LANCASTER, Pa. – The Eighth Annual David H. Lehman F&M Open will take place on Friday, January 7 in what promises to be one of the most talented fields in the history of the event. The field consists of 28 teams representing six of the seven Division I wrestling conferences.
Teams Competing (teams sending the majority of their starters in bold): Air Force, Army, Binghamton, Bloomsburg, Brown, Bucknell, Columbia, Cornell, Davidson, Duke, Edinboro, Gannon, Harvard, Iowa State, Lehigh, Lock Haven, Maryland, Millersville, Navy, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Ohio, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Presbyterian, Rutgers, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia
Who: 18 wrestlers ranked by Flowrestling, many more national qualifiers, a former national runner-up (Joey Lavallee, Missouri), and nationally-ranked high school recruits
Attendance
With a number of factors contributing to the College's decision to move to a "Very High" COVID-19 alert level, attendance at home athletic contests will be restricted to current faculty, staff, and students who are compliant with vaccination and testing policies. No other spectators will be admitted to the athletic venues. This policy is effective immediately.
Follow Live: Fans can catch the live action on every mat via FloWrestling's live coverage from the opening whistle through the championship finals. Live results of this Friday's action will be available on FloArena. A subscription to FloWrestling is required to watch the live video of all the mats.
About the Lehman Open: In 2014, the program's annual tournament was renamed after prominent geologist David H. Lehman '68, whose $5 million gift endowed the Diplomats' NCAA Division I wrestling program for generations of student-athletes to come.
The gift, establishing the "David H. Lehman Endowed Wrestling Program Fund," fully endowed wrestling program operations, including funding for existing personnel, equipment, competitions, and ongoing recruitment of student-athletes.
Weight Class Previews
125 lbs.
2021 All-American Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) is ranked No. 18 by FloWrestling after last year's sixth place finish at the national championships. The sophomore could have one of his toughest tests in fellow Hokie Flynn Coooper, who is 11-3 while redshirting this year. Jared Van Fleet (Air Force) will make his season debut at 125 lbs. after he was ranked 23rd in the country by FloWrestling at 133 lbs. Braxton Brown (Maryland) is having a strong 16-5 campaign in redshirt for a resurgent Maryland Terrapin team while 2021 EIWA runner-up and national qualifier Jacob Allen (Navy) should also be in the hunt for this talented weight class.
133 lbs.
Navy true freshman Joshua Koderhandt (14-5) has already climbed to No. 19 in the FloWrestling national rankings. Mario Guillen (Ohio) is a two-time national qualifier and has the most college credentials. Another true freshman, Eirk Roggie (Virginia) is off to a 7-2 start while Corey Cabanban (Iowa State) is off to a 7-3 start in a very deep weight for the a talented Cyclones' team. The true freshmen talent at this weight continues with Jordan Titus (West Virginia), who is 13-5 on the year. Cole Manley (Lock Haven) (49-19 career record) and Kyle Gorant (10-4 this year) are two more names to keep an eye on, while Devin Flannery (Millersville) (8-2) is one of the top wrestlers in Division II.
141 lbs.
Two nationally-ranked wrestlers and another receiving honorable mention make this one of the top weights to pay attention to. No. 12 Kizhan Clarke (North Carolina) (7-0) was a national qualifier at American and has 119 career wins as a postgraduate transfer while No. 24 Zach Redding (Iowa State) is another Cyclone looking to solidify his spot in that lineup. The service academies will have a say in this weight as Corey Shie (Army) was a national qualifier in 2019. Freshman Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) is undefeated (5-0) and redshirting behind Clarke, but can step into the spotlight this week. Fellow freshmen Thomas Deck (Army) (13-3) and Gabe Willochell (Edinboro) (10-5) have found success very early in their careers while Cody Phippen (Air Force) is a veteran at the weight in his third year as a member of his squad's the starting lineup.
149 lbs.
Two of the top wrestlers in the EIWA will look to take center stage as No. 19 PJ Ogunsanya (Army) (5-1) and No. 22 Manzona Bryant (Lehigh) vie for conference bragging rights. Ogunsanya is coming off of a round of 16 appearance during his first trip to the NCAAs a year ago. Jarod Verkleeren (Virginia) qualified to the national championships and was a member of two NCAA Championship teams at Penn State before transferring as a postgraduate. He is 6-3 and looking to move up the national rankings. Two more Black Knights make this a very deep weight for Army with Zach Keal (13-5) and Mason Williams (16-2) both having terrific seasons behind their nationally-ranked teammate. Ethan Miller (Maryland) (17-5) is another Terrapin making noise while Mason Phillips (North Carolina) (8-2) and Connor Eck (Lock Haven) (12-8) are two more wrestlers looking to make a deep run.
157 lbs.
