Bucknell Univ. dropped its Div. I college wrestling program after the 2002 season, citing Title IX pressures for the move. Although Bucknell had a rich wrestling history going back to 1944 and is in the heart of Pennsylvania wrestling country, the program went the way of hundreds of others on the college wrestling scrapheap.

A multi-million dollar donation from wrestling alumni Bill Graham in 2004 gave Bucknell wrestling another chance. The Bison are competing at the 2007 EIWA Championships for the first time since being reinstated as a varsity program

Bucknell hired its head wrestling coach Dan Wirnsberger a full year before the program was launched, spending time to recruit and build the foundation of his program. Many within wrestling believe that this was a very smart move for Bucknell, which has allowed them to come out of the box in a very strong way.

"Bucknell did the right thing, not wrestling, just recruiting,: said Lehigh head coach Greg Strobel. "They took a year off, spent that time recruiting, and got some great kids in. Dan is a good coach and he is developing some quality kids."

Wirnsberger competed for Michigan State in the Big Ten, and coached at Bloomsburg in the EWL, but saw the EIWA Championships for the first time last year as he was piecing together the program. He was incredibly impressed with the quality of wrestling.

"The tournament was an eye-opener," said Wirnsberger. "Right from the start, the matches were so tough."

In the Bucknell media guide, the roster initially featured 20 freshman, two sophomores and a graduate student. Wirnsberger brought a rookie team into a tough regular season schedule, with surprisingly positive results.

The team finished the season with an excellent 12-9-1 record, beating many well-established programs along the way. In the season's last weekend, the Bison stopped Columbia, which had climbed into the nation's top 25, and tied respected Harvard. Clearly, the first dual season back for Bucknell was positive. But then came the big test at the conference tournament.

On Friday, the EIWA Championships started well for the Bison, when unseeded Greg Hart pinned No. 6 Alex Usztics of Navy in 6:32 at 125 pounds. Right off the bat, Bucknell gave notice at the EIWA meet that the program was serious.

Three Bison made the semifinals, sophomore Eric Lapotsky from Mount Carmel, Pa at 184 pounds and freshmen David Marble from Harpersville, N.Y. at 133 pounds and Andrew Rendos from Brockway, Pa. at 165 pounds. All three were beaten in the semifinals. When the first day ended, the Bison were down to these three wrestlers and were ninth in the team standings.

"We had a good preliminaries and a good second round, but for the semifinals, we just weren't ready," said Wirnsberger.

The EIWA morning session on Saturday is very intense. For all competing in the session, it is no longer about winning an EIWA gold medal. Instead, this is the round where athletes earn their trip to the NCAA Championships. If you win, you are in the top four and are automatically qualified for the nationals. If you lose, you only can hope for a wildcard selection from the coaches.

Bucknell's first chance for advancing an athlete to the NCAAs came at 133 pounds, when No. 4 seed Marble met Lehigh's No. 7 seed Seth Ciasulli. It was a battle of freshmen. Ciasulli scored the only takedown of the first period to lead 2-0, and Marble rode Ciasulli out during the second period.

The deciding third period was started on the feet. Ciasulli was hit for a stalling point for holding onto Marble's leg. With 38 seconds left, Marble hit a double leg takedown for a 3-2 lead. However, with only 21 seconds to go, Ciasulli hit a slick move on the edge of the mat and officials called a reversal. Wirnsberger barked at the officials, saying that it was a wrong call. Although Marble got a final escape, Ciasulli held on for a 5-4 win, knocking off Bucknell's first shot at the NCAA Tournament.

The second opportunity went much better. Rendos, seeded fourth, faced senior Ricky Turk of Columbia, a funky, talented athlete in his final EIWA tournament. The match was a high-scoring see-saw battle.

