BETHLEHEM, Pa. – No. 17 Lehigh completed a perfect 4-0 home stand to open 2022 with a 24-9 victory over Navy Saturday in the Sheridan Dual and Salute to Service Dual inside Leeman-Turner at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks won seven bouts overall, and were boosted by three hard-fought wins in the first three bouts, to improve to 8-4 on the dual season.
 
"It was much better than last night, where we came out flat," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "We had more energy today. We moved better. When we wrestle hard, like we did today, we're a really good team. When we don't, like last night we can be a good team, but not a great team. He need to have a great effort every time out so we need to figure that piece out and make sure we're ready to go after that first weigh in."
 
Junior Jaret Lane gave Lehigh the early lead with a come-from-behind win 10-6 over Jacob Allen at 125. Lane trailed 6-4 early in the third period when he pancaked Allen to his back for a takedown and four point near fall and kept him down for the remainder of the bout.
 
"Jaret didn't get anything in the first period, but he was putting pressure," Santoro said. "When he puts a lot of pressure, he makes things happen. It didn't happen last night but today he put a lot of pressure at different times that it finally happened at the end.
 
"When you stand around, it's hard to win big matches," Santoro continued. "Today, Jaret put pressure and kept wrestling. He has such a good feel when he wrestles. He wrestles hard and when he gets into scrambles, he might get beaten once or twice but he's eventually going to figure it out."
 
At 133, Malyke Hines followed Lane with a 13-7 decision over Josh Koderhandt. Hines gave up the first takedown but came back to lead 3-2 after one period. He took control of the match in the second period as he rode out from the top position, adding a four point near fall and a two point near fall.
 
Connor McGonagle made it 3-for-3 to open the dual for the Mountain Hawks with a 1-0 decision over Tyler Hunt at 141. McGonagle escaped 1:15 into the second period and then rode out the third period to preserve his lead.
 
Navy (0-2) picked up its first win at 149 as Jonathan Miranda edged Paul Watkins 4-3. Watkins had taken a 3-2 lead earlier in the third period only to see Miranda capture the winning takedown in the final 10 seconds.
 
One of the marquee bouts of the dual came at 157 as eighth-ranked junior Josh Humphreys met No. 20 Andrew Cerniglia, a Lehigh Valley native. Humphreys was strong in all three positions, scoring a first period takedown, second period reversal and two point near fall and then a takedown late in the third period, plus riding time advantage to claim the 9-1 major decision, giving Lehigh a 13-3 lead halfway.
 
"Navy has a really good team and just like last night, we knew there would be a lot of swing matches," Santoro said. "We knew there would be a lot of close matches and every point would be crucial. Josh finding a way to get that bonus point was big."
 
Sophomore Brian Meyer extended Lehigh's lead after intermission, scoring takedowns in the first and third periods plus riding time advantage to edge Val Park 5-4 at 165. Meyer secured a late takedown and kept Park down to clinch the victory. Lehigh lost a team point for unsportsmanlike conduct following the bout and led 15-3.
 
Three takedowns and a penalty point for stalling gave first year Jake Logan a 7-2 decision over Shane Finney at 174, extending the Mountain Hawks' advantage to 18-3 with two bouts remaining.
 
Navy stopped Lehigh's run with back-to-back victories as Hunter Johns rallied for a 14-8 win over sophomore AJ Burkhart at 184 and Jacob Koser edged first year JT Davis 1-0 with a third period escape.
 
Senior Jordan Wood closed out the dual with his second fall of the weekend as he pinned Ryan Catka in 3:31.
 
Saturday's dual was followed by three extra matches, with Lehigh wrestlers winning all three. Sheldon Seymour (125) and Steven Storm (149) were winners by fall, while Eli Jones won by technical fall at 197.
 
Lehigh now leads the all-time series with Navy 54-48 and has won 10 of the last 11 duals.
 
The Mountain Hawks will take to the road to battle No. 4 Oklahoma State Sunday Jan. 23 at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. Match time is 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT with streaming coverage on ESPN+.
 
The 2021-22 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
 
No. 17 Lehigh 24, Navy 9
125 – Jaret Lane (Lehigh) dec. Jacob Allen (Navy) 10-6
133 – Malyke Hines (Lehigh) dec. Josh Koderhandt (Navy) 13-7
141 – Connor McGonagle (Lehigh) dec. Tyler Hunt (Navy) 1-0
149 – Jonathan Miranda (Navy) dec. Paul Watkins (Lehigh) 4-3
157 – Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) major dec. Andrew Cerniglia (Navy) 9-1
165 – Brian Meyer (Lehigh) dec. Val Park (Navy) 5-4*
174 – Jake Logan (Lehigh) dec. Shane Finney (Navy) 7-2
184 – Hunter Johns (Navy) dec. AJ Burkhart (Lehigh) 14-8
197 – Jacob Koser (Navy) dec. JT Davis (Lehigh) 1-0
285 – Jordan Wood (Lehigh) Fall Ryan Catka (Navy) 3:31
Attendance – 1,192
* - Lehigh had a team point deducted for unsportsmanlike conduct following 165
 
Extra matches
125 – Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) Fall Dayton DelViscio (Navy) 2:58
149 – Steven Storm (Lehigh) Fall PJ Crane (Navy) 3:39
197 – Eli Jones (Lehigh) tech fall Trevor Swier (Navy) 17-1, 5:26
 
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