Mack Lewnes of Cornell gets in deep against Andy Rendos of Bucknell in the EIWA finals at 165 pounds
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - It didn't go exactly how Cornell coach Rob Koll might want, but the Big Red sealed its dominant performance at the EIWA Championships by capturing four individual titles on Sunday evening.
Capturing conference crowns for Cornell were returning NCAA champion Jordan Leen (157), plus Troy Nickerson (125), Mack Lewnes (165) and Cam Simaz (197).
Three Cornell wrestlers were beaten in the finals to win silver medals: Mike Grey (133), Steve Anceravage (174) and Justin Kerber (184).
"I would have liked to have had more champions," said Koll. "Even the guys who didn't win wrestled well. They were the aggressors, but they didn't score the most points."
The Big Red won the team title with 138 points, followed by Lehigh with 103 points. Tied for third was host Penn and surprising Bucknell, with 79 points.
Leen, who was second in the EIWA last year and entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed, beat J.P. O'Connor in a bruising 8-2 match, in which Leen scored the only three takedowns of the meet.
Nickerson defeated returning champion Rollie Peterkin of Penn, 5-2 in the finals. Nickerson was a EIWA champion as a freshman in 2006 and placed second in 2007. He did not compete last year due to injury.
Lewnes won for the conference title for the second straight year. He stopped Andy Rendos of Bucknell in the finals, 5-3, winning the close scrambles and earning a riding time point.
Simaz did not get to wrestle in the finals, earning a medical forfeit win over the top-seed Richard Starks of Army.
"Cam Simaz didn't get to wrestle in the finals," said Koll. "He is a beast. He is way under the radar. I can't wait to see how he does at the nationals. Troy Nickerson did very well. Jordan Leen dominated an outstanding wrestler. Mack Lewnes was great. All of the guys wrestled well."
Cornell earned seven automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Championships in St. Louis in two weeks. The seven finalists have earned a trip to the nationals, while the other three Big Red athletes fell short of the qualifying standards. Additional qualifiers will be named later this week by the NCAA.
"We got seven. Hopefully, we snag a few more. These seven can all place at the nationals. There aren't a handful of teams that can say that. It is not important how many you bring. It is the number of kids who can score points for you at the nationals," said Koll.
Lehigh had two individual champions, Seth Ciasulli at 141 pounds and David Craig at 184 pounds. Ciasulli, seeded second, rode out top-seeded Corey Jantzen most of the third period to earn a riding time point for a 4-3 win. Craig, seeded No. 1, controlled the action in a 4-0 win over No. 3 Justin Kerber of Cornell.
"Seth wrestled a great match. His opponent Jantzen is dangerous and explosive. He did a great job keeping good position," said Lehigh coach Pat Santoro. "David Craig has been great all year. He doesn't get too high or too low."
Lehigh also had a runner-up in heavyweight in freshman Zach Rey, who was taken to his back in sudden victory overtime and lost to Ryan Flores of Columbia, 6-1. Flores was Columbia's first individual EIWA champion since 1995.
"It was a pretty good weekend. The kids wrestled hard. We have seven going to nationals. We will see what happens there. Cornell gets a lot of credit. They had a great tournament," said Santoro.
The third-place teams had a different perspective on their finish. Penn, which lost by just ½ point to Cornell last year, was expected to challenge for the title. Bucknell, in just its third year since the program was reinstated, outperformed all expectations.
"Our third-place tie shows the strength of this conference," said Penn head coach Rob Eiter. "Last year we were second. Now we are tied with Bucknell, which has improved tremendously. Throw Lehigh back in there also this year."
Penn had four athletes earn automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament.
"We are extremely excited about the finish," said Bucknell coach Dan Wirnsberger. "This is just our third year back as a varsity. Everything came together at the right time of the year for us. We still have two more weeks in the season. A homerun for us would be to get a national champion and individual All-Americans.
Bucknell earned five automatic qualifiers to the NCAA Championships.
Navy, which finished fifth in the standings, had two individual champions, Joe Baker at 133 pounds and Bryce Saddoris at 149 pounds. Baker won his second straight EIWA title, defeating Mike Grey of Cornell, 5-3 with a takedown late in the match. Baker missed most of the season with injuries. Saddoris needed overtime to defeat No. 1 seed and returning champion Matt Kyler of Army, 5-4.