Rendos led 7-4 after the first period, with a key reversal and back points coming when Turk tried to run a cradle and got out of position. In the second period, Rendos got an escape and a takedown to lead 10-4. Turk hit a headlock in the third period to close the score to 10-7, but a Rendos reversal, then three point leg turn opened up an insurmountable lead. With riding time, Rendos won 15-7, giving Bucknell its first NCAA qualifier under the new Wirnsberger regime.

"It was a deep sense of relief," said Wirnsberger of the feeling after Rendos' win. "We have been working so diligently, so hard with this group since September. It goes all the way to last year, a whole year for me as a coach without competing. It taught me a lot about coaching, and about patience. This was a sense of accomplishment."

Next was Lapotsky's turn at 197 pounds. Also seeded No. 4, Lapotsky drew No. 7 Matthew Parsons of Navy. Lapotsky was in control the entire match. In the first period, he scored the only takedown. In the second, he got another takedown. In the third, Lapotsky scored a reversal. He had no trouble riding out Parsons, racking up more than five minutes of advantage. A late Parson's escape and takedown closed the margin, but with Lapotsky's riding time point, the score ended 8-3. Bucknell had qualified its second athlete for the NCAA Tournament.

Bucknell's chance for a third qualifier was snuffed in the fifth-place match, when Marble was defeated by Navy's No. 5 seed Joseph Baker, 10-2. With 133 considered perhaps the best weight class in the tournament, the winner of that match was expected to claim one of the seven wildcard berths awarded from the coaches.

Rendos had the first chance to win a bronze medal for Bucknell, facing No. 8 seed Shawn Kitchner of Brown. Kitchner scored the opening takedown and led 2-1 at the end of the first. The second period ended 4-4, after a Rendos escape, a Kitchner takedown and a Rendos reversal. In the third period, Rendos scored a takedown for a 6-2 lead. He rode Kitchner out for the rest of the period for a 6-4 victory and third place.

Rendos was pleased and satisfied after his bout. Like everybody in the program, he is looking ahead, not just to the NCAA Championships this year but for the seasons to come.

"It was hard for us. You have to get used to college. You have no leadership because there are no upperclassmen. Freshmen had to step up, like they were seniors. But we have been winning matches. Nobody has expected us to do what we have done," said Rendos. 

"We have great athletes up and down the lineup and we have the best coaching staff," said Rendos.

Bucknell nailed down another bronze medal at 197, when Lapotsky beat returning champion Matt Cassidy of Lehigh. Cassidy scored first on a takedown, but Lapotsky got out and scored a pair of takedowns, to lead 5-4 after the first. In the second, Lapotsky got a reversal and an extra point on a clasping call, to lead 8-5 after two periods. In the third, a Cassidy escape was followed by a Lapotsky takedown, and with riding time Lapotsky won the bout 11-6. 

"I am excited for the future of Bucknell wrestling," said Wirnsberger after the Lapotsky victory. "We exceeded expectations, which is amazing for a group of 18 and 19 year old kids. This is the second or third toughest conference in the nation. A lot of credit goes to the individuals who stepped up here for us."

Wirnsberger had been talking about work ethic and pride all season, but it was exciting for him to see that the young people in his program bought into it and got the job done.

"Because of their ages, they have an attitude that they don't know any better," said Wirnsberger. "They train as hard as they can, and they compete as hard as they can. We have been preaching that what you put into the sport, you get out of it, and that the results will take care of themselves."

Bucknell, a first-year program, will have two wrestlers at the NCAA Championships, both who placed third at the rugged EIWA Championships.

"Our goal coming into the season was to get guys into the national tournament, to get EIWA placewinners and to get our school onto the wrestling map," said Wirnsberger. "It is exciting to our program, to our benefactor Bill Graham and to our college that Bucknell will be represented at the NCAA Tournament."

Just how good can this team of young wrestlers become by the time they are seniors? For this wild-eyed group of freshmen, the sky is the limit.

"By the time we are seniors, we should be in the Top 10," said Rendos. "Based on the progress we make this year, there is no reason for us not to be ranked by then."