Lehigh Rasslers Are An Amazing 12-0

There was an awful lot more than just the Eagles' win over the Vikings to watch this past weekend. For Lehigh, the hits just keep on coming.

If there was any doubt about it in 2008, the first two duals of 2009 erased those thoughts. No. 9 Lehigh is firmly on the national stage in wrestling again after prevailing against perennial power No. 16 Penn State in a 17-16 thriller that couldn't have been closer.

Lehigh picked a fine day to be on national television on FCS Pacific. After mauling West Virginia 35-3 on Friday, Lehigh started out strong at Rec Hall in State College, PA with two major decisions that gave Lehigh bonus points - one by junior 184 lb David Craig (12-2 over Jack Decker) and another by freshman 197 lb Joe Kennedy (15-3 over Clay Steadman).

I'll let the release do the rest of the talking:

The dual began at 174 with a wild battle between 14th ranked sophomore 174 lb Alex Caruso and No. 15 Quentin Wright. Caruso scored the opening takedown in the first period but found himself trailing in the third. A second takedown and subsequent Wright escape tied the bout at five after regulation. In the sudden victory takedown, Wright shot a double-leg attempt and after a lengthy scramble netted the decisive takedown in a 7-5 win.

...

In the deciding bout, junior 165 lb Mike Galante converted a pair of first period takedowns and added a third in the second period. Friend spent most of the third period looking for a big move, but Galante would not allow it, and added one final score at the buzzer plus riding time advantage to lock up Lehigh’s first victory over Penn State since January 7, 2005.

After the huge win at State College, what's next for the grapplers is a trip to Hampton, PA this Friday in the Virginia Duals, scheduled to take place all day Friday and Saturday. (Fortunately for you, the diehard Lehigh fan, the Eagles play Sunday at 1 PM, huh?)

The men's basketball team has been for the most part fantastic this year. However, this Friday saw the 9-3 Mountain Hawks fall behind 17-2 to the 4-7 Columbia Lions - at home, no less - showing that this team still isn't good enough to simply show up and win. Fortunately, though, sophomore G Rob Keefer and junior F Zahir Carrington turned it up after that pathetic start, combining for 41 points in a 73-59 victory to put Lehigh at 10-3 on the year. Best of all, Lehigh's defense turned the screws on the Lions, holding them to 8 points after the 17 point spurt at the beginning of the game - while scoring 29 to hold a 31-25 halftime lead. Normally, junior G Marquis Hall is the scoring leader, but this time he did everything else - 12 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals.

Lehigh (Real Time RPI: 192) travels to nearby Princeton, NJ to take on the 3-8 Tigers this Wednesday night at 7:00 P.M. (Real Time RPI: 329) in a very winnable game, and then take on what could be their toughest league contest of the year at 8-6 American (Real Time RPI: 85) in Washington, DC at 2:00 P.M. Hope your radio reception is good; the game will only be avaiable via audio on WLVR. (Of course, you can also get audio from the Lehighsports.com too.)

It's a rare occasion where a Lady Hawks loss on the road to a MAC school is a disappointment, but with the 10-4 Lady Hawks riding so high lately (Real Time RPI: 118), their 67-59 loss to 4-8 Akron (Real Time RPI: 192) actually was a disappointment, breaking the Lady Hawks' five game winning streak. A big reason was the fact that junior G Melissa Ross, and her 13.6 points per game, were missing from the lineup - though senior C Melissa Rich's 17 points and 8 rebounds did a lot to fill her missing shoes.

They'll have the week to get healthy, as Patriot League play starts on TV Saturday night at 7:00 PM against American in Stabler Arena (and also televised on Service Electric 2 and in some markets on MASN as well). Like the men's game in Washington DC, it will be a matchup against two of the best teams in the league - the Eagles are 9-5 with a Real Time RPI of 151.

Rassling Friday. Basketball all day (and night) Saturday, as well as more rassling. And the Eagles 1PM on Sunday. Hope you didn't have anything planned.