Session IV featuring the finals started at 125 pounds, with sophomore All-American Troy Nickerson taking second place after dropping a 5-3 decision to Penn's Matt Eveleth. Nickerson led 3-0 late in the third, but Eveleth caught him for a takedown and grabbed a lucky break turning the Big Red grappler nearly scoring the pin. Eveleth won the match with the two back points and riding time.
Nickerson entered the championships as the No. 1 seed and won his first three matches notching bonus points for the Big Red in each. In his opening bout, he pinned Rutger's Ryan Jablonski in 1:11. In the quarterfinals, Nickerson faced eighth seeded Greg Einfrank (Brown). He posted a tech fall winning 16-0 in 6:22. Nickerson faced Columbia's Brandon Kinney for the second time this season in the semifinals. The Big Red grappler blanked the Lion, 8-0, winning a major decision.
The 133 pound bout featured a rematch of Penn's Matt Valenti and the Big Red's Adam Frey. Valenti pinned Frey in their first meeting in February. The two were scoreless after two periods, but Valenti would drive ahead in the third with an escape and a takedown. Frey made an escape but was unable to score again on the Penn wrestler. With riding time, Valenti won a 4-1 decision to take the title.
Rookie Frey was the second seed at 133 pounds and defeated American's Jordan Lipp in his first bout, 9-2. Frey rematched against Leigh's Seth Ciasulli in the quarterfinals advancing with a 7-5 win. Advancing to the finals, Frey would take his match into sudden victory winning with by a takedown over Harvard Robert Preston (9-7 sv).
Sophomore Jordan Leen was the Big Red's first individual champion of the weekend after winning a 2-1 decision over Harvard's J.P. O'Connor at 149 pounds. The two were scoreless after the first period. Leen scored two points with a takedown and racked up over a minute of riding time in the second. O'Connor chose the top position in the third hoping to diminish the riding time. He accomplished that task and added over a minute of his own, but was unable to score late in the period. The championship title is Leen's first. His freshman season, he finished in third to win a bid to the NCAAs. This year Leen jumped into his second EIWA Championships with a 12-3 major decision over Austin Mister (Army). In his quarterfinal match, he narrowly missed notching his second MD with an 11-4 win over East Stroudsburg's Scott Heckman. To advance to the finals, Leen grabbed his second major decision with a 10-1 win over Columbia's Matthew Dunn.
Steve Anceravage brought home the second individual title for the Big Red at 165 pounds. The sophomore won a 9-6 decision over American's Mike Cannon. Anceravage had an outstanding tournament opening with a tech fall over Navy's Justin Jacobs. He then went on to win an 11-3 major decision over ESU's Leif Ruschmeyer. The highlight of his tournament, other than winning the title, would be in his semifinal match. Anceravage pinned second seeded Zach Shanaman (Penn) in 2:48. The win avenged his 6-4 loss to the Quaker at the Cornell/Penn dual match earlier this season. Anceravage will make his second appearance at the NCAA tournament.
Senior captain Jerry Rinaldi faced American's Josh Glenn in the finals at 197 pounds. Glenn won a 6-1 decision over Rinaldi to take the title. Rinaldi entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed. After having a bye his first round, Rinaldi pinned Army's Connor Sanders in his quarterfinal bout in 1:21. To advance to the finals, Rinaldi won a 16-4 major decision over Bucknell's Eric Lapotsky. Rinaldi qualified for his fourth NCAA Tournament.
At heavyweight, Zach Hammond faced Navy's Ed Prendergast. The two were wrestling a tight match going into the third period. Hammond had to take an injury timeout and was not able to recover but finished out the match. Prendergast won a 10-0 major decision over the Big Red wrestler.
Hammond had a bye in his first round but faced Columbia's Kevin Lester in the quarterfinals. In a dual match earlier in the season, Hammond won a 12-6 decision and wasted no time winning his second, 6-1. In his semifinal bout, he faced Lehigh's Paul Weibel. In January in a dual match, Weibel dealt Hammond a devastating blow when he caught the Big Red wrestler pinning him in 1:51. Hammond avenged that loss with a 3-1 win to secure his first bid to the NCAA Tournament.
In Session III, Josh Arnone took third place at 184 pounds after winning a 5-1 decision over Lehigh's David Craig. Arnone scored the first point of the match in the second period with an escape from his initial down position. In the third period, he grabbed three points with a nearfall and with riding time totaled five points. Craig's only point came from an escape in the third period. To qualify for the NCAA tournament, Arnone defeated Penn's Lior Zamir for the second time this season by a score of 7-5.
Joey Hooker placed fourth at 174 pounds after losing a 9-3 decision to Penn's Matt Harrington in the third place bout. Hooker won a 9-7 decision over Harrington earlier in the season at the Cornell/Penn dual match on Feb. 9. In his first match of the day, Hooker won a 1-0 decision over American's Rudy Rueda which qualified Hooker for his second NCAA tournament.
In Session II Freshman Cory Manson (7) won a 4-2 decision over Bucknell's Zachary Galligan at 141 pounds. Manson then faced No. 2 seed Matt Ciasulli (Lehigh). Ciasulli defeated Manson for the second time this season, by a score of 9-1. Manson caught some bad luck with his draw in his consolation match facing No. 1 seed Max Meltzer (Harvard). Meltzer lost his opening match to unseeded American's Kyle Borshoff. Borshoff pinned Meltzer in 3:22. Meltzer ended Manson's tournament winning a 7-2 decision.
Drake Hovis entered the Championships as the No. 8 seed at 157 pounds. He pinned ESU's Ben Bishop in 6:50. In his second match, he faced Penn's Matt Dragon. Dragon, the No. 1 seed, won a 12-6 decision over the Big Red grappler. In his first consolation match, Hovis won a 10-4 decision over American's Jimmy Peppers. Hovis was knocked out of the tournament when he lost, 8-4, to Army's Christian Snook.
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