Lehigh, with five in finals, still ahead of Cornell, with six finalists going in EIWA Championships finals
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
NCAA champion Darian Cruz of Lehigh scores a takedown in the EIWA semifinals. Photo by Joe Daquila, Phototrens
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. –The battle for the EIWA team title remains compelling as Lehigh held a 9.5 point edge over Cornell after the morning session on Sunday. Lehigh is aiming to snap Cornell’s 11-year winning streak as EIWA team champion.
Cornell had a slightly better semifinal round, pushing six into the finals, while Lehigh was able to get five finalists for Sunday afternoon. While Cornell made a splash with some wins over higher seeds early during the semifinals, Lehigh kept pace with some big wins of their own.
Cornell scored upsets in the first two weight classes. No. 6 seed Noah Baughman of Cornell looked strong in defeating No. 2 Trey Chalifoux of Army, 7-3 at 125 pounds, followed by No. 4 seed Chaz Tucker’s big upset over No. 1 Austin Desanto of Drexel, 4-2 at 133 pounds.
“I knew I would have to wrestle tough match after tough match. I think it is something that helps, when you have to be prepared to wrestle your hardest. It is something that makes it easier to get the ball rolling. This is the second-most important thing of our season. We look forward to this each year. The match with Lehigh just keeps getting more interesting. They have a great team with a lot of really great guys. It is really important to beat them, but not just beat them, but to keep our program in top-notch shape,” said Baughman.
The teams split their head-to-heads in the semifinals. No. 1 Jordan Kutler of Lehigh beat No. 4 Brandon Womack of Cornell, 9-2 in their semifinals at 174, while No. 1 Ben Darmstadt of Cornell came from behind to score an important four-point turn late in the match to edge No. 4 Chris Weiler of Lehigh, 10-6 at 197 pounds.
Lehigh scored some bonus points in their semifinal wins, as NCAA champion and top seed Darian Cruz earned a 14-1 major decision over No. 5 seed Joe Nelson of Binghamton, 14-1 and No. 1 seed Ryan Preisch pinned No. 5 seed CJ Lafragola of Brown in 3:54 at 184 pounds. Preisch was animated in his celebration after his big fall.
“That’s the reason I was excited. Pins are huge. They have some studs who get bonus points in every match. I messed up a little last night and only won by seven, which is one point, which is really unacceptable. That was big for me personally to get it. I wasn’t really getting much going in the first round. I was fortunate enough to get to the third and hoping he takes bottom so I can get some work,” said Preisch.
No. 2 seed Jordan Wood won an important 4-1 semifinal over talented No. 3 seed Garrett Ryan of Columbia, 4-1 at heavyweight.
“All 45 guys on the team work so hard. It think it is our year. We deserve an EIWA title, but we have to focus on ourselves. Everybody in all 10 weights need to do their job. We are so talented. We have such a hard working group of guys. If all 10 guys to their job, we will win. I am confident all 10 guys will do their jobs, and we can come out with this title,” said Wood.
There will be three Lehigh against Cornell bouts in the finals. Cruz will face Baughman in the 125 pound finals. No. 2 seed Scott Parker of Lehigh will draw Tucker in the 133-pound finals. Preisch has No. 2 seed freshman Max Dean in the 184 pound finals.
There will be first, third and fifth place bouts during the finals. Lehigh will have two wrestlers going for third and two going for five in the final session, while Cornell has two wrestlers going for third place, another chance to score team points besides the finals.
The lowest seed in the finals was the amazing No. 10 Frank Garcia of Binghamton, who beat No. 3 seed Cortlandt Schuyler of Lehigh, 7-4 in the semifinals. He beat three straight higher seeds, opening with a 21-14 win over No. 7 seed Trevor Elfvin of Drexel in the first round, and a 3-2 win over No. 2 Will Koll of Cornell in the quarterfinals. He will face another higher seed in the finals, No. 1 seed Matt Kolodzic of Princeton.
EIWA CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Bethlehem, Pa.
