2024 EIWA Day One Recap

Day 1 of the 120th EIWA Championships wrapped up at Bucknell University. The first whistle blew at 10:30AM and the action continued all day until roughly 9PM. The Cornell Big Red lead the team race with 91.5 team points and 9 semifinalists. Lehigh is currently in second place with 80.5 team points and six semifinalists. The Quakers of Penn and Black Knights of Army West Point are tied for third place with 62.5 points each. Army has six semi-finalists while Penn has four. Columbia rounds out the top 5 with 51 points. 

Key Takeaways: 

• The biggest upset of the day came from Cornell’s Benny Baker at 174lbs. He defeated top-seed, and 7th ranked nationally, Phil Conigliaro of Harvard. 
• Three former EIWA Champions took a loss in the quarterfinals. Vince Cornella of Cornella (141lbs), Phil Conigliaro of Harvard (174lbs), and Grady Griess of Navy (285lbs)
• Columbia’s Andrew Garr will finish in the top-8 as the 17th seed.
• 20 of the 53 automatic bids have been clinched already
• For all results, see link here 2024 EIWA Results

125 (5 Automatic Bids)

The only upset, on paper, in the first round came at the hands of Binghamton’s Carson Wagner. The true freshmen took out 6th seeded, Nick Babin of Columbia 11-9. Babin was 5th last season, which earned him a trip to NCAAs. Besides that, all seeds went scratch into the quarters. The higher seed won all matches except the toss-up four versus five match-up in the quarter final. Ethan Berginc of Army prevailed over American’s Jack Maida. With the top five automatically advancing to NCAAs, the semifinalists need to win one more match to advance. Something to note is that Columbia’s Nick Babin failed to make the podium this time around. 

Semifinals

Luke Stanich, Lehigh vs. (5) Ethan Berginc, Army

Brett Ungar, Cornell vs. (3) Diego Sotelo, Harvard

Consolation Matches

(7) Max Gallagher, Penn vs. (13) Robbie Sagaris, LIU

(4) Jack Maida, American vs. (10) Michael Joyce, Brown
 

133 (5 Automatic Bids)

The first round matchup between eighth seed Micah Roes, of Binghamton, and Drexel’s ninth seeded, John Hildebrant was won by Hildebrant via fall. American’s Max Leete was the winner over Brendan Ferretti of Navy. Leete’s 10th seed makes this an upset over Ferretti – who was an NCAA qualifier last season after a 4th place EIWA finish. The quarter finals had an upset win when Braden Basile of Army came in as the 6th seed to beat Penn’s 3rd seed, Michael Colaiocco, by major decision late in the match. Kurt Phipps got the home crowd into the action with a 6-3 win after trailing 3-0 to begin the 3rd period. The consolation rounds had many upsets with Brown’s 15th seed, Hunter Adrian, defeating 5th seed Mason Leiphart of F&M. Andrew Fallon of Sacred Heart was the 11th seed and beat 9th seed Hildebrandt of Drexel. Micah Rose earned a win over Penn’s Michael Colaiocco. Colaiocco is a multiple time NCAA qualifier who will need an at-large bid. Leiphart will also need some help with an at-large bid. 

Semifinals

Ryan Crookham, Lehigh vs. (4) Kurt Phipps, Bucknell

Vito Arujau, Cornell vs. (6) Braden Basile, Army

Consolation Matches

(15) Hunter Adrian, Brown vs. (11) Andrew Fallon, Sacred Heart

(10) Max Leete, American vs. (8) Micah Roes, Binghamton

141 (4 Automatic Bids)

The first round went as planned per the seeds, except in one match. Nate Lucier of Binghamton was the 11th seed and beat his 6th seeded opponent Devin Matthews of LIU. In the quarters, we saw Bucknell’s 7th seeded wrestler in Dylan Chappell defeat the returning EIWA champ from Cornell in Vince Cornella. Hines of Lehigh had a major, which was the only bonus victory of the round at this weight. Besides, Chappell’s win this bracket has not had many upsets so far. Vince Cornella was forced to medical forfeit in the consolation bracket. He will need an at-large selection to compete at NCAAs. 