No. 22 Andrew Cerniglia (Navy) is 13-3 on the year after qualifying for the NCAA Championships as a true freshman last year. Two-time NCAA qualifier Markus Hartman (Army) and 2021 NCAA qualifier Jake Keating (Virginia) are both receiving honorable mention in the rankings and can make a statement on Friday, but don't sleep on two-time NCAA qualifier Ben Barton (Lock Haven) who is a postgraduate transfer from Campbell University. Behind the big names in the weight class are strong backups in Jon Errico (Virginia) (7-0) and Nathan Lukez (Army) (13-3). AJ Kovacs (North Carolina State) has racked up a gaudy 15-4 record for the Wolfpack while Spencer Denton (Virginia) is a veteran in the Cavaliers' lineup. Maryland's Kevin Schork has also impressed early in his first season of collegiate action while Levi Haines (unattached) is a Penn State commit who is ranked as the No. 11 recruit in the nation by FloWrestling and will look to test his mettle against collegiate competition.
165 lbs.
The biggest name at 165 lbs. is former Missouri national runner-up Joey Lavallee, who is now training at Lehigh's RTC. He will have no shortage of challengers as Dalton Harkins (Army) (17-3), Val Park (Navy) (14-7), and Ashton Eyler (Lock Haven) are all sitting just outside the national rankings and looking to make their presence known on the national stage. Cyclones Austin Kraisser and Grant Stotts join Virginia Tech's Ty Finn and Clayton Ulrey. With a wide open weight, other candidates to make a charge to the medal round could include Sammy Starr (Navy) (8-3), Harrison Trahan (Brown), Thayne Lawrence (Lehigh) (8-3), and Brian Borden (Penn State) (7-3).
174 lbs.
Ben Pasiuk (Army) advanced to the round of 16 as a true freshman and headlines the field at this weight as he entered the NCAA Tournament undefeated a season ago. Nonetheless, he will have no shortage of competition with Alex Faison (North Carolina State) (9-2), Julian Broderson (Iowa State) (3-2), and Sam Wolf (Air Force) all having shown the ability to compete with the nation's best. Virginia's Victor Marcelli was a national qualifier last year and is slated to make his season debut on Friday while teammate Hudson Stewart (10-3) has certainly provided valuable depth to the weight. Three Midshipmen: Shane Finney, Shane Sosinsky, and Cael Crebbs give Navy a number of wrestlers with winning records who are looking to take control of that weight and the starting spot in the Midshipmen lineup.
184 lbs.
No. 24 David Key (Navy) was another round of 16 finisher for the Midshipmen last year and is 10-6 this season. Brad Laughlin (Army) is receiving honorable mention in the national rankings and would like nothing more than to knock off his fellow service academy member to climb the rankings while teammate Sahm AbdulRazzaq is looking to earn his way into the starting lineup. The ACC will certainly have something to say on the way to the finals as Haydn Daniels (Virginia) is 7-2 while redshirting while Brock Delsignore (North Carolina) is 13-2 in the same situation behind the national runner-up, Trent Hidlay, for the Wolfpack. Binghamton's Cory Day (2-0) is undefeated in the very early going of his season while Chase Mielnik (Maryland) (13-5) looks to be another emerging star in the Terrapins' lineup. The Ivy League's best chance for a medal at this weight appears to come from Luke Rada (Harvard), Leo Tarantino (Harvard), and James Araneo (Brown).
197 lbs.
JT Brown (Army) and Dakota Howard (Virginia Tech) are both receiving honorable mention in the FloWrestling national rankings. Brown is a two-time national qualifier while Howard made his first trip to nationals a season ago. Max Shaw (North Carolina State) was another national qualifier last year, but wrestled just one match during the month of December as he looks to make his return to live action. Jaxon Smith (Maryland), a true freshman, could certainly provide a challenge as the Terrapin is 12-6 during his redshirt season. Jacob Ferreira (North Carolina State) boasts an impressive 9-2 record during a breakthrough season for him. Lucas Cochran (Penn State) (6-1) and Kyle Epperly (Rutgers) (5-2) add a Big Ten flare to this weight in addition to the aforementioned Smith.
285 lbs.
If you didn't know about Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) before the Southern Scuffle, you certainly do now as Flowrestling's No. 13-ranked wrestler won the Gorrarian (most pins in least time) and Outstanding Wrestler awards at that prestigious event. He is 6-0 in one of the deepest heavyweight classes in NCAA history. Riley Smith (Navy) (12-6) will certainly not back down from the challenge as he is receiving honorable mention in the national rankings. Grady Griess (Navy) (14-4), Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) (18-9), and Ryan Catka (Navy) (11-4) are just a few EIWA HWTs waiting for their time in the spotlight. Isaac Reid (Lock Haven) (8-2) and Mitchell Trigg (Davidson) (8-5) both bring winning records into this deep weight class while Brandon Whitman (North Carolina) is a veteran of the group as he is in his third year as a member of the Tar Heels' starting lineup.