125 pounds
1st - Darian Cruz (Lehigh) vs. Noah Baughman (Cornell)
3rd - Gage Curry (American) vs. Zack Fuentes (Drexel)
5th - Joe Nelson (Binghamton) vs. Trey Chalifoux (Army)
7th - 125 Nolan Hellickson (Harvard) pin Matteo Devincenzo (Princeton), 5:27
133 pounds
1st - Chaz Tucker (Cornell) vs. Scott Parker (Lehigh)
3rd - Austin Desanto (Drexel) vs. Josh Terao (American)
5th - Jacob Nicholson (Binghamton) vs. Jonathan Gomez (Princeton)
7th - Lane Peters (Army) DEC David Campbell (Bucknell), 5-0
141 pounds
1st - Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. Tyler Smith (Bucknell)
3rd - Nicholas Gil (Navy) vs. Luke Karam (Lehigh)
5th - Zeke Salvo (Brown) vs. Aj Jaffe (Harvard)
7th - JP Ascolese (Columbia) dec. Pat D'arcy (Princeton), 7-1
149 pounds
1st - Matt Kolodzik (Princeton) vs. Frank Garcia (Binghamton)
3rd - Jared Prince (Navy) vs. Cortlandt Schuyler (Lehigh)
5th - Hunter Ladnier (Harvard) vs. Michael Sprague (American)
7th - Jacob Macalolooy (Columbia) dec. Ryan Burkert (Hofstra), 4-1
157 pounds
1st - Mike D'Angelo (Princeton) vs. No. 2 Markus Scheidel (Columbia)
3rd - Garett Hammond (Drexel) vs. Lucas Weiland (Army)
5th - Joe Velliquette (Penn) vs. Justin Staudenmayer (Brown)
7th - Brock Wilson (Harvard) dec. Tristan Rifanburg (Binghamton), 5-0
165 pounds
1st - Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell) vs. Jonathan Schleifer (Princeton)
3rd - May Bethea (Penn) vs. Drew Daniels (Navy)
5th - Gordon Wolf (Lehigh) vs. Jon Viruet (Brown)
7th - Ebed Jarrell (Drexel) dec. Andrew Mendel (Army), 8-5
174 pounds
1st - Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) vs. Jadaen Bernstein (Navy)
3rd - Brandon Womack (Cornell) vs. Ben Harvey (Army)
5th - Josef Johnson (Harvard) vs. Tyrel White (Columbia)
7th - Austin Rose (Drexel) dec. Sage Heller (Hofstra), 7-2
184 pounds
1st - No. 1 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) vs. No. 2 Max Dean (Cornell)
3rd - Steve Schneider (Binghamton) vs. Michael Coleman (Navy)
5th - Cj Lafragola (Brown) vs. Alex Deciantis (Drexel)
7th - Joe Heyob (Penn) maj. dec. Drew Phipps (Bucknell), 13-5
197 pounds
1st - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) vs. Frank Mattiace (Penn)
3rd - Stephen Loiseau (Drexel) vs, Jeric Kasunic (American)
5th - Chris Weiler (Lehigh) vs. Patrick Brucki (Princeton)
7th - Rocco Caywood (Army) dec. Tucker Ziegler (Brown), 7-5
285 pounds
1st - Michael Hughes (Hofstra) vs. Jordan Wood (Lehigh)
3rd - Jeramy Sweany (Cornell) vs. Garrett Ryan (Columbia)
5th - DEC Antonio Pelusi (F&M) vs.Brett Dempsey (American)
7th - Christian Araneo (Princeton) M FOR Ian Butterbrodt (Brown),
Semifinal results
125 pounds -
No. 1 Darian Cruz (Lehigh) maj dec No. 5 Joe Nelson (Binghamton), 14-1
No. 6 Noah Baughman (Cornell) dec No. 2 Trey Chalifoux (Army), 7-3
133 pounds
No. 4 Chaz Tucker (Cornell) dec No. 1 Austin Desanto (Drexel), 4-2
No. 2 Scott Parker (Lehigh) dec. No. 3 Josh Terao (American), 10-3
141 pounds
No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) dec No. 4 Nicholas Gil (Navy), 9-4
No. 2 Tyler Smith (Bucknell) dec No. 3 Luke Karam (Lehigh), 5-2
149 pounds
No. 1 Matt Kolodzik (Princeton) dec No. 4 Jared Prince (Navy), 8-2
No. 10 Frank Garcia (Binghamton) dec No. 3 Cortlandt Schuyler (Lehigh), 7-4
157 pounds
