LANCASTER, PA. - In one of the closest races in EIWA history defending champion Cornell edged Penn by a half of a point at the 2008 EIWA Championships at Franklin and Marshall College. 

Cornell had a 4.5 point lead over Penn, 126 points to 121.5 points. When the finals ended, Penn had three champions and Cornell had one. The final team score ended at 128 for Cornell and 127.5 for Penn.

Penn opened the night strong with a victory at 125 pounds, as No. 1 Rollie Peterkin defeated No. 2 Fernando Martinez of Army, 8-5. Peterkin used a second-period tilt and riding time advantage to gain the lead.

Penn closed the gap even more at 149 pounds, when No. 3 Cesar Grajales upset top seed J.P. O'Connor of Harvard, 5-4, in overtime. The match went into the overtime 30-second tiebreakers. O'Connor scored a takedown in the first tiebreaker, and Grajales matched it in the second tiebreaker. The difference was a stalling penalty point against O'Connor in the second tiebreaker. Grajales was later named Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament.

Cornell led by ½ point after the Grajales win. Cornell lost an opportunity to add to its lead when returning champion and No. 1 seed Jordan Leen was upset in the finals at 157 pounds, losing to No. 2 Dave Nakasone of Lehigh, 5-2. Nakasone scored two takedowns in the third period for the margin of victory.

A big victory for Cornell came at 165 pounds when No. 1 Mack Lewnes of Cornell needed to go to overtime to defeat No. 3 Zach Shanaman of Penn, 6-4, in the only head-to-head battle in the finals between the top two teams. The regulation ended 4-4, and Lewnes scored a counter takedown in the sudden victory period for the win. 

Cornell lost a chance to clinch the win at 174 pounds. In a showdown of returning champions, No. 2 Matt Stolpinski of Navy beat No. 1 Steve Anceravage of Cornell, 5-3, in sudden victory overtime. Regulation ended at 3-3, and Stolpinski countered a shot, and scored on a leg attack of his own in overtime for the win.

Penn won their final match at 184 pounds, when No. 2 Lior Zamir edged No. 1 Scott Ferguson of Army, 4-2. For Penn to have won, Zamir would have needed to score a major decision, so his victory brought Penn just a half point behind. 

Cornell coach Rob Koll looked beyond the disappointment of the finals round to the next challenge ahead, the NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Mo. in two weeks.

"It is better to have won by a half point than to have lost," said Koll. "We would have liked more champions and more qualifiers. All that really matters is in two weeks from now in St. Louis. Last year, we felt this way and we had four All-Americans. The year before that, we had a tough finals and then had four All-Americans. I am not trying to rationalize or justify it. We have six guys who can do some damage in St. Louis, and we have to get them prepared. We got the Cup again, and hopefully we can hold onto it next year."

The Penn team was upbeat, although a bit frustrated with coming so close to winning it.

"Our kids wrestled great," said Penn coach Zeke Jones. "I am proud of them all. Consider Cesar (Grajales). What are the chances of him coming from behind when losing in the riedout like he did? I am so proud of him. Rollie Peterkin had a tremendous tournament. His focus is coming on at the right time. He will be a force at the nationals. Lior Zamir, our team captain, was great. The maturity he provided was the difference in our team performance. We are much better now than we have been, even two weeks ago."

Army placed third with 90 points, qualifying six wrestlers for the NCAA Championships. Coach Chuck Barbee was named EIWA Coach of the Year. Army had an individual champion at 141 pounds, when No. 1 Matt Kyler beat No. 6 Rick Rappo of Penn, 7-3.

"The guys showed a lot of heart and determination," said Barbee. "We came to fight hard and earn respect. We try to wrestle a physical match. We talked as a team about the mental toughness needed. They bought into it. This is a great group of guys and it shows what hard work can do. We got six guys for the NCAAs. I think that is the most we've had since 1987 when we won the EIWA. It took a long time to reach that level. With hard work, we expect to be in the running each year."

Navy placed fourth with 84 points, but had a strong finals with three individual champions: Joe Baker (133), Matt Stolpinski (174) and Ed Prendergast (286). For Stolpinski and Prendergast, it was their second EIWA title in a row. Navy qualified five athletes for the NCAA Tournament.

