The Palestra; Site of the 119th EIWA Championships (photo courtesy of Tony DiMarco)The 119th edition of the EIWA Championships started today in the historic city of Philadelphia, in the historic Palestra located on the University of Pennsylvania's campus. The largest and oldest wrestling conference in the nation is always exciting - this year was no exception. See some results, weight by weight, below.
125 - 6 Automatic Qualifiers
Semi-finalists:
1 - Ungar (Corn) vs 4 - Sotelo (Harv)
2 - Glory (Prin) vs 3 - Miller (Penn)
All semi-finalists will advance to NCAAs. This weight wrestled to seeds at the top 4. Glory looks to be a man on a mission, trying for his 3rd EIWA Championship. The top side battle between Ungar and Sotelo is a rematch from their dual, in which Sotelo won 1-0. I expect some more action tomorrow. On the back side, keep an eye out for Carter Bailey of Lehigh. The 10th seed finds himself in a great spot, potentially one win away, from being an NCAA qualifier. Him and Berginc of Army will square off. The other consi match is Babin of Columbia and Leiphart of Franklin & Marshall. The winner of each consi match in the morning, will earn an automatic bid to nationals. Exciting for fans like me, a little nerve-wracking for the people involved.
133 - 5 Automatic Qualifiers
Semi-finalists:
1 - Arujau (Corn) vs 5 - Ferretti (Navy)
2 - Colaiocco (Penn) vs 6 - Rini (Colum)
Vito cruised in his two matches. Ferretti won via injury default over McGonagle of Lehigh. McGonagle defaulted out of the tournament, so he will need a wild card. Thankfully, he now has 15 matches on the year, earning that important RPI criteria to help further his case for a bid to NCAAs. Rini of Columbia had a nice upset win over Phipps of Bucknell. Colaiocco looks to return to the finals and repeat as EIWA champ at 133lbs. On the backside, Waterman of Drexel will face Adrian in a rematch that he won in overtime a month ago. 3rd seed, Phipps will take on last year's 4th place finisher in Maida of American.
141 - 5 Automatic Qualifiers
Semi-finalists:
1 - Cornella (Corn) vs 4 - Kazimir (Colum)
2 - Miller (Buck) vs 6 - Ferrante (Penn)
Cornella had two pins, joining many of his Cornell teammates in the bonus point department. Kazimir used a 3rd period Peterson to win a wild one over Hines of Lehigh. Ferrante and Miller each won by comfortable decisions. There are a few guys to look out for currently on the back side, including Koderhandt of Navy and Hines of Lehigh.
149 - 2 Automatic Qualifiers
Semi-finalists:
1 - Zapf (Penn) vs 5 - Chappell (Buck)
2 - Diakomihalis (Corn) vs 6 - Fongaro (Colum)
Zapf and Yianni were expected to be here. Fongaro beat Brignola in a close quarter. My favorite win here was Chappell of Bucknell of McDaniel of Army. Chappell began the year at 133 lbs, now he's a semifinalist in the EIWAs at 149 lbs. The consis may not mean much, only taking 2 wrestlers. But guys like McDaniel and Brignola are still in contention to receive wild cards if they run the table - along with the losers of the semis. I'd throw in Nichter of Drexel in that conversation - but he's more of a long shot. You can never count out Keller of Princeton, who's still alive in the consi's.
157 - 3 Automatic Qualifiers
Semi-finalists:
1 - Artalona (Penn) vs 5 - Lukez (Army)
2 - Humphreys (Leh) vs 6 - Tarsi (Harv)
Lukez and Tarsi each won, being the lower seed. Tarsi beat Alvan of Columbia and Lukez beat last year's runner up, Cerniglia of Navy. Lukez and Artalona had a very tight one in their dual. This seems to be the better matchup, on paper. With only 3 automatic bids here, the guys on the backside have a lot of winning to do. With Alvan of Columbia (3rd seed) and Cerniglia losing in the wrestlebacks, this bracket has been busted wide open. Remaining wrestlers include (9) Nies of American, (12) Williams of Drexel, (11) Delp of Bucknell, and (10) Whalen of Princeton.