No. 1 Mike D'Angelo (Princeton) maj dec No. 5 Garett Hammond (Drexel), 11-3
No. 2 Markus Scheidel (Columbia) dec No. 3 Justin Staudenmayer (Brown), 4-3
165 pounds
No. 1 Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell) dec No. 5 Drew Daniels (Navy), 6-3
No. 3 Jonathan Schleifer (Princeton) dec No. 2 May Bethea (Penn), 3-2
174 pounds
No. 1 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec No. 4 Brandon Womack (Cornell), 9-2
No. 2 Jadaen Bernstein (Navy) dec No. 3 Ben Harvey (Army), 4-2
184 pounds
No. 1 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) pinned No. 5 CJ Lafragola (Brown), 3:54
No. 2 Max Dean (Cornell) dec No. 6 Michael Coleman (Navy), 8-7
197 pounds
No. 1 Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) dec No. 4 Chris Weiler (Lehigh), 10-6
No. 3 Frank Mattiace (Penn) dec No. 2 Patrick Brucki (Princeton), 5-1
285 pounds
No. 1 Michael Hughes (Hofstra) dec No. 4 Jeramy Sweany (Cornell), 5-3
No. 2 Jordan Wood (Lehigh) dec. No. 3 Garrett Ryan (Columbia), 4-1
Team Standings
1 Lehigh 138.5
2 Cornell 129
3 Princeton 85
4 Drexel 83.5
5 Navy 78.5
6 American 66.5
7 Binghamton 59.5
8 Army 56.5
9 Columbia 51.5
10 Brown 47
11 Harvard 45.5
11 Penn 45.5
13 Hofstra 37
14 Bucknell 32
15 F&M 16.5
16 Sacred Heart 2.5
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. –The battle for the EIWA team title remains compelling as Lehigh held a 9.5 point edge over Cornell after the morning session on Sunday. Lehigh is aiming to snap Cornell’s 11-year winning streak as EIWA team champion.
Cornell had a slightly better semifinal round, pushing six into the finals, while Lehigh was able to get five finalists for Sunday afternoon. While Cornell made a splash with some wins over higher seeds early during the semifinals, Lehigh kept pace with some big wins of their own.
Cornell scored upsets in the first two weight classes. No. 6 seed Noah Baughman of Cornell looked strong in defeating No. 2 Trey Chalifoux of Army, 7-3 at 125 pounds, followed by No. 4 seed Chaz Tucker’s big upset over No. 1 Austin Desanto of Drexel, 4-2 at 133 pounds.
“I knew I would have to wrestle tough match after tough match. I think it is something that helps, when you have to be prepared to wrestle your hardest. It is something that makes it easier to get the ball rolling. This is the second-most important thing of our season. We look forward to this each year. The match with Lehigh just keeps getting more interesting. They have a great team with a lot of really great guys. It is really important to beat them, but not just beat them, but to keep our program in top-notch shape,” said Baughman.
The teams split their head-to-heads in the semifinals. No. 1 Jordan Kutler of Lehigh beat No. 4 Brandon Womack of Cornell, 9-2 in their semifinals at 174, while No. 1 Ben Darmstadt of Cornell came from behind to score an important four-point turn late in the match to edge No. 4 Chris Weiler of Lehigh, 10-6 at 197 pounds.
Lehigh scored some bonus points in their semifinal wins, as NCAA champion and top seed Darian Cruz earned a 14-1 major decision over No. 5 seed Joe Nelson of Binghamton, 14-1 and No. 1 seed Ryan Preisch pinned No. 5 seed CJ Lafragola of Brown in 3:54 at 184 pounds. Preisch was animated in his celebration after his big fall.
