Complete EIWA semifinal summaries; Lehigh puts seven in finals

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
03/07/2004


125  No. 1 Matt Valenti of Penn dec. No. 4 Jeff Sato of Columbia, 6-0  Valenti scored the first period takedown after a number of close calls on other attacks. Valenti extended the lead to 3-0 on an escape in the second period. In the third period, Sato was nailed with a pair of stalling calls, at Valenti was relentless with his ride. Add in the riding time     No. 2 Mario Stuart of Lehigh dec. No. 3 Mike Mormille of Cornell, 5-2  Stuart got behind Mormille and scored the takedown in the first period. Stuart started down and almost scored a quick reversal, but Mormille was able to maintain control with some slick counter reactions. Stuart came back to get a standup escape to make it 3-0. Stuart's single leg attack went to the edge of the mat, but he could not convert the score before time ran out. In the third period, Mormille earned his escape to bring it to 3-1.  A stall call on Stuart in the finbal 30 seconds made it 3-2 . Mormille was nailed for a technical violation in the finals few seconds, making it 4-2. Add in riding time, and Stuart wins 5-2.    FINALS PAIRING - Valenti vs. Stuart    133  No. 1 Travis Lee of Cornell dec. No. 5 Matt Eveleth of Penn, 15-4  Lee scored the first takedown in the opening period on a single leg attack. Eveleth scored a second period escape to close the score to 2-1, but Lee's constant pressure led to another takedown and a 4-1 lead after two periods. Lee opened up the offense in the third period, with takedowns and tilts, pushing the final score, with riding time, to 15-4.    No. 2 Matt Ciasulli of Lehigh dec. No. 3 Bernard Gardner of Army, 4-0  There were no points the first period, in spite of some great scrambles and pretzel-like positions. Ciasulli was down in the second, and got an escape in short order then scored a takedwon shortly after for a 3-0 lead.  In the third, Ciasulli was on the top. He was able to get in the leg and work down the clock, riding the entire period. The final riding time was an impressive 3:18, for a final 4-0 win.    FINALS PAIRING - Lee vs. Ciasulli    141  No. 1 Cory Cooperman of Lehigh pin No. 4 Nate Gulosh of Navy, 3:19  Cooperman scored a quick takedown, then executed a tilt move, with the additional backpoint, for a fast 5-0 lead. Another turn for two points made it 8-0 at the end of the first. Quickly in the second period, with the athletes in the neutral position, Cooperman locked up a cradle and pinned Gulosh.    No. 3 Doug McGraw of Penn dec. No. 2 Max Meltzer of Harvard, 11-6  The first period had back and forth action, with some close calls. On a scramble from a Meltzer attack, McGraw scored a takedown with just five seconds to go in the first period for a 2-0 lead. In period two, Meltzer tied the bout with a reversal. McGraw got his escape and a takedown for a 5-2 lead, then padded it with a two-point turn to 7-2. Meltzer went hard in the third period. After a McGraw escape, Meltzer scored a takedown to make it 8-4. A quick let-up escape and another Meltzer takedown made it 9-6 with a minute to go. Meltzer cut McGraw loose, but was unable to score another takedown as McGraw closed down the action. Riding time made it 11-6 of McGraw.    FINALS PAIRING - Cooperman vs. McGraw    149   No. 1 Jesse Jantzen of Harvard dec. No. 4 Matt Anderson of Lehigh, 7-4  Jantzen played take him down and let him up during the first period, getting three takedowns and letting up two escapes for a 6-2 lead. Jantzen chose neutral, and Anderson scored a takedown to close it to 6-4. A Jantzen escape made it 7-4 after two. Anderson chose top in the third and started riding very well, using his length as an advantage. Although Anderson rode the entire period, he never put Jantzen in danger of backpoints and the bout ended at 7-4.    No. 3 David Dies of Brown dec. No. 2 Dustin Manotti of Cornell, 1-0  A tight match where neither wrestler could gain an edge, the first two periods went scoreless. The lone point came in the beginning of the third period, when Dies got a quick escape in nine sseconds. Both athletes were active in the third period, but Manotti could not complete an attack and lost by a single point.    