Prince knocks off Kolodzik as finals are set for 2019 EIWA Championships

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – 10 EIWA conference champions will be crowned tonight as the finals were set this morning in Binghamton, N.Y.

Leading the field with multiple finalists is Cornell sent, which sent six to the championship bout, followed by Lehigh with four, Navy with three and Princeton with two.

At 125 pounds, despite the score, No. 2 seed Pat Glory of Princeton had a close match with Penn’s Carmen Ferrante, who picked up the first takedown to lead after the first period. Glory responded with a reversal and back points for an eventual 9-4 decision to move onto the 125-pound finals.

He will take on No. 1 seed and seventh-ranked Vitali Arujau of Cornell, who dominated his way to a spot in the finals with a 13-1 major decision over Trey Chalifoux of Army.

Glory and Arujau have met up once this season, resulting in a second-period pin for the Big Red wrestler.

At 133 pounds, 2018 EIWA runner-up Chas Tucker of Cornell was all tied up with Army’s Lane Peters, 2-2, late in the third period. Within the final 20 seconds, Tucker scored two takedowns to separate himself and earn a spot in the finals with a 6-3 decision.

He’ll face 2018 NCAA qualifier Josh Terao of American. Terao has put together an impressive tournament, scoring bonus points in all three of his matches, including a 14-3 major decision over Brandon Paetzell from Lehigh in the semis.

Defending NCAA champion at 141 pounds, Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell, rattled off four takedowns and four back points en route to a 14-2 major decision against Anthony Sparacio from Binghamton in the semis.

Seeking his second-consecutive conference title, Diakomihalis will face Nick Gil of Navy in the finals. Diakomihalis owns two win over Gil from the 2017-18 season, defeating the Midshipman 9-4 in the 2018 EIWA semifinals and 13-4 at the NCAA Championships.

Gil advanced to the finals after a tight 4-1 battle with Corey Shie of Army.

Highlighting the session was the biggest upset of the day at 149 pounds, when unranked Jared Prince of Navy picked up a crucial second-period takedown to knock off two-time All-American and two-time defending EIWA champion Matthew Kolodzik of Princeton, 5-4. Kolodzik is ranked No. 3 in the nation.

Awaiting Prince in the finals is No. 2 seed Anthony Artalona, a freshman for Penn, who punched his ticket to the finals with a convincing 6-3 win against 2018 NCAA qualifier Cortlandt Schuyler of Lehigh.

The seeds held true on the front side of the bracket at 157 pounds as top-seed Zach Hartman of Bucknell and No. 2-seed Josh Humphreys of Lehigh advanced to the finals.

Hartman put up a 4-0 shutout against Lucas Weiland from Army in the semis, while Humphreys fought off a ferocious comeback from Princeton’s Quincy Monday for a 13-8 decision.

Both are ranked nationally as Hartman checks in at No. 13 and Humphreys holds the No. 14 ranking. The two met in a dual in January with Hartman emerging victorious with a third-period fall.

At 165 pounds, Army’s Cael McCormick pulled off an upset in the semis, downing No. 15 Ebed Jarrell of Drexel. The Dragon came close to taking down the Black Knight in the waning seconds to force the match to overtime, but McCormick held strong for an 11-8 decision.

On the other side of the bracket, second-seeded Tanner Skidgel of Navy trailed Lenny Merkin of Princeton for most of the match. Within the last minute of the bout, Skigdel picked up a takedown and converted it to a fall to advance to the finals.

At 174 pounds, it will be a battle of past EIWA champions as defending 174-pound champion Jordan Kutler, an All-American from Lehigh, will take No. 2-seed and 2017 EIWA champion at 165 pounds Brandon Womack of Cornell for the crown.

Kutler and Womack each registered decisions in the semis, with Kutler defeating Spencer Carey of Navy, 8-1, and Womack beating Travis Stefanik of Princeton, 6-2.

We’ll see a rematch of the 2018 EIWA championship finals at 184 pounds tonight as reigning conference champion Ryan Preisch of Lehigh will take on 2018 runner-up Max Dean of Cornell.

The last time these two met was for EIWA gold with Preisch taking a win by fall in 4:31.

