LANCASTER, PA. - Defending champion Cornell held a 12-point lead over Penn after the first day of action at the EIWA Championships at Franklin and Marshall College. 

The Big Red placed eight wrestlers in the semifinals, with Penn close behind with seven semifinalists. Cornell has 68.5 points, with Penn at 56.5 points.

All five returning champions in the field have safely advanced to the semifinals: Jordan Leen of Cornell (157), Steve Anceravage of Cornell (174), Matt Stolpinski of Navy (174), Josh Glenn of American (197) and Ed Predergast of Navy (285). Leen and Anceravage have moved up a weight class since last season.

"I would have been pleased with 10 semifinalists," said Cornell coach Rob Koll. "I am more disappointed than pleased. I expected eight. I won't be excited until we have the Cup back and are on our bus going home. We look at this as a qualifier for the national championships. We are in position to bring nine or 10 to the nationals at this point."

All of Cornell's athletes who were seeded in the top four making it through the session. The only quarterfinal losses for Cornell came at 141 pounds, where No. 5 Adam Frey was defeated by No. 4 Corey Jantzen of Harvard, and at heavyweight, where No. 5 Maciej Jochym was beaten by No. 4 Nathan Thobaben of Army.

One of Cornell's underdogs earned a quarterfinal win, when No. 5 D.J. Meagher, a freshman, defeated No. 4 Bryce Saddoris of Navy at 149 pounds, 6-2. Four of Cornell's semifinalists are freshmen: Meagher, plus No. 1 Mike Grey at 133 pounds, No. 1 Mack Lewnes at 165 pounds and No. 2 Justin Kerber at 197 pounds.

Like Cornell, Penn has all 10 of its athletes still alive, with seven semifinalists. The Quakers suffered the biggest upset of the quarterfinal session when No. 2 Trey McLean was thrown and pinned by No. 7 Ryan Flores of Columbia in 35 seconds.

A big win for Penn came at 141, when No. 6 Rick Rappo stunned No. 3 Steve Adamcsik of Rutgers, 12-7.

"We had a good round. We have all 10 still in it. We are competing well. We were one mistake away from a great round. All of our wrestlers still have a chance to go to the nationals. We are competing very well, and battling every second. I am pleased with the effort, focus and intensity. Tomorrow is the money round," said Penn coach Zeke Jones.

The battle for third place was tight between the U.S. Military Academy with 41.5 points and four semifinalists, American University with 37.5 points and five semifinalists and the U.S. Naval Academy with 35 points and four semifinalists.

Two of the session's quarterfinal upsets were turned in by American athletes. At 125 pounds, No. 6 Jason Borshoff of American defeated No. 3 Brandon Kinney of Columbia, 4-3. At 157, No. 5 Christopher Stout of American defeated No. 4 Robert Hitschler of Penn in sudden death overtime, 5-3.

"It went pretty good. We have five in the semis, the most we have every had since coming here six years ago," said American coach Mark Cody. "It has been a rough year. This will give us a good boost going into the national tournament."

American also has the only returning NCAA champion in the field, Josh Glenn at 197, who scored a 15-2 major decision over No. 8 Matthew Parsons of the U.S. Naval Academy in his only bout on Saturday. Glenn entered the tournament undefeated but without many bouts for the year, with a 12-0 record during the regular season.

"He looked good," said Cody. "He is better at this point of the season than he was a year ago at this point. He is stronger, his conditioning is great and he is technically sound."

The EIWA semifinals will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. The placement round will be at 1:30 p.m. and the championship finals begin at 6:30 p.m.

EIWA Semifinal pairings for Saturday morning

125 pounds
No. 1 Rollie Peterkin (Penn) vs. No. 4 Mike Rodriguez (Cornell)
No. 2 Fernando Martinez (Army) vs. No. 6 Jasen Borshoff (American) 

133 pounds
No. 1 Mike Grey (Cornell) vs. No. 4 Joe Baker (Navy)
No. 2 Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) vs. No. 3 David Marble (Bucknell)

141 pounds
No. 1 Matt Kyler (Army) vs. No. 4 Corey Jantzen (Harvard)
No. 2 Kyle Borshoff (American) vs. No. 6 Rick Rappo (Penn)

149 pounds
No. 1 J.P. O'Connor (Harvard) vs. No. 5 D.J. Meagher (Cornell) 
No. 2 Trevor Chinn (Lehigh) vs. No. 3 Cesar Grajales (Penn)

157 pounds
No. 1 Jordan Leen (Cornell) vs. No. 5 Christopher Stout (American)
No. 2 Dave Nakasone (Lehigh) vs. No. 3 Spencer Manley (Navy)

165 pounds
No. 1 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) vs. No. 4 Andrew Rendos (Bucknell) 
No. 2 Michael Cannon (American) vs. No. 3 Zach Shanaman (Penn)

174 pounds
No. 1 Steve Anceravage (Cornell) vs. No. 5 Scott Giffin (Penn)
No. 2 Matt Stolpinski (Navy) vs. No. 6 Shane Riccio (Bucknell)

184 pounds
No. 1 Scott Ferguson (Army) vs. No. 4 Matthew Gevelinger (Brown)
No. 2 Lior Zamir (Penn) vs. No. 3 Josh Arnone (Cornell)

197 pounds
No. 1 Josh Glenn (American) vs. No. 4 Thomas Shovlin (Penn)
No. 2 Justin Kerber (Cornell) vs. No. 6 Lamar Brown (Rutgers)

285 pounds
No. 1 Ed Prendergast (Navy) vs. No. 4 Nathan Thobaben (Army)
No. 3 Levon Mock (Brown) vs. No. 7 Ryan Flores (Columbia)