By Austin Sommer
EIWA Sports Information Dir.

Key Takeaways

Cornell's Vito Arujau (133) repeats as NCAA Champion!

Cornell finishes in second place as a team.

Nine EIWA wrestlers earn NCAA All-American honors.

F&M's James Conway earns the Elite 90 Award.

Last season, the EIWA finished the NCAAs with seven All-Americans crowned, matching the 2022 total of seven. This year the conference had two more wreslters make the podium, increasing the total number of All-Americans in 2024 to nine.

Congratulations to the nine All-Americans from the EIWA listed below.

Vito Arujau, Cornell – Champion at 133lbs

Ryan Crookham, Lehigh – 3^rd at 133lbs

Meyer Shapiro, Cornell – 3^rd at 157lbs

Jacob Cardenas, Cornell – 4^th at 197lbs

Luke Stanich, Lehigh – 5^th at 125lbs

Lennox Wolak, Columbia – 6^th at 174lbs

Ben Pasuik, Army – 8^th at 174lbs

David Key, Navy – 8^th at 184lbs

Michael Beard, Lehigh – 8^th at 197lbs

Elite 90 Award Recipient

Congratulations to James Conway of F&M at 184lbs.  He was awarded the Elite 90 Award as the participant (of 330 participants) in the NCAA Championship who had the highest GPA. 

The ELITE 90, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 90 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 90 championships.

F&M's James Conway is presented the Elite 90 Award by NCAA Championships Dir. Anthony Holman

In the Team Race

Penn State won the Team Title with four champions and a record number of team points of 172.5. There was remarkable parity among the rest of the top-10, however, Cornell earned the Second Place Team trophy with three All-Americans and 72.5 team points in another historic year for the Big Red. There were six teams within striking distance of Cornell, but its large number of bonus point victories separated the Big Red from the rest of the field.

Vito Arujau repeated as NCAA Champion at 133 lbs.  The finals match was a 21 minute war with 4x NCAA finalist Dayton Fix of Oklahoma State.  The match between Arujau, a World Gold medalist and Fix, a World Silver medalist, was an intense battle predominantly wrestled on the feet.  It had to be stopped several times due to bleeding injuries sustained when both wrestlers used their face to block the opponent and/or attacked in a heads up position.  There were also no less than three challenges by the Oklahoma State corner which further extended the time of the match. The challenges were won by the Cowboys however, which added to the difficulty Arujau face in securing the 5-3 victory! On the path to the finals Arujau scored four bonus point victories, one of which was a 14-3 major dec. over Lehigh's Ryan Crookham, the only wrester to have defeated Arujau this year. 

At 157 lbs., Meyer Shapiro's first NCAA performance may not have ended with the individual title he wanted, but knowing he played a key role in the team race may be nearly as satisfying for him. He did not face either of the finalists at 157 lbs and avenged his lone loss to Stanford's No. 6 Daniel Cardenas by a 10-4 margin in the third place bout. His 21 team points thanks to two pins, one tech fall, and two major decisions helped propel the Big Red over powerhouses like Michigan, Iowa State, Iowa, Arizona State, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, Nebraska, and Oklahoma state – who rounded out the top ten.

Jacob Cardenas (197) was Cornell's third All-American with a fourth place showing in his second appearance on the podium. His result was improved over his seventh place AA finish in 2023.

Lehigh scored 36.5 points and can also boast three All-Americans – good enough for 15^th place. Navy finished in 26^th place with 13 points. Columbia earned 12.5 points and Army posted 9.5 points.

If you would like to see full brackets and team score. Please click the link below.

2024 NCAA Division I Championships (trackwrestling.com)

125

Congrats to Luke Stanich on being named an All-American. Once he earned All-American honors Friay night over #4 Ramos of Purdue (last year's runner-up), he went on to defeat #5 Volk of Wyoming by major. He then dropped a match to #10 Barnett of Wisconsin. His final match for 5^th was a revenge win over #15 Smith of Nebraska who beat Stanich in the championship bracket.