165 - 5 Automatic Qualifiers
Semi-finalists:
1 - Ramirez (Corn) vs 5 - Cassella (Bing)
2 - Monday (Prin) vs 3 - Ogunsanya (Colum)
My favorite weight class lived up to the hype. All matches were within 2 points, minus Cassella winning 7-0 due to a last second 6 point move. There is a long road to the top 5 for the wrestlers left in the consies. Drexel's Barczak takes on Kim of Harvard while Harkins of Army will wrestle Revano of Penn. The 1-7, and 9 seeds still remain. The seeding was nearly spot-on with this weight.
174 - 4 Automatic Qualifiers
Semi-finalists:
1 - Foca (Corn) vs 5 - Wolak (Colum)
2 - Incontrera (Penn) vs 3 - Pasiuk (Army)
Wolak defeated the 4th seed, O'Malley of Drexel, in the quarters. We saw 7th seed Conigliaro of Harvard lose in the first round to McFarland of Hofstra. This set-up the rare returning EIWA champs matching up in the consi's of day 1. Conigliaro won 5-2. He takes on Logan of Lehigh. 10th seed McFarland has Starr of Navy, who came in as the 6th seed.
184 - 4 Automatic Qualifiers
Semi-finalists:
1 - Samuelson (Leh) vs 5 - Dugan (Prin)
2 - Nolan (Bing) vs 3 - Bonino (Drex)
Dugan took out 4th seed Ferreira of Hofstra. Bonino and Nolan will have a rematch from their dual a few weeks back - which Nolan won in overtime. One more win gives Samuelson his very rare 5th trip to NCAAs, thanks to his 4 years at Wyoming. In the wrestlebacks, Ferreira takes on Conway of F&M. Ayzerov of Columbia (7th seed) will face 6th seed from Navy, David Key.
197 - 5 Automatic Qualifiers
Semi-finalists:
1 - Beard (Leh) vs 4 - Koser (Navy)
2 - Cardenas (Corn) vs 3 - Stout (Prin)
This weight went chalk into the semis. The big upset here was 11th seed from Columbia, Wehmeyer pinned 6th seed Urbas from Penn. The semi between Stout and Cardenas is a rematch of last year's semi - where Stout won in sudden victory. Urbas was my darkhorse coming in, but he's eliminated after a 1-2 record. O'Malley of Drexel upset him. He's the 9 seed, and will face off with Rogers of Hofstra, who was the 5th seed entering the day. 13th seed from Army, Dan Lawrence is in the top 8 - square off with Wehmeyer in the other consi.
285 - 6 Automatic Qualifiers
Semi-finalists:
1 - Slavikouski (Harv) vs 4 - Taylor (Leh)
2 - Greiss (Navy) vs 3 - Day (Bing)
Another chalk bracket into the semis. Taylor needed overtime to beat 5th seed, Goldin of Penn. Greiss and Day did what they were expected to do. This will be a fun one, as both guys like to score points and pin guys from top. Ben Goldin (5th seed) takes on Furman of Cornell. The winner of that match earns an auto bid to NCAAs. Same with the other consi matchup between 12th seeded Kohlhofer of Army and 6th seed, Crosby of Bucknell. Kohlhofer took out Stefanik of Princeton in the consi's.
All semi-finalists will advance to NCAAs.
Team Race:
1 - Cornell, 82.5 points with 7 in the semis, and 1 in the consies
2 - Lehigh, 68.5 points with 4 in the semis, and 4 in the consies
3 - Penn, 67 points with 6 in the semis, and 2 in the consies
4 - Columbia, 66.5 points with 5 in the semis, and 3 in the consies
5 - Princeton, 53 points with 4 in the semis, and 2 in the consies
6 - Army, 52.5 points with 2 in the semis, and 6 in the consies
7 - Navy, 51.5 points with 3 in the semis, and 3 in the consies
Brackets can be found here:
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