A team title and ten individual titles are on the line this weekend when East Stroudsburg hosts the 103rd annual EIWA Championships. Also on the line are 47 bids (up from 44 last season) to the NCAA Championships at Auburn Hills, MI (near Detroit) from March 15-17. 

While the top three place winners are automatic NCAA qualifiers, the coaches could decide at a meeting the day before the tournament begins that fourth place winners are also automatic. In either case, all place winners are eligible for selection as wild card qualifiers by the coaches.

On paper, Cornell should be favored to win the team title and thus dethrone Lehigh, which has won five straight titles.

But wrestling tournaments are not won on paper, but out on the mats, where all kinds of unforeseen variables come into play, including injuries, weight issues, and most importantly, wrestlers who step up to win matches that few would have predicted in advance.

The winner of the 2007 tournament may well be the team which can put the most healthy first string wrestlers on the mat. Injuries have been a major factor during the dual meet season, and among the title contenders, only Navy has not been impacted in a major way, at least into mid-February, when this preview was written.

So with this in mind, it appears that there are as many as five teams, Columbia, Cornell, Lehigh, Navy and Penn who have a legitimate goal of winning an EIWA team title this weekend. Here is a brief overview of the five title contenders, taking them in alphabetical order.

Columbia. Brendan Buckley has built a solid team on Morningside Heights. The Lions are strong at every weight, although none project as EIWA champions. That means they will need to get top performances from senior wrestlers like Brandon Kinney (125), Ricky Turk (165), returning All-American Matt Palmer (174), and nationally ranked Justin Barent (184). The Lions will likely have all ten wrestlers seeded in the top six or higher, and they will all need to equal or exceed their seeds. A team title for Columbia would be the first in the history of the program.

Cornell. The Big Red have probably been hit the hardest by injuries and illness, and it was early February before Rob Koll was able to put all ten projected starters on the mat at the same time. If he can get them all to suit up this weekend, Cornell will be favored to win the team title. The team stars are NCAA runner-up Troy Nickerson (125) and returning All-American Jerry Rinaldi (197). Jordan Leen (149) and Steve Anceravage (165) project as #1 seeds. Of the four, only Leen has been injury-free. Nickerson had appeared in only one tournament and one dual meet during the first three months of the season, but returned to action in early February. Keep an eye on Adam Frey at 133. His only loss came at the hands of defending NCAA champion Matt Valenti. A team title for the Big Red would be the first since 1993.

Lehigh. Aside from Navy, the Mountain Hawks have probably been the least affected by injuries, although they lost their starter at 165 due to academic issues. But they lost the nucleus of their 2006 team to graduation, so this is a year of transition for coach Greg Strobel. They also lost EIWA runnerup Trevor Chinn (149) to a late season injury. Freshman David Craig (184) has been a solid performer, and will likely be the #1 seed. EIWA champion Matt Cassidy returns at 197, and Matt Ciasulli projects as a finalist at 141. EIWA runnerup Matt Fisk (125) returns, and freshman Seth Ciasulli will be looking for a high place at 133. Heavyweight Paul Weibel is fun to watch, but uses a series of risky throws, which means his finish is impossible to predict with any confidence. If Lehigh were to win, they would become the only team to win six consecutive titles since Cornell did it from 1912-1917

Navy. Bruce Burnett has a solid team from top to bottom, and could place all of them in the top six. Three Mids, Joe Baker (133), Matt Stolpinski (174) and Ed Prendergast (285) have been nationally ranked most of the season, and thus have realistic chances of winning individual championships. Alex Usztics (125), John Jarred (157) and Antonio Miranda (184) can be counted on to score lots of points. A team title for Navy would be the first since 1990.

Penn. The Quakers have been flying under the radar this year, and should not be discounted. NCAA champion Matt Valenti is back at 133, along with Matt Herrington (174), who has been ranked as high as second in the nation this season. Matt Eveleth, who projects as a probable finalist, has been a pleasant surprise at 125, and Matt Dragon, who was a champion at 149 last year, moves up to 157 to challenge Flanagan for the title. Rick Rappo (149) Zach Shanaman (165), Lior Zamir (184) and Jack Sullivan (197) have had significant success this season and should provide valuable points for coach Zeke Jones. A team title for the Quakers would be the first since 1999, when they completed a run of four straight titles.

