Bucknell Wrestling Prepares for Duals Against Navy and Wagner This Weekend
Feb. 9, 2007 LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell wrestling squad will be in action both on the road and at home this weekend as the Bison travel to Annapolis, Md., on Saturday, Feb. 10, to take on nationally-ranked Navy at 7 p.m., before returning home to Davis Gym to face Wagner at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 11. Bucknell, who is 10-8 overall, 2-2 in the EIWA, enters the weekend looking to match and possibly exceed its program wins record of 11, which the Orange and Blue has achieved three times--in 1983-84, 1989-90 and 1992-93. The Midshipmen, who are ranked 19th in the country according to the latest USA Today/InterMat/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll, are currently 9-4 on the year, 5-0 in the EIWA, while Seahawks, the owners of an 0-13 record, will take on Duquesne and Eastern Michigan on Saturday before making the trip to Lewisburg. In series history, the Bison are 3-0-0 against Wagner since first meeting in 1996-97, but are 1-18-0 against Navy and will be in search of their first win since 1985-86. The Orange and Blue boasts three wrestlers on its roster with 20 or more victories in their overall records as 133-pounder David Marble (Harpursville, N.Y./Harpursville Central) is 22-7, Eric Lapotsky (Mount Carmel, Pa./Mount Carmel Area), who wrestles at 197 for the Bison, is 21-4, and 165-pounder Andy Rendos (Brockway, Pa./Brockway) is 25-3. Lapotsky and Rendos, along with 125-pounder Greg Hart (Bedminster, N.J./Bernards) and 157-pounder Brantley Hooks (Spartanburg, S.C./James F. Byrnes) claimed spots in the latest EIWA Individual Rankings. Hart, Hooks and Lapotsky, who were all tabbed sixth, are the lone freshmen ranked at their respective weights in the poll. Lapotsky is the current EIWA leader in pins, as well, with 15. Rendos, the lone nationally-ranked individual for Bucknell, is 18th in the country and has been ranked in the InterMat/NWCA/NWMA poll for 10 consecutive weeks. This weekend, Rendos, who is 16-2 in dual-meet competition, will be looking to break the program's dual-meet wins record, currently held by three previous Bison wrestlers including Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame member Tom Scotton '78. Navy has representation in seven of the 10 weight classes in the EIWA Rankings, with three wrestlers earning nods in the national individual poll. Joe Baker, who wrestles at 133 for the Mids, is 10th in the nation and enters the match with a dual record of 7-1 in duals. Matt Stolpinski is 11th at 174 and is 32-5 overall (11-2 duals) and eighth-ranked heavyweight Ed Prendergast is 30-5 on the year, 9-2 in duals. Justin Ensign, the projected starter for Wagner at 149, leads the Seahawks with an 8-8 overall record on the year.
Bucknell will wrestle in its final meet of the season before the EIWA Championships next Saturday, Feb. 17, when the team travels to Cambridge, Mass., for a tri-meet with Columbia and Harvard.
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