Tonight, Dean, a 2018 All-American, enters as the No. 1 seed, while Presich is the No. 3 seed.

The Nos. 1 and 2 seeds will go head-to-head at 197 pounds as Patrick Brucki of Princeton will meet up with Ben Honis of Cornell.

Brucki claimed an 11-3 major decision over Stephen Loiseau from Drexel, and Honis scored a 13-7 decision against Drew Phipps of Bucknell.

Brucki and Honis met up in the dual earlier this season with Honis escaping with a 7-6 decision.

Jordan Wood of Lehigh seeks to defend his 2018 EIWA title, moving on to the finals at 285 pounds after a 6-2 semifinal win against Ben Sullivan at Army.

Looking to challenge him is Brown’s Ian Butterbrodt, who had a back-and-forth overtime battle with Antonio Pelusi of Franklin & Marshall. Butterbrodt scored back points in the second tiebreaker for an 8-3 win.

Heading into the final session of the tournament, defending team champion Lehigh is in first place in the team race with 136 points. Cornell is in second place with 127 points, and rounding out the top-three teams is Princeton with 108.5 points.

The 2019 EIWA finals are set for Saturday at 3 p.m. ET live on FloWrestling.org.

2019 EIWA CHAMPIONSHIPS

at Binghamton, N.Y., March 8-9

Team standings (top 10)
1. Lehigh – 136
2. Cornell – 127
3. Princeton – 108.5
4. Army – 105.5
5. Navy – 89.5
6. American – 73.5
7. Binghamton – 72
8. Brown – 50
9. Drexel – 47
10. Columbia – 42.5

Finals matchups
125: Vitali Arujau (Cornell) vs. Patrick Glory (Princeton)
133: Chas Tucker (Cornell) vs. Josh Terao (American)
141: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. Nicholas Gil (Navy)
149: Jared Prince (Navy) vs. Anthony Artalona (Penn)
157: Zach Hartman (Bucknell) vs. Josh Humphreys (Lehigh)
165: Cael McCormick (Army) vs. Tanner Skidgel (Navy)
174: Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) vs. Brandon Womack (Cornell)
184: Max Dean (Cornell) vs. Ryan Preisch (Lehigh)
197: Patrick Brucki (Princeton) vs. Drew Phipps (Bucknell)
285: Jordan Wood (Lehigh) vs. Ian Butterbrodt (Brown)

Semifinal results
125 pounds
Vitali Arujau (Cornell) MD Trey Chalifoux (Army), 13-1
Patrick Glory (Princeton) dec. Carmen Ferrante (Penn), 9-4

133 pounds
Chas Tucker (Cornell) dec. Lane Peters (Army), 6-3
Josh Terao (American) MD Brandon Paetzell (Lehigh), 14-3

141 pounds
Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) MD Anthony Sparacio (Binghamton), 14-2
Nicholas Gil (Navy) dec. Corey Shie (Army), 4-1

149 pounds
Jared Prince (Navy) dec. Matt Kolodzik (Princeton), 5-4
Anthony Artalona (Penn) dec. Cortlandt Schuyler (Lehigh), 6-3

157 pounds
Zach Hartman (Bucknell) dec. Lucas Weiland (Army), 4-0
Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) dec. Quincy Monday (Princeton), 13-8

165 pounds
Cael McCormick (Army) dec. Ebed Jarrell (Drexel), 11-8
Tanner Skidgel (Navy) fall Leonard Merkin (Princeton), 6:33

174 pounds
Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec. Spencer Carey (Navy), 8-1
Brandon Womack (Cornell) dec. Travis Stefanik (Princeton), 6-2

184 pounds
Max Dean (Cornell) dec. Christian Lafragola (Brown), 8-4
Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) dec. Lou Deprez (Binghamton), 5-3

197 pounds
Patrick Brucki (Princeton) MD Stephen Loiseau (Drexel), 11-3
Ben Honis (Cornell) dec. Drew Phipps (Bucknell), 13-7

285 pounds
Jordan Wood (Lehigh) dec. Ben Sullivan (Army), 6-2
Ian Butterbrodt (Brown) dec. Antonio Pelusi (Franklin & Marshall), 8-3