“That’s the reason I was excited. Pins are huge. They have some studs who get bonus points in every match. I messed up a little last night and only won by seven, which is one point, which is really unacceptable. That was big for me personally to get it. I wasn’t really getting much going in the first round. I was fortunate enough to get to the third and hoping he takes bottom so I can get some work,” said Preisch.
No. 2 seed Jordan Wood won an important 4-1 semifinal over talented No. 3 seed Garrett Ryan of Columbia, 4-1 at heavyweight.
“All 45 guys on the team work so hard. It think it is our year. We deserve an EIWA title, but we have to focus on ourselves. Everybody in all 10 weights need to do their job. We are so talented. We have such a hard working group of guys. If all 10 guys to their job, we will win. I am confident all 10 guys will do their jobs, and we can come out with this title,” said Wood.
There will be three Lehigh against Cornell bouts in the finals. Cruz will face Baughman in the 125 pound finals. No. 2 seed Scott Parker of Lehigh will draw Tucker in the 133-pound finals. Preisch has No. 2 seed freshman Max Dean in the 184 pound finals.
There will be first, third and fifth place bouts during the finals. Lehigh will have two wrestlers going for third and two going for five in the final session, while Cornell has two wrestlers going for third place, another chance to score team points besides the finals.
The lowest seed in the finals was the amazing No. 10 Frank Garcia of Binghamton, who beat No. 3 seed Cortlandt Schuyler of Lehigh, 7-4 in the semifinals. He beat three straight higher seeds, opening with a 21-14 win over No. 7 seed Trevor Elfvin of Drexel in the first round, and a 3-2 win over No. 2 Will Koll of Cornell in the quarterfinals. He will face another higher seed in the finals, No. 1 seed Matt Kolodzic of Princeton.
EIWA CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Bethlehem, Pa.
125 pounds
1st - Darian Cruz (Lehigh) vs. Noah Baughman (Cornell)
3rd - Gage Curry (American) vs. Zack Fuentes (Drexel)
5th - Joe Nelson (Binghamton) vs. Trey Chalifoux (Army)
7th - 125 Nolan Hellickson (Harvard) pin Matteo Devincenzo (Princeton), 5:27
133 pounds
1st - Chaz Tucker (Cornell) vs. Scott Parker (Lehigh)
3rd - Austin Desanto (Drexel) vs. Josh Terao (American)
5th - Jacob Nicholson (Binghamton) vs. Jonathan Gomez (Princeton)
7th - Lane Peters (Army) DEC David Campbell (Bucknell), 5-0
141 pounds
1st - Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. Tyler Smith (Bucknell)
3rd - Nicholas Gil (Navy) vs. Luke Karam (Lehigh)
5th - Zeke Salvo (Brown) vs. Aj Jaffe (Harvard)
7th - JP Ascolese (Columbia) dec. Pat D'arcy (Princeton), 7-1
149 pounds
1st - Matt Kolodzik (Princeton) vs. Frank Garcia (Binghamton)
3rd - Jared Prince (Navy) vs. Cortlandt Schuyler (Lehigh)
5th - Hunter Ladnier (Harvard) vs. Michael Sprague (American)
7th - Jacob Macalolooy (Columbia) dec. Ryan Burkert (Hofstra), 4-1
157 pounds
1st - Mike D'Angelo (Princeton) vs. No. 2 Markus Scheidel (Columbia)
3rd - Garett Hammond (Drexel) vs. Lucas Weiland (Army)
5th - Joe Velliquette (Penn) vs. Justin Staudenmayer (Brown)
7th - Brock Wilson (Harvard) dec. Tristan Rifanburg (Binghamton), 5-0