Semifinals

(1) Josh Koderhandt, Navy vs. (4) CJ Composto, Penn

(7) Dylan Chappell, Bucknell vs. (3) Malyke Hines, Lehigh 

Consolation Matches

(5) Kai Owen, Columbia vs. (8) Pat Phillips, F&M

(12) Tyler Vasquez, Princeton vs. (11) Nate Lucier, Binghamton

149 (4 Automatic Bids)

The first round had an incredibly tight one between Dom Findora of Drexel and Noah Tapia of Hofstra in a 9th vs 8th seeded battle. Findora used a last second takedown to win. We saw 10th seed Drew Witham of LIU defeat Navy’s Kaemen Smith, the 7th seed. The quarterfinals included a tech fall from top-seed Ethan Fernandez of Cornell, and a major decision by Penn’s Jude Swisher. Harvard’s Jack Crook (6th seed) came away with a victory over 3rd seed, Kelvin Griffin of Lehigh. The wrestlers in the wrestle backs will need to make the third place match.

Semifinals

Ethan Fernandez, Cornell vs. (4) Jude Swisher, Penn

Matt Williams, Army vs. (6) Jack Crook, Harvard

Consolation Matches

(5) Eligh Rivera, Princeton vs. (9) Dom Findora, Drexel

(12) Richard Fedalen, Columbia vs. (3) Kelvin Griffin, Lehigh

157 (3 Automatic Bids)

The only upset in the first round came from Drexel’s Tyler Williams. The 11th seed knocked off Hofstra’s 6th seeded Jurius Clark. Top-seed Meyer Shapiro of Cornell and 3rd seed Max Brignola of Lehigh each won by tech fall in the quarter finals. The top four seeds all made the semi finals here, as expected. A fun tidbit is that 17th seeded, Andrew Garr of Columbia, will be placing top-8. He was a last minute addition a day or two ago. LIU’s 13th seed Rhise Royster will be in the top-8 also. 

Semifinals

Meyer Shapiro, Cornell vs. (4) Nate Lukez, Army

Lucas Revano, Penn vs. (3) Max Brignola, Lehigh 

Consolation Matches

(5) Blake Saito, Brown vs. (6) Jurius Clark, Hofstra

(13) Rhise Royster, LIU vs. (17) Andy Garr, Columbia 

165 (5 Automatic Bids)

The first round of this weight class had two lower seeds come away victorious. 12th seed Blaine Bergey of Princeton defeated Gunner Filipowicz of Army (5th seed). In the bottom half, Kyle Mosher of Columbia (10th seed) won over Lehigh’s 7th seed, Jake Logan. The quarterfinals were all dominated by the higher seed. There were not many upsets in the consolations either, as the seeds held very nicely. 

Semifinals

Julian Ramirez, Cornell vs. (4) Noah Mulvaney, Bucknell

Brevin Cassella, Binghamton vs. (3) Andrew Cerniglia, Navy 

Consolation Matches

(7) Jake Logan, Lehigh vs. (9) Cael Berg, Harvard
(5) Gunner Filipowicz, Army vs. (6) Cody Walsh, Drexel

174 (6 Automatic Bids)

This bracket was full of upsets. In the opening round, 11th seed Dimitri Gamkrelidze of Binghamton had a win over the 6th seeded F&M wrestler in Noah Fox. The biggest upset of the tournament happened in the quarterfinals when Cornell’s 8th seeded, Benny Baker, knocked off top-seeded Phil Conigliaro on a last second takedown. Conigliaro came into the weekend ranked in 7th in the nation. This is a huge factor in the team race for Cornell. Also, Baker (along with all semifinalists) clinched an NCAA berth. Gamkrelidze is the lone double-digit seed left. 

