possible names, some which I've heard whispered as candidates, others which might be good fits at Lehigh for a variety of reasons. UPDATE: I have found five more names of possible head coaches that I am adding to this list below. Who are the twenty people? Here they are, in alphabetical order.

Lehigh Football Nation

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