TOM Previews The 106th EIWA Wrestling Championships

Published on March 4, 2010 by viratas   ·   4 Comments

By Willie Saylor

Featuring four of the nation’s Top 25, the thirteen-team EIWA Championships will be held March 6th and 7th in Lehigh University’s Stabler Arena, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

For a few teams, the chance for conference supremacy will be on the line, while other teams will try and push as many individuals as they can through to the national tournament. Last year, the EIWA received the second highest number of automatic qualifiers for NCAA’s with 38, one ahead of the Big XII Conference, behind only The Big Ten’s 61.

This year, the EIWA’s are +3, garnering 41 automatic bids based on placement at the conference tournament this weekend. Again, this is second to only the Big Ten, and now 4 ahead of the Big XII’s 37.

The Open Mat will be covering the EIWA Championships in its entirety, so check in for news and updates. We will also have a live blog available.

First though, we’ll breakdown the conference, by team and individual weights, in anticipation of one of the nations most historic and prestigious conference tournaments.

Individual Weights: Highlighted wrestlers represent potential NCAA qualifier according to rank and number of conference allocations per weight. Those that follow could prove to be contenders.

125—Automatic Qualifiers: 4
1. Sr. Troy Nickerson, Cornell, 8-1
2. Fr. Joey Langel, Rutgers, 25-5
3. Sr. Jason Borshoff, American, 18-6
4. Fr. Garret Frey, Princeton, 24-5
So. Matt Rappo, Penn, 15-9
So. Aaron Kalil, Navy, 19-10

The top 3 should be safe here. Headlining the group is returning NCAA champion, Nickerson, whose biggest concern is his recurring shoulder injury. Langel and Borshoff are clearly the #s 2 and 3 guys here. After that it’s going to be fun to see who gets the fourth and final slot. Several of these guys have beaten each other this year. Another guy to watch out for is Lehigh’s John McDonald who, despite wrestling at about a .500 clip this season, has been on a roll lately, taking out both Langel and Rappo in duals.

133—Automatic Qualifiers: 5
1. Jr. Mike Grey, Cornell, 30-6
2. Sr. Matt Fisk, Lehigh, 18-5
3. Jr. Billy Ashnault, Rutgers, 23-8
4. Sr. David Marble, Bucknell, 23-7
5. Jr. Bryan Ortenzio, Penn, 26-9

The top 5 here are clear and all but Ortenzio has previous experience at the Big Dance. The above order should be a good indicator of seeds, which would mean a tough quarterfinal would pit Marble and Ortenzio together, the loser of which would have to scrap his way through the wrestlebacks. Nearly half (4) of Ortenzio’s losses (9) are to Grey.

141—Automatic Qualifiers: 3
1. Fr. Kyle Dake, Cornell, 26-2
2. Sr. Seth Ciasulli, Lehigh, 18-10
3. So. Trevor Melde, Rutgers, 21-7
So. Zach Kemmerer, Penn, 24-10

Freshman phenom Dake leads the way. He’s undefeated amongst conference foes. Ciasulli, the only returning NCAA qualifier in this group, and Melde have split matches this season. Ciasulli also has an OT dual win just last week over Kemmerer. Outside of these four, there’s no real darkhorses.

149—Automatic Qualifiers: 4
1. Jr. Kevin LeValley, Bucknell, 34-5
2. Sr. Kyle Borshoff, American, 18-3
3. Sr. Matt Kyler, Army, 27-3
4. Sr. Caesar Grajales, Penn, 8-3
Sr. Glenn Shober, Navy, 19-12
Fr. Joey Napoli, Lehigh, 20-10
Jr. David Greenwald, Rutgers, 17-10
Fr. Steve Santos, Columbia, 19-13
Jr. Corey Manson, Cornell, 19-13

This weight should have received another automatic bid. LeValley is perfect in conference action, winning an OT decision vs. Kyler and a 2-1 match over Borshoff. But after those three big guns, all bets are off. Throw Grajales in the mix and there are four returning NCAA qualifiers here. But Grajales has been out most of the season (probably why the weight didn’t get an addition bid) and it’s tough to gauge what kind of form he’s in. The next group has all beaten up on each other this year. Napoli has a recent win over Greenwald, who has beaten Shober, who has beaten Kyler. Quarters will be a blast.