"I am proud of them. We came back strong. Look at Baker and all the guys he beat to win. Matt Stolpinski got his revenge on Anceravage. Ed Prendergast wrestled well. We have not had three champions for a long time. We dealt with adversity all year long, even here this weekend. The kids came here and wrestled hard," said Navy coach Bruce Burnett.

Joining Stolpinski and Prendergast as a repeat champion was the only returning NCAA champion in the field, Josh Glenn of American at 197 pounds. He defeated No. 6 seed Lamar Brown of Rutgers in the finals, 9-1.

EIWA Finalist summaries

125 pounds
No. 1 Rollie Peterkin (Penn) dec. No. 2 Fernando Martinez (Army), 8-5
First period:  Martinez scored a leg attack takedown with about 30 seconds left to go up 2-0. With 15 seconds left Peterkin escaped, then scored a takedown with a few seconds on the clock for a 3-2 lead. Just before the buzzer Martinez escaped to tie the bout at 3-3
Second period: Martinez down. Peterkin scored a two-point tilt with 1:30 left to lead 5-0, then rode Martinez the rest of the period, putting riding time up to 1:44.
Third period: Peterkin bottom. Martinez cut him loose, making the score 6-3. Martines got a takedown with 50 seconds to go to close it to 6-5. Peterkin escaped at 18 seconds left for a 7-5 lead. Add on 1:15 of riding time, Peterkin wins 8-5.

133 pounds
No. 4 Joe Baker (Navy) dec. No. 3 David Marble (Bucknell, 5-4
First period: Baker scored first, getting a takedown with 35 seconds to go in the period. Baker immediately escaped, and the period ended 2-1 for Baker.
Second period: Marble down. Marble escapes with 1:48 to tie the score at 2-2. Marble got in deep on a leg shot but the went out of bounds. Baker was warned for stalling with 20 seconds left. Period ends at 2-2.
Third period: Baker down. Baker escapes at 1:50 left to lead 3-2. Baker scored a takedown with 57 seconds left for a 5-2 lead. Marble escaped with 35 seconds left. Baker was penalized a point for stalling with eight seconds, closing the lead to 5-4, but time ran out.

141 pounds
No. 1 Matt Kyler (Army) dec. No. 6 Rick Rappo (Penn), 7-3
First period: Kyler scored a takedown with 1:19 left on the clock, and rode Rappo out to lead 2-0, putting up 1:19 of riding time
Second period: Kyler down: Kyler came out for a reversal with 1:30 left to lead 4-0. Rappo scored a reversal with 21 seconds left, but Kyler quickly reversed back at 14 seconds left for a 6-2 lead.
Third period: Rappo down. Rappo escapes on the whistle for a 6-3 lead. Period ends with 2:12 riding time for Kyler and he wins 7-3.

149 pounds
No. 3 Cesar Grajales (Penn) dec. No. 1 J.P. O'Connor (Harvard), 5-4, ot
First period: No takedown
Second period: O'Connor down. O'Connor escapes after a standup with 1:33 left to lead 1-0. 
Third period: Grajales down. Grajales escapes with 1:09 left to tie it at 1-1. Period ends
Sudden victory period: No takedown
Tie breaker 1: Grajales down. Grajales escape in five seconds to lead 2-1. O'Connor takedown on the edge with 2 seconds left to lead 3-2.
Tiebreaker 2: O'Connor down. O'Connor escapes to make it 4-2. O'Connor hit for a stalling penalty, closing it to 4-3. Grajales scores a takedown with five seconds left to win it, 5-4

157 pounds
No. 2 Dave Nakasone (Lehigh) dec. No. 1 Jordan Leen (Cornell), 5-2
First period: No takedown
Second period: Nakasone down. Nakasone escapes with 51 seconds left to lead 1-0.
Third period. Leen down. Leen escapes in just two seconds to tie it at 1-1. He has 1:07 in riding time after the escape. Nakasone scores a takedown with 32 seconds left to lead 3-1, then eliminates the riding time. Leen escapes with 15 seconds left to make it 3-2 for Nakasone. Nakasone gets another takedown with just five seconds left to win it, 5-2.