The other individual champion was No. 1 seed Mike Cannon of American, who scored an overtime takedown to beat No. 2 Steve Anceravage of Cornell, 3-1. Cannon remains unbeaten this year with a 30-0 record.
EIWA finals results
125 pounds
No. 1 Troy Nickerson (Cornell) dec. No 2 Rollie Peterkin (Penn), 5-2
133 pounds
No. 1 Joe Baker (Navy) dec. No. 2 Mike Grey (Cornell), 5-3
141 pounds
No. 2 Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) dec. No. 1 Corey Jantzen (Harvard), 4-3
149 pounds
No. 2 Bryce Saddoris (Navy) dec. No. 1 Matt Kyler (Army), 5-4, t.b.
157 pounds
No. 2 Jordan Leen (Cornell) dec. No. 1 J.P. O'Connor (Harvard), 8-2
165 pounds
No. 1 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) dec. No. 2 Andy Rendos (Bucknell), 5-3
174 pounds
No. 1 Mike Cannon (American) dec. No. 2 Steve Anceravage (Cornell), 3-1 s.v
184 pounds
No. 1 David Craig (Lehigh) dec. No. 3 Justin Kerber (Cornell), 4-0
197 pounds
No. 2 Cam Simaz (Cornell) inj. dft. over No. 1 Richard Starks (Army)
285 pounds
No. 1 Ryan Flores (Columbia) dec. No. 2 Zach Rey (Lehigh), 6-1, sv
NCAA Automatic Qualifiers
125 pounds champion - Troy Nickerson (Cornell)
125 pounds 2nd - Rollie Peterkin (Penn)
125 pounds 3rd - Derek Reber (Bucknell)
133 pounds champion - Joe Baker (Navy)
133 pounds 2nd- Mike Grey (Cornell)
133 pounds 3rd- Matt Fisk (Lehigh)
133 pounds 4th- David Marble (Bucknell)
141 pounds champion- Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh)
141 pounds 2nd- Corey Jantzen (Harvard)
149 pounds champion- Bryce Saddoris (Navy)
149 pounds 2nd- Matt Kyler (Army)
149 pounds 3rd- Kyle Borschoff (American)
149 pounds 4th- Trevor Chinn (Lehigh)
149 pounds 5th- Cesar Grajales (Penn)
149 pounds 6th- Kevin LeValley (Bucknell)
157 pounds champion - Jordan Leen (Cornell)
157 pounds 2nd- J.P. O'Connor (Harvard)
157 pounds 3rd- Scott Winston (Rutgers)
157 pounds 4th- Matt Dragon (Penn)
165 pounds champion- Mack Lewnes (Cornell)
165 pounds 2nd- Andy Rendos (Bucknell)
165 pounds 3rd- Mike Galante (Lehigh)
174 pounds champion- Mike Cannon (American)
174 pounds 2nd- Steve Anceravage (Cornell)
174 pounds 3rd- Shane Riccio (Bucknell)
174 pounds 4th- Alex Caruso (Lehigh)
174 pounds 5th- Luke Rebertus (Navy)
174 pounds 6th- Scott Giffin (Penn)
184 pounds champion- David Craig (Lehigh)
184 pounds 2nd- Justin Kerber (Cornell)
184 pounds 3rd- Louis Caputo (Harvard)
184 pounds 4th- Matt Gevlinger (Brown)
197 pounds champion- Cam Simaz (Cornell)
197 pounds 2nd- Richard Starks (Army)
285 pounds champion- Ryan Flores (Columbia)
285 pounds 2nd- Zach Rey (Lehigh)
285 pounds 3rd- Chris Birchler (East Stroudsburg)
285 pounds 4th - D.J. Russo (Rutgers)
Final EIWA Team Standings
1.Cornell, 138 pts.
2. Lehigh, 103 pts.
3. tie. Bucknell, 79 pts.
3. tie. Penn, 79 pts.
5. Navy, 70 pts.
6. American, 68 pts.
7. Army, 50 pts.
8. Harvard, 48.5 pts.
9. Rutgers, 47.5 pts.
10. Columbia, 43 pts.
11. Brown, 34.5 pts.
12. East Stroudsburg, 15.5 pts.
13. Franklin and Marshall, 8.5 pts.
14. Princeton, 3 pts.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - It didn't go exactly how Cornell coach Rob Koll might want, but the Big Red sealed its dominant performance at the EIWA Championships by capturing four individual titles on Sunday evening.
