“The first official day of practice is an exciting day,” explained Santoro, the 2009 EIWA Coach of the Year. “The guys have been working out in the offseason, but this is the day where everyone puts everything aside. The first day where everyone gets together as a team and we get everyone focused on the national championship. Doing well in March is always going to be the goal for this program.”
Santoro said the team’s offseason program was very productive, but the wrestling season is a long one and it’s important to keep everyone fresh for the long haul.
“There were some hard workouts in the offseason program and there will be some hard workouts early in camp,” said Santoro. “We want to push them, but we also need to keep them fresh, so we’ll push them for a few weeks then dial it back a bit for a week. The most important thing for the guys is to bring it every day in practice and learn to trust the coaches because we will make sure we keep them fresh for the right times during the season.”
The Mountain Hawks return a wealth of talent, led by their six member senior class: Seth Ciasulli and David Craig own EIWA titles, Matt Fisk, Mike Galante and Manuel Schubert have qualified for the NCAA tournament, and Justin Allen is expected to challenge for time at 197 after shedding close to 60 pounds in the offseason. In addition, this year’s Lehigh team returns nine starters from last year and seven wrestlers who have competed at the NCAA Championships. The program has also been bolstered by the addition of five newcomers, including former state champions Joey Napoli and Austin Meys.
Earlier this week two major publications unveiled their preseason rankings, with seven Lehigh wrestlers being ranked in both polls. On Monday, W.I.N. Magazine announced its rankings with sophomore heavyweight Zach Rey coming in at No. 7. Fisk comes in at No. 9 at 133 and is joined in the rankings by Ciasulli, Galante, Craig, junior Alex Caruso and sophomore Joe Kennedy. Wednesday, Amateur Wrestling News published its rankings with Rey again leading the way at No. 6. Ciasulli and Craig were also ranked in the top ten, Ciasulli eighth at 141 and Craig ninth at 184.
“We have a focused group with a lot of good senior leadership,” said Santoro. “We’ll find out a lot about our team early on with all the tough early duals on our schedule. We have a real talented team. We’ll work with the guys to help them succeed on an individual basis then take those individual efforts to help mold a successful team.”
Lehigh’s annual wrestle-offs are scheduled for Friday, October 30 at 7 p.m. inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The regular season begins Sunday, November 8 when the Mountain Hawks host Rider at 2 p.m.
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