Story Links BETHLEHEM, Pa. – With final exams now complete, No. 20 Lehigh will close out the fall semester portion of its schedule as the Mountain Hawks host the Sheridan Tournament at Stabler Arena. The Sheridan Tournament returned last year for the first time in 24 years. This year, Lehigh will welcome wrestlers from six […]
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – With final exams now complete, No. 20 Lehigh will close out the fall semester portion of its schedule as the Mountain Hawks host the Sheridan Tournament at Stabler Arena. The Sheridan Tournament returned last year for the first time in 24 years. This year, Lehigh will welcome wrestlers from six teams, with more than 20 Mountain Hawk wrestlers expected to compete, including 2023 Sheridan Tournament champions Sheldon Seymour and Max Brignola. Prior to the exam break, Lehigh fell to No. 1 Penn State in front of a sold-out crowd of 6,769 at PPL Center in Allentown. Sophomore Ryan Crookham picked up Lehigh’s lone victory with a decision over Braeden Davis at 133. The Sheridan Tournament will feature six mats of action at Stabler Arena and 16-man brackets. The top six in each weight class will place. Four of Lehigh’s five wrestlers ranked nationally by InterMat or FloWrestling are expected to compete.
Lehigh Probable Entrants
125 – No. 15/17 Sheldon Seymour, Logan Wadle, Mason Ziegler
133 – No. 1/1 Ryan Crookham
141 – Carter Bailey
149 – No. 32/NR Kelvin Griffin, No. 32/33 Malyke Hines, Drew Munch, Matt Repos
157 – Griffin Gonzalez, Zac Martin, Logan Rozynski, Jadon Skellenger
165 – Max Brignola*, Dom Federici, Thayne Lawrence, Owen Quinn
174 – Liam Gil-Swiger, Rylan Rogers
184 – Caden Rogers
197 – JT Davis
* – competing unattached
Rankings are FloWrestling/InterMat, 12/17/24
Lehigh hosts the Sheridan Tournament for the second straight year, with last year’s event marking a return of the tournament for the first time since December 1999. Six teams are currently scheduled to join the Mountain Hawks. Action will begin at 10 a.m. with a six-mat configuration and will continue through the day with an approximate end time between 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. There will be no official team scoring for the event, which is expected to feature 16-man brackets.
Participating teams expecting to join Lehigh include: Brown, Drexel, Franklin & Marshall, Indiana, Rutgers and Virginia. Brown, Franklin & Marshall, Indiana and Rutgers are all back after competing in last year’s tournament.
For fans who can’t make it to Stabler Arena on Friday, streaming video of every mat will be available on FloWrestling.org and brackets and live results will also be available on FloWrestling.org.
Lehigh began hosting the Sheridan Tournament in 1979, coinciding with the opening of Stabler Arena, with the event held annually through December 1999. The tournament was originally conceived by Lehigh head coach Thad Turner to honor the legendary Billy Sheridan. From 2000-2003, Lehigh hosted the Sheridan Duals, a series of duals in which the Mountain Hawks faced three opponents on the first or second Saturday in December at Stabler Arena. Beginning with the 2004-05 season, Lehigh honored its legendary former coach with a single dual against a high-profile opponent. That tradition began with a February 2005 dual against No. 1 Oklahoma State that drew 5,818 fans to Stabler Arena. For the second consecutive year, the recognition of coach Billy Sheridan returns to its original tournament format.
A sellout crowd of 9,769, the second-largest home dual meet crowd in Lehigh history, saw the 22nd-ranked Mountain Hawks battle No. 1 Penn State Dec. 8 at PPL Center in Allentown. The three-time defending national champions flexed their muscle, winning nine bouts in a 36-3 victory over the Brown and White in the 112th meeting of Lehigh’s most-contested dual series. Sophomore Ryan Crookham delivered the lone win of the day for the Mountain Hawks with a 4-2 decision over Braeden Davis in a matchup of top 10-ranked wrestlers at 133, but the visiting Nittany Lions claimed six bonus point wins among their nine victories to earn their 14th straight dual victory against the Mountain Hawks.
Four Lehigh wrestlers appear in the latest rankings from InterMat, while five are ranked by FloWrestling and six are ranked in the WrestleStat top 33. Three Mountain Hawks are ranked by Amateur Wrestling News and The Open Mat. Sophomore Ryan Crookham, the consensus No. 1 at 133, senior Michael Beard (197) and junior Sheldon Seymour (125) are ranked across the board. Senior Malyke Hines is now ranked at 149 by InterMat, at the weight class he is expected to compete at in the Sheridan Tournament. InterMat, FloWrestling and WrestleStat rank from 1-33, while AWN and The Open Mat rank 1-20.
Three Lehigh wrestlers won individual titles as the Mountain Hawks hosted the Sheridan Tournament, Dec. 22, 2023 at Stabler Arena. The Lehigh trio of Sheldon Seymour (125), Max Brignola (157) and Nathan Taylor (285) came out on top of their respective weight classes. In all, the Mountain Hawks had six finalists on the day and placed 10 wrestlers in the top four in their respective weights. A total of 23 Lehigh wrestlers competed in a field that also featured wrestlers from Army West Point, Binghamton, Brown, Central Michigan, Cornell, Franklin & Marshall, Indiana, Rider and Rutgers. Eighteen of Lehigh’s 23 entrants from a season ago remain on Lehigh’s 2024-25 roster.
Action on Friday begins at 10 a.m. from Stabler Arena. Tickets are available and can be purchased at LehighTickets.com.
Lehigh will send a small contingent of wrestlers to the prestigious Midlands Championships, Dec. 29-30 in Hoffman Estates, Ill. Luke Stanich and Michael Beard won titles at last year’s tournament. The Mountain Hawks will kick off 2025 with road duals at Binghamton (Jan. 11) and Cornell (Jan. 12).
The 2024-25 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.
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