Capturing conference crowns for Cornell were returning NCAA champion Jordan Leen (157), plus Troy Nickerson (125), Mack Lewnes (165) and Cam Simaz (197).
Three Cornell wrestlers were beaten in the finals to win silver medals: Mike Grey (133), Steve Anceravage (174) and Justin Kerber (184).
"I would have liked to have had more champions," said Koll. "Even the guys who didn't win wrestled well. They were the aggressors, but they didn't score the most points."
The Big Red won the team title with 138 points, followed by Lehigh with 103 points. Tied for third was host Penn and surprising Bucknell, with 79 points.
Leen, who was second in the EIWA last year and entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed, beat J.P. O'Connor in a bruising 8-2 match, in which Leen scored the only three takedowns of the meet.
Nickerson defeated returning champion Rollie Peterkin of Penn, 5-2 in the finals. Nickerson was a EIWA champion as a freshman in 2006 and placed second in 2007. He did not compete last year due to injury.
Lewnes won for the conference title for the second straight year. He stopped Andy Rendos of Bucknell in the finals, 5-3, winning the close scrambles and earning a riding time point.
Simaz did not get to wrestle in the finals, earning a medical forfeit win over the top-seed Richard Starks of Army.
"Cam Simaz didn't get to wrestle in the finals," said Koll. "He is a beast. He is way under the radar. I can't wait to see how he does at the nationals. Troy Nickerson did very well. Jordan Leen dominated an outstanding wrestler. Mack Lewnes was great. All of the guys wrestled well."
Cornell earned seven automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Championships in St. Louis in two weeks. The seven finalists have earned a trip to the nationals, while the other three Big Red athletes fell short of the qualifying standards. Additional qualifiers will be named later this week by the NCAA.
"We got seven. Hopefully, we snag a few more. These seven can all place at the nationals. There aren't a handful of teams that can say that. It is not important how many you bring. It is the number of kids who can score points for you at the nationals," said Koll.
Lehigh had two individual champions, Seth Ciasulli at 141 pounds and David Craig at 184 pounds. Ciasulli, seeded second, rode out top-seeded Corey Jantzen most of the third period to earn a riding time point for a 4-3 win. Craig, seeded No. 1, controlled the action in a 4-0 win over No. 3 Justin Kerber of Cornell.
"Seth wrestled a great match. His opponent Jantzen is dangerous and explosive. He did a great job keeping good position," said Lehigh coach Pat Santoro. "David Craig has been great all year. He doesn't get too high or too low."
Lehigh also had a runner-up in heavyweight in freshman Zach Rey, who was taken to his back in sudden victory overtime and lost to Ryan Flores of Columbia, 6-1. Flores was Columbia's first individual EIWA champion since 1995.
"It was a pretty good weekend. The kids wrestled hard. We have seven going to nationals. We will see what happens there. Cornell gets a lot of credit. They had a great tournament," said Santoro.
The third-place teams had a different perspective on their finish. Penn, which lost by just ½ point to Cornell last year, was expected to challenge for the title. Bucknell, in just its third year since the program was reinstated, outperformed all expectations.
"Our third-place tie shows the strength of this conference," said Penn head coach Rob Eiter. "Last year we were second. Now we are tied with Bucknell, which has improved tremendously. Throw Lehigh back in there also this year."
Penn had four athletes earn automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament.
"We are extremely excited about the finish," said Bucknell coach Dan Wirnsberger. "This is just our third year back as a varsity. Everything came together at the right time of the year for us. We still have two more weeks in the season. A homerun for us would be to get a national champion and individual All-Americans.
Bucknell earned five automatic qualifiers to the NCAA Championships.
Navy, which finished fifth in the standings, had two individual champions, Joe Baker at 133 pounds and Bryce Saddoris at 149 pounds. Baker won his second straight EIWA title, defeating Mike Grey of Cornell, 5-3 with a takedown late in the match. Baker missed most of the season with injuries. Saddoris needed overtime to defeat No. 1 seed and returning champion Matt Kyler of Army, 5-4.