Semifinals

(8) Benny Baker, Cornell vs. (4) Ben Pasiuk, Army

(2) Nick Incontrera, Penn vs. (3) Lennox Wolak, Columbia

Consolation Matches

(5) Danny Wask, Navy vs. (1) Phil Conigliaro, Harvard

(7) Myles Takats, Bucknell vs. (11) Dimitri Gamkrelidze

184 (7 Automatic Bids)

The first round did not have many upsets at all. The only victory that would qualify as an upset was 10th seeded Anthony D’Alesio’s win over Bucknell’s Mikey Bartush – who was 7th seed. Aaron Ayzerov was the 5th seed from Columbia. He defeated Penn’s Max Hale, who came in as the 5th seed. Besides the mentioned matches, all other seeds won accordingly. Ayzerov will face Foca for a 3rd time this season – looking to win for the third time. Anthony D’Alesio will need to win one more match to qualify for NCAAs. He would be the first for LIU at the D1 level.

Semifinals

Chris Foca, Cornell vs. (5) Aaron Ayzerov, Columbia 

James Conway, Franklin & (3) Marshall vs. Nate Dugan, Princeton

Consolation Matches

(4) Max Hale, Penn vs. (8) David Key, Navy

(10) Anthony D’Alesio, LIU vs. (6) Jacon Nolan, Binghamton

197 (6 Automatic Bids)

This bracket has been a rare one where every higher seed won over the lower-seeded opponent. The top four seeds are cruising, winning all matches with bonus points thus far. All four semifinalists have already clinched a spot to NCAAs. The consolation rounds include the 5 through 8 seeds. This is a unique situation where the seeds were very accurate. 

Semifinals

Michael Beard, Lehigh vs. (4) Luke Stout, Princeton

Jacob Cardenas, Cornell vs. (3) Lou Deprez, Binghamton

Consolation Matches

(5) Cole Urbas, Penn vs. (8) Logan Deacetis, Bucknell

(6) John Crawford, F&M vs. (7) Jack Wehmeyer, Columbia 

285 (8 Automatic Bids)

In the first round, the higher seeds came away unscathed. The quarterfinal round is where things got a little interesting. Bucknell’s 7th seed, Dorian Crosby, upset the 2nd seed in Cory Day of Binghamton. Reversing regular season losses were Cornell’s Lewis Fernandes over Keaton Kluever of Hofstra and Lucas Stoddard of Army over Navy’s Grady Griess – last year’s EIWA champion. Lewis is the 5th seed, while Stoddard is the 6th seed. All wrestlers alive in the tournament automatically qualify for nationals, as the weight class has eight bids. This is another weight class with the top 8 still alive. 

Semifinals

Nathan Taylor, Lehigh vs. (5) Lewis Fernandes, Cornell

(7)  Dorian Crosby, Bucknell vs (6) Lucas Stoddard, Army

Consolation Matches

(4) Keaton Kluever, Hofstra vs. (8) Matt Cover, Princeton 

(2) Cory Day, Binghamton vs. (3) Grady Griess, Navy

Because this weight class qualifies all eight podium placewinners, there will be a four-man bracket for 9th place. The 9th place finisher will be used for at-large considerations earlier this week after all conference tournaments are completed.

9th Place Match-Ups

(10) William Jarrell, American vs. (14) Santino Marina, Drexel

(9) John Stout, Penn vs. (12) Alex Semenenko, Brown

Below is a list of wrestlers who have clinched a spot in the NCAA Tournament after Day 1.

174

Benny Baker (Cornell)

Nick Incontrera  (Pennsylvania)

Ben Pasiuk (Army West Point)

Lennox Wolak (Columbia)

184

Aaron Ayzerov  (Columbia)

James Conway (Franklin & Marshall)

Nate Dugan (Princeton)

Chris Foca (Cornell)

197

Michael Beard (Lehigh)

Jacob Cardenas (Cornell)

Lou Deprez (Binghamton)

Luke Stout (Princeton)

285

Matt Cover (Princeton)

Dorian Crosby (Bucknell)

Cory Day (Binghamton)

Lewis Fernandes (Cornell)

Grady Griess (Navy)

Keaton Kluever (Hofstra)

Lucas Stoddard (Army West Point)

Nathan Taylor  (Lehigh)