157—Automatic Qualifiers: 4
1. Sr. J.P. O’Connor, Harvard, 26-0
2. Jr. Steve Fittery, American, 24-1
3. Jr. Bryce Saddoris, Navy, 28-9
4. Sr. Matt Dragon, Penn, 5-4
Jr. Darryl Cocozzo, Rutgers, 24-7

As the undefeated #1 Ranked wrestler in the country, O’Connor is the leader of a talented group of 57lbers. Fittery’s one loss was to UNC’s Thomas Scotton, who also has two wins over Saddoris. Cocozzo wrestled O’Connor close on two occasions this year, losing 3-1 and 3-2. Dragon, a returning qualifier, is a bit of an X-factor as he’s seen limited action this year. The fight for the fourth bid should be interesting.

165—Automatic Qualifiers: 6
1. Sr. Andy Rendos, Bucknell, 25-3
2. Jr. Justin Kerber, Cornell, 15-8
3. Jr. Stephen Burak, Penn, 30-9
4. So. Brandon Hatchett, Lehigh, 11-7
5. So. Eren Civan, Columbia, 24-10
6. Jr. Robbie Neill, Navy, 21-11
So. Greg Zannetti, Rutgers, 19-10

2009 All-American Rendos leads this group. He’s prefect in-conference this season. His only losses are twice to Shane Onufer (Wyoming) and to Missouri’s Nick Marable. Kerber should challenge. Most of his losses are to the national Top 10. Three of Burak’s last four losses have been to conference opponents, including the last one to Hatchett who is on a winning streak of 9 of his last 10 and could be dangerous.

174—Automatic Qualifiers: 4
1. Jr. Mack Lewnes, Cornell, 32-0
2. Jr. Scott Giffin, Penn, 20-4
3. Sr. Shane Riccio, Bucknell, 30-8
4. Fr. Robert Hamlin, Lehigh, 15-8

Lewnes, who’s been on a warpath this season, is probably the EIWA’s wrestler of the year. His closest in-conference bout was a major decision over Giffin who’s no slouch in his own right. Hamlin has been a nice surprise this season. Other than Cornell’s Kyle Dake, he’s probably the EIWA’s best newcomer. Another guy to watch out for is Columbia Fr. Stephen West. Although he’s been just at .500 this year, the talented prep from California has had several close bouts within conference.

184—Automatic Qualifiers: 4
1. Sr. Mike Cannon, American, 22-1
2. Sr. Louis Caputo, Harvard, 19-2
3. Sr. David Craig, Lehigh, 18-4
4. So. Steve Bosak, Cornell, 22-11

A very talented group here with three that have significant post-season experience. The seeding should be similar and feature a nice semi’s match-up between Craig and Caputo. Caputo took the dual meet bout 6-0 over Craig.

197—Automatic Qualifiers: 4
1. So. Joe Kennedy, Lehigh, 15-11
2. So. Cam Simaz, Cornell, 33-5
3. Sr. Richard Starks, Army, 22-1
4. Sr. Lamar Brown, Rutgers, 21-7
Fr. Micah Burak, Penn, 20-7
Jr. Jay Hahn, Bucknell, 16-9
Fr. Daniel Mitchell, 3-3

Don’t let the order of the above list fool you; if there’s any weight in this year’s EIWA’s that’s up for grabs, it’s 197. Kennedy has a win over Simaz in OT, and one over Brown via a TD at the buzzer. Simaz has two close wins over Burak, who last week upset Kennedy. Hahn, whose losses are mostly to nationally ranked wrestlers outside the conference, also has a win over Brown. Mitchell, at 3-3, is a virtually unknown factor. But, in the past two weeks he’s beaten both Hahn and Brown. What a mess! Should make for some compelling bouts.

HWT—Automatic Qualifiers: 3
1. So. Zach Rey, Lehigh, 25-4
2. Jr. Dom Russo, Rutgers, 27-5
3. Sr. Scott Steele, Navy, 13-2
Sr. Josh Arnone, Cornell, 15-6

Probably the deepest class of quality guys at any weight in the conference. The top 3 could figure to have a say in who places where at the national tournament. Rey beat Russo twice but lost to Steele. Russo beat Steele. It appears that Rey will get the top seed and that to win the conference title Russo and/or Steele will have to fight through two tough matches.

Sessions:
Sessions 1 and 2 – Saturday, March 6, 10:00 AM (Semifinals at approximately 3:30 PM)
Session 3 – Sunday, March 7, 10:00 AM (Consolation semis, place finals)
Session 4 – Sunday, March 7, 3:00 PM (Championship finals)

*For more information, tickets, and live webcast, visit Lehigh Sports at: http://www.lehighsports.com/eiwa2010.asp