Story by Austin Sommer
EIWA Sports Information Dir.

Day One of the 120^th EIWA Championships at Bucknell University has concluded with 20 wrestlers already clinching a qualifying spot in the NCAA Championships. The first whistle blew at 10:30AM and the action finished with the conclusion of the blood round at 8:30PM. The Cornell Big Red leads the team race with 91.5 team points and nine semi-finalists. Lehigh is currently in 2nd place with 80.5 team points and six semi-finalists. The Quakers of Penn and Black Knights of Army West Point are tied for 3rd place with 62.5 points each. Army has six semi-finalists while Penn has four. Columbia rounds out the top five with 51 points.

Key Takeaways:

The biggest upset of the day came from Cornell's Benny Baker at 174lbs. He defeated top-seed, and no. 7 nationally ranked, Phil Conigliaro of Harvard.

Three former EIWA Champions took a loss in the quarter finals. Vince Cornella of Cornella (141lbs), Phil Conigliaro of Harvard (174lbs), and Grady Griess of Navy (285lbs).

Columbia's Andrew Garr (157) will finish in the top-8 as the 17^th seed.

20 of the 53 automatic bids have already been clinched.

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 No. 6 seeded, Nick Babin of Columbia 11-9. Babin was fifth last season, which earned him a trip to NCAAs. The higher seed won all other matches except the toss-up four versus five match-up in the quarterfinal. Ethan Berginc of Army prevailed over American's Jack Maida. With the top five automatically advancing to NCAAs, the semi-finalists 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.

Semi Finals

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

(2) 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 match up between 8^th seed Micah Roes, of Binghamton, and Drexel's 9^th seeded, John Hildebrant was won by Hildebrant via fall. American's Max Leete was the winner over Brendan Ferretti of Navy. Leete's 10^th seed makes this an upset over Ferretti – who was an NCAA qualifier last season after a 4^th place EIWA finish. The quarter finals had an upset win when Braden Basile of Army came in as the 6^th seed to beat Penn's 3^rd seed, Michael Colaiocco, by major decision via a late match scoring flury. Kurt Phipps got the home crowd into the action with a 6-3 win after trailing 3-0 to begin the 3^rd period. The consolation rounds featured many upsets with Brown's 15^th seed, Hunter Adrian, defeating 5^th seed Mason Leiphart of F&M. Andrew Fallon of Sacred Heart was the 11^th seed and beat 9^th 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.

Semi Finals

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

(2) 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 11^th seed and beat his 6^th seeded opponent Devin Matthews of LIU. In the quarters, we saw Bucknell's 7^th seeded wrestler in Dylan Chappel 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.

Semi Finals

(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 9^th vs 8^th seeded battle. Findora used a last second takedown to win. We saw 10^th seed Drew Witham of LIU defeat Navy's Kaemen Smith, the 7^th seed. The quarter finals included a tech fall from top-seed Ethan Fernandez of Cornell, and a major decision by Penn's Jude Swisher. Harvard's Jack Crook (6^th seed) came away with a victory over 3^rd seed, Kelvin Griffin of Lehigh. The wrestlers in the wrestle backs will need to make the third place match.

Semi Finals

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

(2) 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 11^th seed knocked off Hofstra's 6^th seeded Jurius Clark. Top-seed Meyer Shapiro of Cornell and 3^rd 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 17^th seeded, Andrew Garr of Columbia, will be placing top-8. He was a last minute addition a day or two ago. LIU's 13^th seed Rhise Royster will be in the top-8 also.

Semi Finals

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

(2) 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. 12^th seed Blaine Bergey of Princeton defeated Gunner Filipowicz of Army (5^th seed). In the bottom half, Kyle Mosher of Columbia (10^th seed) won over Lehigh's 7^th seed, Jake Logan. The quarter finals were all dominated by the higher seed. There were not many upsets in the consolations either, as the seeds held very nicely.

Semi Finals

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

(2) 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, 11^th seed Dimitri Gamkrelidze of Binghamton had a win over the 6^th seeded F&M wrestler in Noah Fox. The biggest upset of the tournament happened in the quarter finals when Cornell's 8^th seeded, Benny Baker, knocked off top-seeded Phil Conigliaro on a last second takedown. Conigliaro came into the weekend ranked in 7^th in the nation. Baker's upset win was is a huge factor in the team race lead for Cornell. Baker (along with all semifinalists) clinched an NCAA berth. Gamkrelidze is the lone double-digit seed left.

Semi Finals

(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 10^th seeded Anthony D'Alesio's win over Bucknell's Mikey Bartush – who was 7^th seed. Aaron Ayzerov was the 5^th seed from Columbia. He defeated Penn's Max Hale, who came in as the 5^th seed. Besides the mentioned matches, all other seeds won accordingly. Ayzerov will face Foca for a 3^rd 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.

Semi Finals

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

(2) 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 semi-finalists 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.

Semi Finals

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

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

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 quarter final round is where things got a little interesting. Bucknell's 7^th seed, Dorian Crosby, upset the 2^nd 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 5^th seed, while Stoddard is the 6^th 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.

Semi Finals

(1) 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 place finishers, there will be a four-man bracket for 9^th place. The 9^th place finisher will be used for at-large considerations earlly next week after all conference tournaments have been completed.

9^th Place bracket starts with:

(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 One.

Tomorrow's action will begin at 10:30AM with semifinals along with a few round of consolations, ending with 7^th/8^th place mat