The Brown & White

The Lehigh wrestling team looks to start the season 3-0 as they host the University of Michigan Wolverines at Stabler Arena Friday in the annual Sheridan Dual.

Coming off strong wins against the University of Maryland and the University of Pittsburgh, the No. 22 Mountain Hawks are sitting at 2-0 for the first time since the 2005-06 season, and the fifth time in the last 10 years.

First-year Head Coach Pat Santoro said the effort the team has put in has been worth it.

"We've been working very hard and we knew our team had talent," Santoro said. "It's great to come off with wins from tight matches."

Santoro has personal ties to both of the Hawks' victims thus far, as Pittsburgh is his alma mater and he coached at Maryland for five years.

After a 33-9 loss against Michigan last year, the Hawks will try to reverse their fate against a Wolverine squad that finished tied for seventh at last year's national tournament.

Freshman Sean Bilodeau, 157, said the squad is already seeing improvements from last year.

"These first two wins show us that we are doing the right things," Bilodeau said. "Both Maryland and Pittsburgh had beaten us last year, and winning this year has shown us that our hard work is paying off."

In Pittsburgh, the Hawks showed their strength in the middle weights, going on a six-bout Lehigh run.

Junior David Craig, 184, said the early victories are a welcome change and could be the one thing the Hawks need to achieve their goal of being top 10 in the country.

"We wrestled well against some pretty tough teams and we are going to try and do the same thing for Michigan," Craig said. "Our wins definitely give us a confidence boost going into this match."

Sophomore Alex Caruso, 174, will square off against Michigan senior No. 1 Steve Luke. Caruso is ranked 13th and has won both of his matches this season. Luke placed second at nationals last year and is a two time All-American.

Senior captain No. 14 Trevor Chinn will match up with junior Justin Chrzanowski, who won Michigan's annual Maize and Blue intrasquad wrestle-off. Chinn amassed a team-high 29 victories last season and placed 5th in the E.I.W.A. tournament.

Junior Mike Galante, 165, will face freshman Justin Zeerip. Galante broke into the national rankings this week after upsetting Pittsburgh's then No. 20 Ethan Headlee, earning him a No. 17 ranking.

No. 15 Craig, who has recorded falls in both of his bouts this season, will face Anthony Biondo.

Lehigh's fifth and final ranked wrestler, No. 19 junior Matt Fisk, will face freshman Zac Stevens at 133 in Stevens' first collegiate non-exhibition match.

At 197, freshman Joe Kennedy will meet Michigan senior No. 3 Tyrell Todd, who has a career 96-27 record and placed third and fifth in the last two NCAA tournaments.

Junior Seth Ciasulli, 144, will have his hands full against No. 5 Kellen Russell, who was named Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year last season.

Freshman Zach Rey will look to rebound after losing a tough 2-1 decision last week at Pittsburgh. Rey will lock up with Michigan sophomore Eddie Phillips.

Bilodeau will meet sophomore Aaron Hynes at 157 in Hynes' first match in the Wolverine's starting lineup.

Rounding out the lineup for the Hawks is freshman John McDonald at 125 who will go up against Michigan senior Michael Watts.

Bilodeau said Michigan will definitely put up a fight.

"Michigan is a really physical squad that carries an aggressive wrestling style," Bilodeau said.

Craig said Lehigh has high expectations, but the Wolverines have the same ones.

"We train to win and that's what everyone on our team goes out on the mat to do, but every guy on their team is going to come out with heavy hands looking to brawl," Craig said.

Craig said the Michigan match is going to be the best test yet for the Hawks.

"Michigan is a top-ten team," Craig said. "We want to climb the ladder and ultimately be the top team in the country, and the only way to do that is to continually beat teams like Michigan."

The last time the Hawks and the Wolverines met, Michigan took seven of the ten bouts from Lehigh.

The Wolverines lead 23-12 in the all-time series against Lehigh.

The match begins at 7 p.m. Friday.