“The first two days were good days,” said Santoro. “The guys have been getting after it in the room. They’re excited to start competing. After our summer workouts and our preseason workouts, our guys want to go out and compete, which is good; but there’s a lot we need to work on before the first dual. There are definitely some holes to fix before November 5.
Santoro then commented on his goals for his team over the next month and leading into the season, “We’re continually working to be more aggressive and score more points. Last year we found ways to win a lot of matches but I want to see us score a lot more points. I’m focused on our performance. Not necessarily wins and losses but scoring points and doing the things that will help us come March.”
Lehigh opens preseason with a roster of just 30 men, including 11 true freshmen, but Santoro believes that there will be a lot of tough competition at a number of weight classes.
“Everything’s wide open,” Santoro contends. “We have a good idea about some weight classes, but there’s a lot to be figured out, especially in the first five weights. There will be some good battles that could possibly come down to wrestle-offs, both here in the room and on October 28 as well.
Santoro continued about the large freshman class, “They look real good. They have a great work ethic and they’ve jumped right in. They’re fighting hard. They’re hungry and they want to learn. Anytime you work with a group of young guys who are hungry, that’s a good thing.”
The Mountain Hawks return six of the ten wrestlers who represented Lehigh at last year’s EIWA Championships, including a quartet of NCAA qualifiers in juniors Brandon Hatchett, Joe Kennedy and Zach Rey and sophomore Robert Hamlin, who moves up a weight class to 184 this season.
Rey, who won an EIWA title last year and placed third at the NCAA Championships to earn Lehigh’s 128th All-American medal and first since 2006, will have an especially busy month. Rey won the University World Team Trials in late May and will represent the United States at the 120 kg/264.5 lb. weight class at the University World Championships in Turin, Italy October 26-30.
“It fits well with his training,” Santoro said. “Any time you can compete against the best in the world it’s a good thing. Zach has great expectations. He wants to one day be a world and Olympic champ, and that’s something we want the guys in our program to strive for. It’s a huge opportunity for him.”
Lehigh’s annual wrestle-offs are scheduled for Thursday, October 28 at 7 p.m. inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The regular season begins Friday, November 5 when the Mountain Hawks host Drexel at 7 p.m.
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