Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Wrestling to Take on George Mason Friday in Virginia
2/11/2010 7:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 11, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell wrestling team will wrestle at George Mason on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Recreation and Athletic Complex in Fairfax Va. The non-league match will be the fifth of a five-match road trip for the Bison, who are 10-6 this year. Bucknell has won three out of its four previous road matches.
The Bison are entering the match after toppling Lock Haven last Friday, 25-12, for their first-ever victory over the Bald Eagles. Unlike Lock Haven, which it has wrestled 17 times, Bucknell has only faced George Mason (3-8) once before. The Bison won a close match, 23-20, in Davis Gym on Dec. 1, 2007.
Bucknell Wrestling Notebook
• The Bison guaranteed an above-.500 season by beating Lock Haven last Friday. It is the third time in the last four years Bucknell will have a record above .500, its best stretch since finishing above .500 three consecutive years (1992-93 to 1994-95).
• This is the third time in the last four years that Bucknell has reached double-figure wins. If the Bison defeat George Mason Friday they will match last year's victory total. The 2006-07 squad, the first after the program's reinstatement, posted a program-record 12 wins.
• Bucknell is currently 5-1 on the road and has won seven of its last eight road duals dating back to last year.
• Andy Rendos is 10-0 this season in dual matches and owns a 14-match winning streak in duals. His last dual loss came last January at Iowa. His overall record this year is 22-4, highlighted by five falls.
• Bucknell has 15 grapplers that have already reached double figures in victories this year, exceeding its total from 2008-2009. David Marble (23-7), Shane Riccio (29-6) and Rendos (22-4) have each piled up at least 20 wins. Kevin LeValley has compiled a team-best 33-5 record on the season.
• With 33 wins on the year, LeValley now shares the program single-season wins record with teammates Rendos and Riccio and former Bison Brian Pitzer. Out of the four men that currently hold the record, LeValley has the fewest losses with five.
• Marble (No. 17 at 133), LeValley (No. 7 at 149), Rendos (No. 10 at 165) and Riccio (No. 14 at 174) continue to give Bucknell a quartet of wrestlers in the national rankings. This week Riccio moved up two spots from 16.
• LeValley has won 10 of his last 11 matches. He currently has seven wins in a row. In his last win he defeated Lock Haven's Zach Kell by a 17-0 technical fall. The junior, who was named Damon's Bison Athlete of the Week on Monday, has not allowed his opponent to score a single point over his last four wins, winning by a combined score of 56-0.
• LeValley entered the 2009-10 campaign with 18 career major decisions before. Throughout the campaign he has compiled nine more, pushing his career total to 27, which is the most by any current Bison. Marble ranks second with 25, including 11 this year, while Rendos also has 25 in his four-year career, but just three this year.
• Bucknell has used 10 different starting lineups this year. The Bison used 10 different lineups in their first 11 dual matches, but have not used a new one since an early January meeting with UC Davis at the Virginia Duals.
• Bucknell's Probable Starters vs. George Mason:
125: N/A
133: No. 17 David Marble (23-7)
141: John Regan (19-11)
149: No. 7 Kevin LeValley (33-5)
157: Brantley Hooks (19-14)
165: No. 10 Andy Rendos (22-4)
174: No. 14 Shane Riccio (29-7)
184: Rob Waltko (17-14)
197: Jay Hahn (15-8)
HWT: Joe McMullan (11-7) or Conor Sweeney (3-16)
• Bucknell's next match will be Senior Day in Davis Gym on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. against EIWA rival American. Marble, Rendos, and Riccio, who each rank among the top five in program history in wins, will be honored in a pre-match ceremony.
