Still alive in the semis and looking to make finals with a win in the morning are Noah Baughman (125), Mark Grey (133), Dylan Palacio (157), Brandon Womack (165), Brian Realbuto (174) and Gabe Dean (184).
Cornell and Lehigh will have a pair of matchups right off the bat on Saturday, with the Big Red looking to swing upsets and tilt the race squarely in its favor. Noah Baughman, who used a third period turn to earn an 8-2 win over Binghamton's Steve Bulzomi in the quarters, will meet top-seeded and fifth-ranked Darian Cruz. A win would guarantee the freshman an invitation to the NCAA tournament, while a loss would put him on the outside looking in as the EIWA earned just two qualifiers at 125. Senior Mark Grey will also face a top-seeded Mountain Hawks and will attempt to punch his ticket to the national tournament when he meets ninth-ranked Scott Parker. He won a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Princeton's Pat D'Arcy in the quarters.
Unsurprisingly, seniors Brian Realbuto (174) and Gabe Dean (184) will head to their final day of EIWA tournament competition knowing they are safe to make travel plans to St. Louis. Both earned dominant technical fall victories in the quarters and will face fourth-seeded service academy wrestlers on Saturday morning, with Realbuto meeting dangerous Jadean Bernstein of Navy and Dean squaring off with Army West Point's Samson Imonode.
Senior Dylan Palacio and sophomore Brandon Womack will also have an opportunity to reach the finals, with Palacio having an oppoortunity to do so while looking for his second EIWA title. Palacio funked out a 5-1 win over Penn's May Bethea, while Womack earned a 3-0 decision over Navy's Drew Daniels. Both will meet opponents from Brown, with Womack facing Jon Viruet, who handed Palacio his only loss earlier this season in a wild 14-13 contest, and Palacio meeting eighth-seeded Steven Galiardo.
Jonathan Furnas (149) recovered from his first round loss with consecutive wins by major decision in the back draw, while Ben Honis (197) and Craig Scott (285) bounced back from defeats in the quarters to get within one more win of the podium. Sophomore Will Koll lost twice after winning his opener on Friday morning to fall out of the competition.
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- On its quest for an 11th straight EIWA title, Cornell put itself squarely in the middle of the chase with all 10 wrestlers alive after the first session on Friday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion. The Big Red holds a narrow 23-19.5 lead over Lehigh thanks to nine wrestlers advancing to the quarterfinals.
Cornell dominated in the first round, going 9-1 with seven bonus wins - including five first period falls. The Big Red hit the mat four straight times from 157 until 184 with consecutive falls in a total of 1:59 - less than a full period of wrestling. The highlight was Dylan Palacio sticking his opponent in 15 seconds, the fastest fall by a Cornell wrestler in EIWA history. Brian Realbuto pinned his opponent in 24 seconds, Gabe Dean put his down in 36 seconds and Brandon Womack took all of 44 seconds. Along with Mark Grey's pin in 1:16, Cornell's bonus point attack gave the Big Red some cushion as its main rival, Lehigh, lost two wrestlers.
The Big Red also earned a major decision win by Ben Honis at 197 and a technical fall victory by Will Koll at 141. Both Noah Baughman to begin the tournament and Craig Scott to end the round won regular decisions, though both came by more than a takedown. The lone loss was a late takedown that sent Jonathan Furnas into the back draw, falling 4-3 to Danny Reed of Columbia. Furnas bounced back with a major decision win over Bucknell's Seth Hogue in the consolation rounds to stay alive for the podium and a spot at NCAAs.
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