Lehigh’s wrestling team has proven to be a powerful force yet again this season.
As of now, the Mountain Hawks are ranked No. 7 nationally with an overall record of 13-3 going into the EIWA Championship, which starts March 5. The team will finish off its season with the NCAA championship meet.
Besides an impressive overall record, the Lehigh wrestlers are also undefeated in the conference with a 7-0 record. This season, the Mountain Hawks have only lost to No. 1 Penn State University 28-9, No. 10 University of Nebraska 24-6 and No. 13 Rutgers University 18-15. With an away record of 7-0 and a home record of 7-1, the team has made improvements from last year in each category.
“The team is so talented,” senior Randy Cruz said. “Every match and tournament this season was just preparing us for postseason. It’s here, and we’re ready.”
Lehigh started off its season by beating Bucknell University. Tied 12-12 with only three weight classes left, Lehigh was able to win all three with help from seniors Nathaniel Brown, John Bolich and Max Wessell. The final score of the match was 23-12.
Following that win, the Mountain Hawks participated in the Northeast Duals in November, winning against No. 16 University of Minnesota 22-12 but falling to Nebraska.
Lehigh then went on to obtain 10 straight wins, including nationally ranked University of Oklahoma 30-7, Princeton University 34-3 and Cornell University 25-13. It was the team’s first win against the Big Red since 2011 and its first in Ithaca in 12 years.
The Hawks were also able to snag wins against other competitive wrestling programs such as University of Pittsburgh, University of Pennsylvania and Navy, while also obtaining an impressive shut out score of 54-0 against Bloomsburg University on Feb. 14. Strong performances throughout the season from Cruz, Wessell and Brown have been crucial to wins on the mat.
With the EIWA Tournament and the NCAA National Tournament coming up, senior Doug Vollaro depends on the team to work as a unit in order to achieve success in the final month of the 2015-16 season.
“We are getting the 10 starters ready for the last push in the season,” Vollaro said. “Hopefully we will come away with a conference championship and some All-Americans at Nationals.”
Vollaro finished third in the EIWA Championship last year and was eligible for the EIWA Tournament, but could not participate due to a knee injury.
As they start looking forward to their EIWA Tournament showing, the Mountain Hawks will also be preparing for the NCAA National Tournament, which starts March 17 in New York at Madison Square Garden.
“The season has been tough, but the postseason is here and that is what we have been training for,” Cruz said. “We have beaten tough opponents and have sparred with the best, so it is exciting that we get to tear it up at EIWAs and NCAAs now.”
Cruz is looking to capture his third EIWA title and was just one spot short of an All-American title last year at the NCAA Championship.
Lehigh will be graduating 15 wrestlers this upcoming May. However, many of them, including Cruz and Vollaro, deferred a year and are considered juniors in the NCAA league. Therefore, they will be able to continue to compete in the next season.
The EIWA Championships begin on Saturday, March 5 at 9 a.m. in Princeton, New Jersey.
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