165 pounds
1st - Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell) vs. Jonathan Schleifer (Princeton)
3rd - May Bethea (Penn) vs. Drew Daniels (Navy)
5th - Gordon Wolf (Lehigh) vs. Jon Viruet (Brown)
7th - Ebed Jarrell (Drexel) dec. Andrew Mendel (Army), 8-5
174 pounds
1st - Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) vs. Jadaen Bernstein (Navy)
3rd - Brandon Womack (Cornell) vs. Ben Harvey (Army)
5th - Josef Johnson (Harvard) vs. Tyrel White (Columbia)
7th - Austin Rose (Drexel) dec. Sage Heller (Hofstra), 7-2
184 pounds
1st - No. 1 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) vs. No. 2 Max Dean (Cornell)
3rd - Steve Schneider (Binghamton) vs. Michael Coleman (Navy)
5th - Cj Lafragola (Brown) vs. Alex Deciantis (Drexel)
7th - Joe Heyob (Penn) maj. dec. Drew Phipps (Bucknell), 13-5
197 pounds
1st - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) vs. Frank Mattiace (Penn)
3rd - Stephen Loiseau (Drexel) vs, Jeric Kasunic (American)
5th - Chris Weiler (Lehigh) vs. Patrick Brucki (Princeton)
7th - Rocco Caywood (Army) dec. Tucker Ziegler (Brown), 7-5
285 pounds
1st - Michael Hughes (Hofstra) vs. Jordan Wood (Lehigh)
3rd - Jeramy Sweany (Cornell) vs. Garrett Ryan (Columbia)
5th - DEC Antonio Pelusi (F&M) vs.Brett Dempsey (American)
7th - Christian Araneo (Princeton) M FOR Ian Butterbrodt (Brown),
Semifinal results
125 pounds -
No. 1 Darian Cruz (Lehigh) maj dec No. 5 Joe Nelson (Binghamton), 14-1
No. 6 Noah Baughman (Cornell) dec No. 2 Trey Chalifoux (Army), 7-3
133 pounds
No. 4 Chaz Tucker (Cornell) dec No. 1 Austin Desanto (Drexel), 4-2
No. 2 Scott Parker (Lehigh) dec. No. 3 Josh Terao (American), 10-3
141 pounds
No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) dec No. 4 Nicholas Gil (Navy), 9-4
No. 2 Tyler Smith (Bucknell) dec No. 3 Luke Karam (Lehigh), 5-2
149 pounds
No. 1 Matt Kolodzik (Princeton) dec No. 4 Jared Prince (Navy), 8-2
No. 10 Frank Garcia (Binghamton) dec No. 3 Cortlandt Schuyler (Lehigh), 7-4
157 pounds
No. 1 Mike D'Angelo (Princeton) maj dec No. 5 Garett Hammond (Drexel), 11-3
No. 2 Markus Scheidel (Columbia) dec No. 3 Justin Staudenmayer (Brown), 4-3
165 pounds
No. 1 Jon Jay Chavez (Cornell) dec No. 5 Drew Daniels (Navy), 6-3
No. 3 Jonathan Schleifer (Princeton) dec No. 2 May Bethea (Penn), 3-2
174 pounds
No. 1 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec No. 4 Brandon Womack (Cornell), 9-2
No. 2 Jadaen Bernstein (Navy) dec No. 3 Ben Harvey (Army), 4-2
184 pounds
No. 1 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) pinned No. 5 CJ Lafragola (Brown), 3:54
No. 2 Max Dean (Cornell) dec No. 6 Michael Coleman (Navy), 8-7
197 pounds
No. 1 Ben Darmstadt (Cornell) dec No. 4 Chris Weiler (Lehigh), 10-6
No. 3 Frank Mattiace (Penn) dec No. 2 Patrick Brucki (Princeton), 5-1
285 pounds
No. 1 Michael Hughes (Hofstra) dec No. 4 Jeramy Sweany (Cornell), 5-3
No. 2 Jordan Wood (Lehigh) dec. No. 3 Garrett Ryan (Columbia), 4-1
Team Standings
1 Lehigh 138.5
2 Cornell 129
3 Princeton 85
4 Drexel 83.5
5 Navy 78.5
6 American 66.5
7 Binghamton 59.5
8 Army 56.5
9 Columbia 51.5
10 Brown 47
11 Harvard 45.5
11 Penn 45.5
13 Hofstra 37
14 Bucknell 32
15 F&M 16.5
16 Sacred Heart 2.5
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