Cornell crowned five individual champions and earned eight automatic entries to nationals as they won their fourth straight EIWA team title with 160.5 points, easily outpacing second-place Penn (113) by over 47 points.
"Well, I'm really thrilled for guys like [Justin] Kerber, [Steve] Bosak and [Josh] Arnone -- not the superstars, but guys that people don't hear a lot about." said Cornell Coach Rob Koll, who was named 2010 EIWA Coach of the Year during the tournament. "I know they can do damage [in Omaha], and if we want to do what we want to do at nationals, those are the guys who are going to have to step up and surprise some people. I expected the No. 1 seeds to wrestle to their seeds, and they did."
It was a tournament in which the finals were largely devoid of upsets. Every No. 1 seed advanced to the tournament final, all but one captured their bracket title, and the exception (Army's Matthew Kyler at 149-pounder) was a 2008 EIWA champ.
With Cornell cruising to a big lead from the jump, the race quickly became for the second place. In the end, just 9.5 points separated Penn, Lehigh and Bucknell from second, third and fourth places, respectively.
"The guys are coming together as a team, and I think we fed off of the energy that each kid had during these matches," Penn Coach Rob Eiter said afterwards. "I'm real proud of the way the guys responded to the adversity that we went through this year with injuries and constantly juggling the lineup."
The second day began with consolation semifinals, which were significant because for most weight classes, a loss meant no automatic qualifier. No. 2 seed and 13th-ranked senior Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) suffered a tough defeat to No. 4 seed Zack Kemmerer (Penn). The 2009 EIWA champion 141 pounds had to settle for fifth place after Kemmerer used a takedown in the second and scored off a nice counter with :20 seconds left to seal a 6-3 decision and stun the hometown favorite.
Also going home early will be No. 2 seed and 10th-ranked Kyle Borshoff at 149 pounds. He had a tough draw in a deep weight class, and lost in the quarters by a 3-2 decision to former EIWA champ Cesar Grejales (Penn). Then in the cons semis, Glenn Shober (Navy) held off Borshoff by a 4-3 decision to send the senior to the fifth place match.
At 184, Lehigh's David Craig ended his home career in Bethlehem nicely with a thrilling 8-5 win over Cornell's Steve Bosak. Trailing 5-4 with the ride time advantage and :10 seconds on the clock, Craig reversed Bosak, locked up a cradle and put him to his back for a two-point near fall as time expired for an 8-5 decision to take third place and advance to his third NCAAs.
Navy senior heavyweight Scott Steele has been battling a high left ankle sprain all year, and though he gamely tried to shake off the pain and swelling, he was unable to wrestle his accustomed open style this weekend. He then rolled it twice in his semifinal loss to DJ Russo (Rutgers), forcing him to medically forfeit out of the tournament. He'll now have to hope for a wild card berth to Omaha.
Finals Recap
125: An interesting matchup here between Garrett Frey (Princeton) and Cornell's Troy Nickerson, who Garrett has known for years since Troy and Adam Frey were once teammates on the Big Red.
To his credit, Garrett Frey tried to wrestle. He took his shots, but Nickerson had quick counters to all of them. In the first, Nickerson took him down and used a turk with a crossface for three near fall points and to hold him down for the rest of the period and Nickerson began the second with a 5-0 lead, and after riding Frey out the entire second period, he and Nickerson went neutral to start the third. Frey tried a throw, and after Nickerson grabbed a leg to counter, Frey tried to roll through. That move was a true freshman mistake, as Nickerson caught and pinned him early in the third period.
"Garrett did an amazing job just to get to the finals of this very difficult tournament," Koll said. "He should be very proud of that ... and he's not the only one to [ever] get caught and pinned by Troy."
133: A match that had a weird flow because of blood time for Fisk, Grey was in control and up 3-0 after two periods. Fisk made things interesting with an explosive takedown right off the whistle at the start of the third to make it 3-2. But Grey regained controlled with an escape and a takedown of his own, eventually winning a 7-2 decision for his first EIWA title.
141: The Big Red made it three titles in a row to start finals as No. 1 seed and top-ranked Kyle Dake (Cornell) ended No. 7 seed Jordan Lipp's (American) upset run with a 9-2 decision in the final.
Lipp got in deep on a few high-crotch singles during the match, but Dake was able to use under hooks and impressive strength to ward them off and score takedowns on a couple go-behinds. Leading 7-0 early in the third, Dake tweaked his ankle a bit and Lipp was able to finish off a gorgeous high single. But he could get no closer, and the true freshman won comfortably, 9-2.
149: Looking to avenge one of his only losses this season to top seed Kevin LeValley (Bucknell), Army's No. 9-ranked Matt Kyler used a couple textbook takedowns in the first and second periods to lead 4-3 heading into the third.
LeValley chose to ride Kyler out for much of the third period, believing that he could turn the four-time finalist for back points. The two wrestlers kept going out-of-bounds, however, and Kyler avenged his finals loss at 149 last season with a 5-3 decision.
157: A pair of returning All-Americans squared off here. Top seed and top-ranked J.P. O'Connor and No. 3 seed Bryce Saddoris (Navy) went scoreless through the first period, then O'Connor countered a Saddoris shot attempt for a takedown to lead 3-0 into the third.
Despite allowing an escape early in the third, O'Connor wrestled smartly and came away a 3-1 victor.
165: Great scrambling in the first period results in top seed Andy Rendos (Bucknell) locking up No. 3 Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) in a cradle for a five point move.
Rendos started the second period down, but he quickly reversed Hatchett for a 7-0 lead. The runner-up last year at this weight class, Rendos's 8-2 win made him the first EIWA champion in Bucknell history.
174: Top ranked and No. 1 seed Mack Lewnes (Cornell) earned his second straight EIWA title and well-deserved OW honors with a dominating performance in the finals against No. 2 Scott Giffin (Penn). He was workmanlike, notching takedowns in all three periods and staying on the offensive in a 9-2 decision.
"I wanted to be aggressive, and I felt like I was," Lewnes said. "Being [the No. 1 seed at nationals] and losing twice last year really showed me that the worst thing that could have happened already did. It takes away the pressure ... it doesn't matter what seed I am, I just have to go out there and wrestle."
184: Despite his rhythm being disrupted by a constant bloody nose, Mike Cannon (American) continued to do the same thing that he did last year at 174 pounds: win.
The No. 4 senior had a tough match-up against No. 8 Louis Caputo (Harvard), but ultimately prevailed 5-1, thanks to takedowns in the first and second, and accumulated riding time throughout.
"This being my senior year, I wanted to come in and just have fun," Cannon said. "I've put a lot of pressure on myself these last couple years. I remembered before this tournament how much I love this sport – so I had a good time and wrestled real well."
197:
No. 1 seed Cam Simaz wanted to defend his title at 197 from 2009, so he came out and got an almost immediate takedown of Micah Burak (Penn).
The 20-year-old freshman from Colorado Springs settled in after that, however, and gave Simaz all he could handle in a physical matchup before Simaz eventually prevailed, 3-1.
285: The home crowd was finally given something to cheer about in the finals when top-seeded sophomore Zach Rey (Lehigh) beat DJ Russo (Rutgers) to win his first EIWA title.
Both registered escapes and took plenty of half shots during regulation. In the tie breaker, got an escape, then hung on to seal the deal and register his third close win over Russo on the season.
Meanwhile, for non-Big Red EIWA fans hoping to see a different team champion, the wait continues. And the beat will go on, with Rob Koll directing the band.
"We've been building for a long time, and it doesn't happen overnight," Koll said. "We're excited about being able to dominate, but we're more excited about the fact that we expect next year's team to be even better."
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