BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Celebrate the seniors. Welcome back alumni. Beat Princeton. That's what No. 15 Lehigh accomplished Saturday night in the Mountain Hawks' home finale inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks won seven of nine contested bouts to defeat Princeton 31-6 as Lehigh closed out its home schedule with its seventh straight dual win.
 
Junior Michael Beard posted his Division I-leading 14th technical fall victory of the season, while junior Malyke Hines and sophomore Nathan Taylor added major decisions for the Mountain Hawks, who improve to 7-3 overall and complete a perfect 7-0 dual slate against EIWA opponents.
 
"We wrestled pretty well," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "It was nice for the seniors. They seniors who wrestled tonight represented the entire senior class so it was nice to see them get those wins."
 
Princeton (5-7, 3-5 EIWA) did not weigh in a wrestler at 125 so sophomore Sheldon Seymour received the forfeit. With first-year Ryan Crookham still out at 133, first-year Ethan Smith stepped in and held Nick Kayal to a 7-3 decision as the Tigers picked up the first of their two victories.
 
Hines started a Lehigh run of five straight bouts with an 18-5 major decision over Tyler Vazquez at 141. He totaled five takedowns and an impressive second period reversal plus more than two minutes of riding time advantage.

😲to this Malyke Hines reversal!

Watch on @FloWrestling: https://t.co/1Yg59rR96g#GoLehigh #PackThePit pic.twitter.com/yQlEVPyJkt

— Lehigh Wrestling (@LehighWrestling) February 18, 2024

 
First-year Owen Reinsel got the nod at 149 and picked up a ranked victory over No. 24 Eligh Rivera. Reinsel conceded the first takedown but scored one of his own late in the first period to lead 4-3 after one. An escape early in the third period tied the bout at 6-6 and Reinsel scored his second takedown to go up 9-6 in the third. Rivera reversed and then cut Reinsel loose, but Reisel had riding time advantage and despite giving up a stalling point late, picked up the 11-9 decision.
 
Junior Max Brignola picked up three takedowns in his match with Rocco Camillaci at 157 and fell just short of a major decision in an 11-4 victory. Brignola scored his third takedown late in the third period but wasn't able to keep Camillaci down as he settled for the seven-point margin and the decision, which put Lehigh up 16-3 halfway through.
 
Coming out of intermission, two of the nine senior wrestlers honored prior to the match picked up victories in their final bouts inside Leeman-Turner Arena.
 
Luca Frinzi stepped in for Jake Logan at 165 and won a 1-0 decision over Blaine Bergey on the strength of a third period escape. Connor Herceg followed with a 9-4 win over Mikey Squires at 174, scoring a pair of first period takedowns and adding a second period reversal.
 
"Luca was going up a weight but he was so excited to wrestle," Santoro said. "That's what we want. Guys that love to compete. Connor has been wrestling some really good guys and he has been working on some things. We saw some of those things come to fruition tonight. I'm excited about Connor heading into the postseason."
 
Nate Dugan used a first period takedown to nab Princeton's other win Saturday, a 4-2 decision over sophomore Jack Wilt at 184.
 
As they have done so often during this winning streak, Beard and Taylor closed out the dual with back-to-back bonus wins. Beard scored five takedowns and added a four-point near fall in a 19-4 technical fall over Anthony Moscatello. Taylor followed with a 15-4 major decision over Matt Cover. He totaled four takedowns plus an escape, a stalling point and riding time.
 
"Princeton has some really good recruits," Santoro said. "Malyke went to overtime (with Vazquez) at the Princeton Open so to see him turn that into a major was good. Heavyweight was a tight match last year, so it was good to see some turnarounds."
 
Prior to the match, Lehigh recognized its senior class which included Frinzi, Herceg, Karam Chakif, Nathan Haubert, Sean Kilrain, Jake Logan, Connor McGonagle, Tyler Sung and Caden Wright, plus student managers Lucci Farro and Giselle Kimball.
 
Lehigh also welcomed back wrestling alumni, highlighted by an in-match recognition of former wrestler and coach Thad Turner '61, who led the Brown and White from 1970-88.
 
The Mountain Hawks will close out the dual meet season next Saturday when they visit No. 20 Arizona State. The match is set for a 9 p.m. ET/7 p.m. MST start from Mullett in Tempe, Ariz. The dual will be streamed on Pac-12 Arizona with audio coverage on Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM and LVFoxSports.com.
 
The 2023-24 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
 
No. 15 Lehigh 31, Princeton 6
125 – Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) won by forfeit
133 – Nick Kayal (Princeton) dec. Ethan Smith (Lehigh) 7-3
141 – Malyke Hines (Lehigh) major dec. Tyler Vazquez (Princeton) 18-5
149 – Owen Reinsel (Lehigh) dec. Eligh Rivera (Princeton) 11-9
157 – Max Brignola (Lehigh) dec. Rocco Camillaci (Princeton) 11-4
165 – Luca Frinzi (Lehigh) dec. Blaine Bergey (Princeton) 1-0
174 – Connor Herceg (Lehigh) dec. Mikey Squres (Princeton) 9-4
184 – Nate Dugan (Princeton) dec. Jack Wilt (Lehigh) 4-2
197 – Michael Beard (Lehigh) tech fall Anthony Moscatello (Princeton) 19-4, 3:33
285 – Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) major dec. Matt Cover (Princeton) 15-4
Attendance – 1,625
 
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