The other individual champion was No. 1 seed Mike Cannon of American, who scored an overtime takedown to beat No. 2 Steve Anceravage of Cornell, 3-1. Cannon remains unbeaten this year with a 30-0 record.
EIWA finals results
125 pounds
No. 1 Troy Nickerson (Cornell) dec. No 2 Rollie Peterkin (Penn), 5-2
133 pounds
No. 1 Joe Baker (Navy) dec. No. 2 Mike Grey (Cornell), 5-3
141 pounds
No. 2 Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) dec. No. 1 Corey Jantzen (Harvard), 4-3
149 pounds
No. 2 Bryce Saddoris (Navy) dec. No. 1 Matt Kyler (Army), 5-4, t.b.
157 pounds
No. 2 Jordan Leen (Cornell) dec. No. 1 J.P. O'Connor (Harvard), 8-2
165 pounds
No. 1 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) dec. No. 2 Andy Rendos (Bucknell), 5-3
174 pounds
No. 1 Mike Cannon (American) dec. No. 2 Steve Anceravage (Cornell), 3-1 s.v
184 pounds
No. 1 David Craig (Lehigh) dec. No. 3 Justin Kerber (Cornell), 4-0
197 pounds
No. 2 Cam Simaz (Cornell) inj. dft. over No. 1 Richard Starks (Army)
285 pounds
No. 1 Ryan Flores (Columbia) dec. No. 2 Zach Rey (Lehigh), 6-1, sv
NCAA Automatic Qualifiers
125 pounds champion - Troy Nickerson (Cornell)
125 pounds 2nd - Rollie Peterkin (Penn)
125 pounds 3rd - Derek Reber (Bucknell)
133 pounds champion - Joe Baker (Navy)
133 pounds 2nd- Mike Grey (Cornell)
133 pounds 3rd- Matt Fisk (Lehigh)
133 pounds 4th- David Marble (Bucknell)
141 pounds champion- Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh)
141 pounds 2nd- Corey Jantzen (Harvard)
149 pounds champion- Bryce Saddoris (Navy)
149 pounds 2nd- Matt Kyler (Army)
149 pounds 3rd- Kyle Borschoff (American)
149 pounds 4th- Trevor Chinn (Lehigh)
149 pounds 5th- Cesar Grajales (Penn)
149 pounds 6th- Kevin LeValley (Bucknell)
157 pounds champion - Jordan Leen (Cornell)
157 pounds 2nd- J.P. O'Connor (Harvard)
157 pounds 3rd- Scott Winston (Rutgers)
157 pounds 4th- Matt Dragon (Penn)
165 pounds champion- Mack Lewnes (Cornell)
165 pounds 2nd- Andy Rendos (Bucknell)
165 pounds 3rd- Mike Galante (Lehigh)
174 pounds champion- Mike Cannon (American)
174 pounds 2nd- Steve Anceravage (Cornell)
174 pounds 3rd- Shane Riccio (Bucknell)
174 pounds 4th- Alex Caruso (Lehigh)
174 pounds 5th- Luke Rebertus (Navy)
174 pounds 6th- Scott Giffin (Penn)
184 pounds champion- David Craig (Lehigh)
184 pounds 2nd- Justin Kerber (Cornell)
184 pounds 3rd- Louis Caputo (Harvard)
184 pounds 4th- Matt Gevlinger (Brown)
197 pounds champion- Cam Simaz (Cornell)
197 pounds 2nd- Richard Starks (Army)
285 pounds champion- Ryan Flores (Columbia)
285 pounds 2nd- Zach Rey (Lehigh)
285 pounds 3rd- Chris Birchler (East Stroudsburg)
285 pounds 4th - D.J. Russo (Rutgers)
Final EIWA Team Standings
1.Cornell, 138 pts.
2. Lehigh, 103 pts.
3. tie. Bucknell, 79 pts.
3. tie. Penn, 79 pts.
5. Navy, 70 pts.
6. American, 68 pts.
7. Army, 50 pts.
8. Harvard, 48.5 pts.
9. Rutgers, 47.5 pts.
10. Columbia, 43 pts.
11. Brown, 34.5 pts.
12. East Stroudsburg, 15.5 pts.
13. Franklin and Marshall, 8.5 pts.
14. Princeton, 3 pts.
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