165 pounds
No. 1 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) dec. No. 3 Zach Shanaman (Penn), 6-4
First period: No takedown
Second period: Shanaman down. Shanaman escaped with 1:53 left for a 1-0 lead. Lewnes scored a single leg takedown with 0:45 left to take a 2-1 lead. Shanaman ties it at 2-2 with an escape with 30 seconds left. 
Third period: Lewnes down. Lewnes escapes on the whistle, making it 3-2. Shanaman gets a takedown with 1:28 left to lead 4-3. Lewnes escapes with 1:10 left to tie it at 4-4. A wild scramble at the end, with Lewnes on a leg shot, ends with no takedown
Sudden victory period: Lewnes scores a counter takedown with 42 seconds left to win 6-4.

174 pounds
No. 2 Matt Stolpinski (Navy) dec. No. 1 Steve Anceravage (Cornell), 5-3, sv
First period: No takedown
Second period: Stolpinski down. Stolpinski stand up escape with 1:57 left for a 1-0 lead. Stolpinski scored a takedown with 40 seconds left, followed quickly by an Anceravage reversal for a 3-2 lead for Stolpinski.
Third period: Anceravage down. Anceravage quickly escapes, tying the match at 3-3. After some outstanding action from both wrestlers, no takedown occurs and it ends tied at three.
Sudden victory period: Stolpinski scores a counter takedown with 22 seconds left to win it 5-3.

184 pounds
No. 2 Lior Zamir (Penn) dec. No. 1 Scott Ferguson (Army), 4-2
First period: Ferguson scores a takedown with 1:10 left, followed quickly by a Zamir escape, making it 2-1. Zamir gets a takedown with 45 seconds left to lead 3-2, then rides Ferguson out to end the period.
Second period:Zamir down. Zamir quickly escapes for a 4-2 lead. No other points are scored.
Third period: Starts neutral, by Ferguson's choice. Stalling warning on Zamir with 1:20 left. No takedown occurs and Zamir wins.

197 pounds
No. 1 Josh Glenn (American) dec. No. 6 Lamar Brown (Rutgers), 9-1
First period: Glenn scores a takedown with about 1 minute to go in the period to lead 2-0.
Second period; Neutral start, Brown's choice. Glenn scored a takedown with 48 seconds left to take a 4-0 lead. 
Third period: Glenn down. Glenn escapes immediately to make it 5-0. Glenn scored a takedown with 14 seconds left, followed quickly by a Brown escape. Glenn scored one last takedown on the buzzer to make it 8-1. A total of 2:25 riding time ended it at 9-1.

285 pounds
No. 1 Ed Prendergast (Navy) dec. No. 7 Ryan Flores (Columbia), 5-1
First period: No takedown
Second period: Prendergast down. Prendergast escaped in nine seconds to take a 1-0 lead. 
Third period: Flores down. Prendergast rolled him over and held him for a three-point nearfall with about a minute left to lead 4-0. Flores escaped with 20 seconds left for a 4-1 score. Add in the riding time of 1:29 and Prendergast wins 5-1.

NCAA Qualifiers from the EIWA
Top four placewinners, plus seven wildcards

Penn (8) - Rollie Peterkin (125), Rick Rappo (141), Cesar Grajales (149), Zach Shanaman (165), Scott Giffin (174), Lior Zamir (184), Thomas Shovlin (197), Trey McLean (285)*
Cornell (6) - Mike Rodriguez (125), Mike Grey (133), Adam Frey (141), Jordan Leen (157), Mack Lewnes (165), Steve Anceravage (174)
Army (6) - Fernando Martinez (125), Matt Kyler (141), Christian Snook (157), Scott Ferguson (184), Richard Starks (197), Nathan Thobaben (285)
Navy (5) - Joe Baker (133), Bryce Saddoris (149), Spencer Manley (157), Matt Stolpinski (174), Ed Prendergast (285)
Lehigh (5) - Seth Ciasulli (133)*, Trevor Chinn (149)*, Dave Nakasone (157), Alex Caruso (174), Manuel Schubert (184)
American (4) - Jasen Borschoff (125), Christopher Stout (157)*, Michael Cannon (165), Josh Glenn (197)
Bucknell (3) - David Marble (133), Andrew Rendos (165), Shane Riccio (174) *
Brown (3) - Jeff Schell (133), Matt Gevelinger (184), Levon Mock (285),
Columbia (3) - Brandon Kinney (125)*, Anthony Constantino (149), Ryan Flores (285)
Harvard (2) - Corey Jantzen (141), J.P. O'Connor (149),  
Rutgers (2) - Steve Adamcsik (141)*, Lamar Brown (197)

* Wildcard selection