FINALS PAIRING - Jantzen vs. Dies    157  No. 1 Philip Simpson of Army dec. No. 5 Brett Vanderveer of Penn, 7-2  Vanderveer opened the match with a takedown, one minute in. A Simpson escape was followed by a Simpson ankle-pick takedown and a 3-2 lead after one period. Simpson earned an escape for 4-2 lead in period two. The third period started on the feet, and Simpson controlled the takedown action, missing a good leg attack but then finishing another for a takedwon with 28 seconds to go. A riding time point made it 7-2 for Simpson.    No. 2 Derek Zinck of Lehigh dec. No. 3 Scott Roth of Cornell, 8-3  After a feeling out period, Roth went upperbody and Zinck hit a nice headlock near the edge for the two-point takedown and a 2-0 lead. Roth's quick escape made it 2-1 after one period. In the second period, Roth got another escape to tie the bout at 2-2. No takedown was finished in the period. Roth started on the top in the third period, Zinck needed some injury time when Roth brought him to the mat hard while riding. Zinck scored a takedown on the edge, followed by a Roth escape for a 4-3 margin. With about 20 seconds left, Zinck hit a sweep hip toss for a takedown and two back points and the final 8-3 score.    FINALS PAIRING - Simpson vs. Zinck    165  No. 1 Troy Letters of Lehigh dec. No. 4 Michael Barikian of Navy, 17-7  Letters dominated on his feet in the first period, scoring three takedowns to go with two Barikian escapes for a 6-2 lead. A reversal to start the second period gave letters an 8-2 lead. He traded an escape for a takedown. Barikian escaped and tried to throw Letters with underhooks, but went out of bounds. Barikian forced another scramble and scored a takedown, closing it to 11-7 within the last 45 seconds. Letters quickly scored a reversal and put Barikian right to his back. The three backpoints, plus a riding time point made it a 17-7 rout.    No. 2 Joe Mazzurco of Cornell dec. No. 6 Chris Ressa of Rutgers, 12-4  Mazzurco scored a pair of first-period takedowns which sandwiched a Ressa escape for a 4-1 first period lead. A Mazzurco reversal made it 6-3 in the second period. In the third period, Mazzurco opened up the action, winning the positions, and extended his lead to 11-4 with 30 seconds to go. Add in the riding time of 3:03, the final margin was 12-4 for Mazzurco.    FINALS PAIRING - Letters vs. Mazzurco    174  No. 1 Brad Dillon of Lehigh dec. No. 4 Tyler Baier of Cornell, 14-4  Dillon scored a takedown and put Baier right to his back, locking up a headlock on the edge. It was nearly a pin, before they finally went out of bounds. A Baier escape was followed by a Dillon takedown, and the score was 7-1 at the end of the first period. In the second period, a pair of takedowns traded for escapes gave Dillon an 11-3 period. Action slowed in the third period, but Dillin scored a late takedown for a 14-4 triumph for Dillon.    No. 2 Andy Roy of Rutgers dec. No. 3 Matt Herrington of Penn, 6-0  Roy opened the action with a takedown. When Herrington tried to escape, Roy reacted with a powerful headlock, pressing Herrington to his back for three more points. The first period ended 5-0. Roy got his escape in the second period for a 6-0 lead. With the wrestlers on their feet in the third period, no points were scored and it ended at 6-0.    FINALS PAIRING - Dillion vs. Roy    184  No. 1 Travis Frick of Lehigh dec. No. 5 Jerry Rinaldi of Cornell, 6-4  Frick opened the match with a leg attack takedown for a 2-0 lead after one period. Starting on the bottom, Frick scored a reversal, followed by a Rinaldi escape, for a 4-1 lead. A duck under takedwon by Rinaldi made it 4-3, and Frick quickly escaped to add it to 5-3. Rinaldi escaped in the third period but could not get a takedown. A Frick riding time point made it 6-4.    No. 7 Rudy Medini of Rutgers dec. No. 3 Luke Calvert of Navy, 7-4  Ridini got the first takedown, followed by a Calvert escape for a 2-1 first-period score. Calvert started down and escaped, but was taken down by Medini for a 4-2 lead. Calvert