EIWA Championships to feature tight team race with Lehigh and Cornell favored

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John J. Harmon (Editor of EIWA Newsletter)
02/28/2005


Lehigh fans arriving at the Naval Academy's Alumni Hall this weekend who expect to watch the Mountain Hawks sweep to a fourth consecutive EIWA team championship may end up seeing red. That red would be the color of the singlets worn by the Cornell wrestling team.    A look at the recent individual rankings reveals some interesting factoids:  * Cornell had four wrestlers ranked first; Lehigh had three.  * Cornell projected nine place winners; Lehigh projected seven.  * Navy projected nine place winners, but no champions.    In addition, Navy will have the home mat advantage, and Lehigh appears to have more potential to score bonus points than the two other leading teams.    So let's call it a tossup between Cornell and Lehigh for the championship, with Navy a strong third. While the Midshipmen are a long shot to win the championship, it would take only two or three wrestlers exceeding their seeds to earn a second place finish, especially if the victims are from Cornell or Lehigh.     Cornell last finished first in 1993, while Navy won it in 1990. The Midshipmen placed second in 1994 and third in 1995.    Ten defending and former champions will be competing for ten individual championships.     Leading these star performers will be 133-pounder Travis Lee of Cornell, who will be shooting for his fourth championship, only the eighth in 101 years of EIWA history and the first for the Big Red to accomplish the feat. Two weeks later, he isĀ  likely to become the fourth ever four-time All-American from the EIWA, and the first ever from an Ivy League team.    Four two-time winners will be on the mats. Phillip Simpson of Army won at 141 two years ago before repeating up at 157 last season. He'll compete at 149 this year. Lehigh junior Troy Letters will attempt to make it three in a row at 165, while teammate Jon Trenge, who took last season off to try out for the U. S. Olympic Team, will attempt to earn his third title at 197. Matt Feast of Penn will try for his third consecutive title at heavyweight.    The last time four three-time champions stood on the winner's podium in the same tournament was in 1972, when Tom Schuler and Lloyd Keaser of Navy, along with Andy Matter and Dave Joyner of Penn State all won their third titles. There have never been five champions who have their third title in the same year.    Other defending champions are Doug McGraw of Penn at 141 and Travis Frick of Lehigh, who won last year at 184, but drops down to 174 this year for his second attempt.    Former champions back in action are Lehigh teammates Derek Zinck (157) and Cory Cooperman (141). Cooperman won his first championship two years ago at 133. Also returning, after two years away from competition, is Mason Lenhard of Penn, who won as a true freshman back in 2001.    Also at stake will be 42 invitations to the NCAA Championships in St Louis in two weeks. All wrestlers placing in the Top Three in their respective weight classes will receive an automatic bid, with 12 others, who can be chosen from fourth, fifth or sixth place finishers, to be decided by the coaches. These will be announced during the award ceremonies Saturday evening.    The battle for fourth place appears to be between Penn and Army. Don't be surprised if American, despite having no entry at three weights, places as high as sixth.    So sit back (if you can) and enjoy the action. The Battle by the Bay may well turn out to be the Donnybrook of the Decade.    Weight by Weight Analysis:    125 pounds    There are five legitimate contenders for the title, and all of them are from the Ivy League. Harvard freshman Robbie Preston will get the number one seed, as he has beaten just about everyone, although all of the bouts have been close. Expect a finals battle with Mike Mormile of Cornell, although Jeff Sato of Columbia will be in the hunt, along with another freshman, Jeff Schell of Brown. Penn's Mason Lenhard has lost to all of the above, but only by a point or two, and if he can raise his level of competition to where it was four years ago, he could end up on top again. The coaches might opt to select two wild cards here.    133 pounds    As a three-time champion who is undefeated in EIWA competition, Cornell's Travis Lee will get the #1 seed. His closest competition will come from Lehigh sophomore Matt Ciasulli, who lost to Lee 5-1 in the dual. Navy's Sam Gray should be the #3 seed. Fourth place and a probable NCAA wild card bid will be up for grabs among Tony Severo of Army, Jeff Eveleth of Penn and Dan Appello of Brown.    141 pounds    Former champion Cory Cooperman and defending champion Doug McGraw should have a reprise of their thrilling finals bout a year ago, when McGraw came from behind to upset the Mountain Hawk in overtime. Cooperman won the dual meet two weeks ago in convincing fashion, so he'll be the top seed. Navy's Nate Gulosh appears to be the certain #3 seed, and will be looking to upset the Quaker in the semifinals. Patrick Simpson of Army appears to be a likely NCAA qualifier.    149 pounds    The finals here will almost certainly be between Cornell's Dustin Manotti and Army's Phillip Simpson. Both are ranked among the top three in the country. In their only meeting of the season, back in November, Manotti was the 6-4 winner. But this one could go either way, and will be worth the price of admission. Pinner Mark Smith of East Stroudsburg may challenge Navy's John Cox for third place.    157 pounds    One of the biggest stories in Eastern wrestling circles this year has been the arrival of Muzaffar (call him Muz) Abdurakhmanov of American, after two years at Colby (KS) Junior College, where he was a two-time National Junior College champion. His only loss this season was in the finals of the Midlands, and he will be a unanimous choice for top seed, even though Lehigh's Zinck is a returning champion. Mike Parziale of Franklin & Marshall is a solid choice for third place. The trio of John Cholish of Cornell, Pat Lukanich of Navy and Devin Mesanko of Columbia will battle for fourth and a likely NCAA bid.    165 pounds    If you had to pick one wrestler in the tournament with the best chance to win, that choice would be Troy Letters. His stiffest competition will come from Columbia's Matt Palmer and Navy's Craig Dziewiatkowski, who will likely battle it out for second. This weight may be awarded no wild card bids.    174 pounds    Four wrestlers are in the running for a title here. Andy Roy of Rutgers, who has made two trips to the finals, will likely face off against Lehigh's Frick. But Joe Mazzurco of Cornell and senior Dan Waters of American are also seasoned competitors, and are capable of pulling off upsets in the semi finals. And three more wrestlers, John Carr of East Stroudsburg, Dustin Wiles of Penn and freshman Matthew Stolpinski of Navy are good enough to earn a high place. This is a tough weight class, and the coaches could pick two NCAA wild cards here.    184 pounds    Cornell's Tyler Baier will get the #1 seed, but could be challenged by either Josh Glenn of American or Luke Calvert of Army. Baier beat Calvert 4-1 back in November. Doran Heist of Brown has been looking good down the stretch, and so has Navy's Jon Kane. They should battle with Chris Ressa of Rutgers for fourth place and a wild card bid.    197 pounds    Lehigh's Jon Trenge, with a 10-2 dual win over Cornell's Jerry Rinaldi, should have clear sailing to his third title. Rinaldi has a 4-3 win over Penn's Marcus Schontube, but neither man has wrestled Thayer Paxton of Navy. Princeton's Jake Butler had a convincing 100 upset of Schontube on the last weekend of the season, and could steal the #3 seed. These four competitors should battle it out for second place. Army's Todd Wisman is a tough competitor who is capable of pulling off an upset.    285 pounds    Heavyweight is traditionally a tough weight class in this tournament, and this year is no exception. Feast is a two-time defending champion, but has not faced Navy's Tanner Garrett, who has only one loss on the year. Bode Ogunwole of Harvard lost in double overtime to Feast, a