College Post Season Coverage

EAST STROUDSBURG, PA - Pre-event favorite Cornell had a comfortable lead after the first session of wrestling at the 2007 EIWA Wrestling Championships, held at Koehler Fieldhouse on the campus of East Stroudsburg University. 

Cornell placed eight wrestlers into the semifinals, winning 15 of their 17 matches during the session. Cornell scored 65 points during the session, a full 17 points ahead of the rest of the field.

"We wrestled as we realistically would expect," said Koll. "I was hoping we would pull some upsets. We want to keep our wrestlers on the winner's side. We have some tough matches in the wrestlebacks for those who lost. But, I am more worried about getting our guys into the championship round."

All of Rob Koll's wrestlers held their seeds, with one upset according to seeds. No. 6 Joshua Arone stopped No. 3 Justin Barent of Columbia by major decision, 12-1 at 184 pounds.

"This was the first time that Joshua has been healthy all year long," said Koll. "When I saw how the seeds were working out, I didn't say anything. That win was expected."

Cornell was also a pre-event favorite the last two years, but the tournament was won by Lehigh, which is currently on a five-year winning streak at the EIWA Championships. Koll is not focusing on the team title this weekend, but two weeks ahead at the NCAA Championships in Auburn Hills, Mich. 

"This tournament is a national qualifier for us," said Koll. "I'd rather place 10th here but qualify 10 for the NCAAs than win the tournament and not get as many qualifiers. (Winning the EIWA title) means more to the alumni and the administration than it does to the team and the coaches."

Teams that are bunched in a group behind Cornell are Lehigh with 48 points, Penn with 47.5 points, Navy with 47 points and Harvard with 34.5 points. Lehigh and Penn have six in the semifinals, Navy has five and Harvard has four.

"I am happy where we are now," said Lehigh coach Greg Strobel. "We scored some bonus points. We won where we had to and we were close where we were not expected to win. What hurts us in the team race is we have two weights where we are not strong. The next round for us is crucial."

 "We have six in the semifinals. We are where we want to be," said Penn coach Zeke Jones. "Our guys are wrestling well, getting bonus points. We are on track."

Penn's session took an upturn when No. 8 Brett McCurdy qualified for the semifinals at 141 pounds, winning his bouts by major decision and fall.

"He has been right there all year," said Jones of McCurdy, who had many close losses to higher ranked athletes. "He hasn't shoved through the door. Now is the time for him to shove through the door."

Navy, one of the pre-event favorites, saw its hopes sinking with a number of losses by seeded wrestlers. The Mids lost one of its seeded wrestlers in the first session, when No. 6 Alex Usztics was pinned in 6:32 by unseeded Greg Hart of Bucknell. In the quarterfinals, No. 3 Brett Canterbury was beaten at 141 pounds by No. 6 Mark Savino of Brown, 6-4.

Navy also lost a tough quarterfinal match that could have helped rebuild momentum, when No. 4 seed David Marble of Bucknell stopped No. 5 Joseph Baker of Navy, 9-4.

"Honestly, our hopes rest in the guys coming back in the consolations," said Navy coach Bruce Burnett. "That is the way it is always with us. The first match (Usztics) set us back and when Baker lost it dug us deeper. Your focus changes for a chance to win to a chance to survive and qualify guys for the NCAA Championships. We have to fight and scrap now. It's a longer road in the consolations."

Cornell had seven wrestlers competing in the first round, with three byes, and the Big Red won all of the bouts. Koll's troops also took advantage of the opportunity for bonus points right off the bat 

Things started well for Cornell when their NCAA runner-up Troy Nickerson won their first match at 125 pounds with a pin in 1:11 over Ryan Jablonski of Rutgers.

Other bonus points came from pins by Drake Hovis at 157 pounds in 6:57 over Ben Bishop of East Stroudsburg and Joey Hooker at 174 pounds, in 1:32 over James Schultz of Franklin and Marshall. Steve Anceravage added a technical fall at 165 pounds, winning 19-2 over Justin Jacobs of Navy. Jordan Leen scored a 12-3 major decision over Austin Milster of Army. 

After the first round of wrestling, Cornell led with 15.5 points and all 10 still in the championship bracket. Navy was second with 13 points, Penn with 12.5 points, Columbia with 11.5 points and Lehigh with 10 points. Only Cornell and Columbia had their full teams in the winner's bracket after the first round.

The first major upset of the tournament came at 141 pounds in the first round, when No. 1 seed Max Meltzer of Harvard was caught and pinned by Kyle Borshoff of American in 3:22.

The conference's returning NCAA champion, Matt Valenti of Penn at 133 pounds, had a bye, then opened his tournament with a quarterfinal victory over John Stout of East Stroudsburg, 11-4.

All five returning champions were able to advance to the semifinals: Nickerson, Valenti, Matt Dragon of Penn at 149 pounds, Josh Glenn of American at 197 (at 184 last year) and Matt Cassidy of Lehigh at 197 pounds.

Harvard's prospects were helped with a last-second quarterfinal victory at 133 pounds, when No. 3 Robbie Preston hit a headlock with 10 seconds left to beat No. 6 Matt Delorezno of Columbia, 6-2. Delorenzo was winning 2-1 before the last ditch move by Preston.

Semifinal pairings (with seeds)

125 pounds
No. 1 Troy Nickerson (Cornell) vs.No. 5 Brandon Kinney (Columbia)
No. 2 Matt Eveleth (Penn) vs. No. 3 Matt Fisk (Lehigh)

133 pounds
No. 1 Matt Valenti (Penn) vs. No. 4 David Marble (Bucknell)
No. 2 Adam Frey (Cornell) vs. No. 3 Robert Preston (Harvard)

141 pounds
No. 4 Matthew Kyler (Army) vs. No. 8 Brett McCurdy (Penn)
No. 2 Matt Ciasulli (Lehigh) vs. No. 6 Mark Savino (Brown)

149 pounds
No. 1 Jordan Leen (Cornell) vs. No. 4 Matthew Dunn (Colombia)
No. 2 JP O'Connor (Harvard) vs. No. 3 John Cox (Navy)

157 pounds
No. 1 Matt Dragon (Penn) vs. No. 4 Robert Latessa (Harvard)
No. 2 John Jarred (Navy) vs. No. 3 David Nakasone (Lehigh)

165 pounds
No. 1 Michael Cannon (American) vs. No. 4 Andrew Rendos (Bucknell)
No. 2 Zachary Shanaman (Penn) vs. No. 3 Steve Anceravage (Cornell)

174 pounds
No. 1 Matt Stolpinski (Navy) vs. No. 4 Matthew Herrington (Penn)
No. 2 Matthew Palmer (Columbia) vs. No. 3 Joey Hooker (Cornell)

184 pounds
No. 1 David Craig (Lehigh) vs. No. 5 Antonio Miranda (Navy)
No. 2 Louis Caputo (Harvard) vs. No. 6 Joshua Arnone (Cornell)

197 pounds
No. 1 Jerry Rinaldi (Cornell) vs. No. 4 Eric Lapotsky (Bucknell)
No. 2. Josh Glenn (American) vs. No. 3. Matt Cassidy (Lehigh)

285 pounds
No. 1 Ed Prendergast (Navy) vs. No. 5 Levon Mock (Brown)
No. 2 Paul Weibel (Lehigh) vs. No. 3 Zach Hammond (Cornell)