Napoli, the defending EIWA champion at 157, will take on Nestor Taffur of Boston University Saturday night. Napoli is ranked tenth in Amateur Wrestling News’ preseason rankings, while Taffur is ranked 11th. Last season, Napoli went 18-4, winning 18 of his first 20 bouts to claim the EIWA title and earn the No. 3 seed at the NCAA Championships.
Beckman will be competing against A.J. Schopp of Edinboro in the NWCA All-Star Classic. Lehigh’s Deferred Eligibility Wrestler of the Year last season, Beckman enters this season ranked tenth at 133, while Schopp, a returning All-American is ranked fourth.
This marks the first time since November 2004 that Lehigh will have two entrants in the All-Star Classic. That year, Cory Cooperman fell to Teyon Ware of Oklahoma at 141 and Troy Letters downed David Bolyard of Central Michigan at 165.
The NWCA All-Star Classic presented by the United States Marine Corps will get underway at 7:15 p.m. at the Patriot Center on the campus of George Mason University. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster.
On Sunday, Lehigh heads to Clarion, Pa. for the Clarion Knight Point Open. Among the teams joining Lehigh and host Clarion in the all-day event are Campbell, Indiana, Lock Haven, Maryland, Ohio State, Pittsburgh and VMI.
The Mountain Hawks are planning to send more than 20 wrestlers including starters and wrestlers that are still competing for starting sports.
Lehigh’s other two returning EIWA champions will compete at the Clarion Open as junior Nathaniel Brown and sophomore Randy Cruz move up to their new weight classes. Brown is the returning EIWA champion at 174 but will be moving up in class this year to 184. Last year, Cruz was Lehigh’s first true freshman EIWA Champion since 1980. Cruz wrestled at 133 last year and will be moving up to 141 with the return of Beckman at 133.
At 184, senior Austin Meys has been cleared to return to competition after missing the last two seasons battling Guillain-Barre syndrome. Meys went 21-10 with 11 falls in 2010-11, his only official season of competition.
Two of the more competitive spots in Lehigh’s lineup are 125 and 141 and both weight classes will be well represented at Clarion. True freshmen Darian Cruz, Artem Timchenko, Dean Somers and sophomore Cody Kievman are all slated to compete at 125, while the 141 field includes Randy Cruz, sophomore Laike Gardner, junior Jim Carucci and freshman Will Switzer. The competition at heavyweight will also continue with sophomore Max Wessell and freshman Doug Vollaro expected to compete.
Action at the Clarion Knight Point Open is set for 9 a.m. from Clarion’s University Rec Center.
Following this weekend’s action, the Mountain Hawks will open the dual meet season against Bucknell, Saturday Novembe
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