For most of the season, Harvard coach Jay Weiss had high hopes of repeating the team title he brought back to Cambridge in 2000. Those hopes probably evaporated when heavyweight Bode Ogunwole, ranked second in the nation, suffered a career ending injury in late January. The Crimson traditionally have some top individuals, but usually have several weights which project few points at the EIWA tournament. 2007 is no exception to this rule, with five individuals who were nationally ranked late in the season. The Crimson could end up with as many as five individual titles, from Robbie Preston (133), Max Meltzer (141), J. P. O'Connor (149), Andrew Flanagan (157 defending champion) and Louis Caputo (184). 

Here is a brief overview by weight class.

125. Troy Nickerson, as defending champion and EIWA runnerup, will be the overwhelming favorite to retain his title. His opponent in the finals should be either Matt Fisk or Matt Eveleth, with the winner of the dual meet in late February getting the #2 seed. Alex Usztics will be looking for a way to make it into the finals, along with either Whitt Dunning or Fernando Martinez of Army.

133. This is arguably the deepest weight class in the tournament this year, and the coaches could well select all six place winners as NCAA qualifiers. NCAA champion Matt Valenti, of course, will be the heavy favorite to win the title. A promising freshman, Cornell's Adam Frey, should vie for second place with Joe Baker and Robbie Preston. William Simpson of Army, who placed at 125 a year ago, moves up a weight, where he is joined by returning place winner Matt DeLorenzo of Columbia and freshman Seth Ciasulli of Lehigh. 

141. Max Meltzer, runnerup a year ago, will be the favorite to win this year. He'll be challenged by Matt Ciasulli, wrestling at his natural collegiate weight for the first time, and freshman Matt Kyler of Army. Columbia has returning place winner Sal Tirico back in action. Keep an eye on freshman Kyle Borshoff of American, who could mount a serious challenge.

149. This is another deep weight class. Top seed will go to the winner of Jordan Leen and J. P. O'Connor in the dual meet between Cornell and Harvard. John Cox of Navy is back, and could earn a high place. Matt Dunn is a promising Columbia freshman who could place.

157. Andrew Flanagan, as the returning champion, looks like the probable #1 seed if he can stay off the injured list. He'll be challenged by Matt Dragon and John Jarred. Lehigh's Dave Nakasone has shown improvement, along with Derek Sickles of Columbia, who has earned the starting spot. 

165. Steve Anceravage will be the heavy favorite, with American freshman Mike Cannon likely to be the only serious challenger. Freshman Andy Rendos, who headlines an all-freshman Bucknell squad, has been very successful, and should challenge Columbia's Ricky Turk, who moves up two weight classes from last year, and Zach Shanaman of Penn.

174. Matt Herrington will be the favorite in yet another deep weight class, although he could be challenged by Matt Stolpinski, Joey Hooker of Cornell, and Matt Palmer of Columbia. American's Rudy Rueda could also challenge, and pinner Brent Smith of Army could be dangerous.

184. This weight class appears to be wide open, with freshman David Craig likely getting the #1 seed, as he has beaten nationally ranked Louis Caputo and Justin Barent. Lior Zamir could mount a challenge, along with Scott Ferguson of Army and Antonio Miranda of Navy.

197. Fans should hang on to their hats here. Matt Cassidy upset Jerry Rinaldi to win a title here last year, but they did not meet in the dual this year. American's Josh Glenn moves up from 184, where he was the champion, and brings a reputation as a pinner into the battle. Cassidy has struggled a bit with injuries this year, so it appears that he will be seeded behind Rinaldi and Glenn. Keep an eye on Bucknell freshman Eric Lapotsky, who has led the conference in pins most of the season.

285. Defending champion Bode Ogunwole is out with an injury, so Ed Prendergast, who owns a win over American's Adam LoPiccolo (no longer with the team), will get the #1 seed.  Freshman Kevin Lester has shown steady improvement throughout the  season, and could earn a high place. Paul Weibel, who appears to live or die by the pin, could place just about anywhere.