5th Place – Luke Stanich (Lehigh)

NCAA Qualifiers

#17 – Brett Ungar (Cornell)

#25 – Ethan Berginc (Army)

#27 – Max Gallagher (Penn)

#28 – Diego Sotelo (Harvard)

#32 – Michael Joyce (Brown)

133                   

Congrats to both Vito Arujau and Ryan Crookham on being named All-Americans. Saturday's morning action included two wins for Crookham. The first was a 4-1 win over #8 Frost of Iowa State. His second of the day was another win over #7 Bailey of Little Rock by a 4-3 decision. He beat Bailey in the quarter-finals 4-2.

We all witnessed Vito on the center stage Saturday night. In a crazy match full of reviews, challenges, and more reviews – Vito prevailed again to remain the champion at the 133lbs weight class.  

Champion – Vito Arujau (Cornell)

3rd Place – Ryan Crookham (Lehigh)

NCAA Qualifiers

#13 – Kurt Phipps (Bucknell)

#25 – Braden Basile (Army)

#28 – Michael Colaiocco (Penn)

#31 – Max Leete (American)

141

Since no EIWA wrestlers earned All-Americn honors this season, there was no action on Saturday. As mentioned, Josh Koderhandt of Navy lost in the round of 12.   

NCAA Qualifiers

#11 – Josh Koderhandt (Navy)

#16 – Dylan Chappell (Bucknell)

#19 – Malyke Hines (Lehigh)

#22 – CJ Composto (Penn)

#30 – Kai Owen (Columbia)

149

There was no EIWA action on Saturday. Fernandes and Swisher were the only wrestlers to win a match. Next year will be a better year for the EIWA.  

NCAA Qualifiers

#9 – Ethan Fernandez (Cornell)

#16 – Kelvin Griffin (Lehigh)

#25 – Matthew Williams (Army)

#27 – Jack Crook (Harvard)

#30 – Jude Swisher (Penn)

157

Congrats to Meyer Shapiro on earning All-American honors! He defeated #10 Franek of Iowa by major after he earned AA honors. He went on to pin #12 Andonian of Virginia Tech in a highly anticipated match-up. He ended the day with a 3^rd place finish over #6 Cardenas. He was a huge part in Cornell's team trophy finish. To make things sweeter, he avenged a loss from the previous day to end his run. Shapiro will have three more years left to achieve NCAA Champion status. He will be one of the favorites next season again.

3rd Place – Meyer Shapiro (Cornell)

NCAA Qualifiers

#20 – Max Brignola (Lehigh)

#21 – Lucas Revano (Penn)

165

There were no matches wrestled on Saturday by EIWA participants. They won a bunch of matches, and many will return next season.

NCAA Qualifiers

#3 – Julian Ramirez (Cornell)

#11 – Andrew Cerniglia (Navy)

#15 – Brevin Cassella (Binghamton)

#19 – Gunner Filipowicz (Army)

#22 – Noah Mulvaney (Bucknell)

#32 – Jake Logan (Lehigh)

174

Congratulations to Lennox Wolak of Columbia and Ben Pasiuk of Army on earning All-American status! As mentioned, Columbia has not had an All-American since 2013. Army's last All-American was 2008. Pasiuk had one match on Saturday for 7^th place. He dropped the bout to #3 Ruth of Illinois. Wolak dropped both of his matches to earn 6^th. His losses came to #1 Lewis of Virginia Tech and #2 DeVos of South Dakota State. Wolak will be wrestling for the Virginia Tech Hokies next season as a grad student. Pasuik will graduate and be committed to serving his country!

Zach Tanelli now has an All-American by getting his first wrestler on the NCAA podium as head coach of Columbia. Kevin Ward joins the same club with an All-American as head coach of Army West Point. 

6th Place – Lennox Wolak (Columbia)

8th Place – Ben Pasiuk (Army)

NCAA Qualifiers

#5 – Phil Conigliaro (Harvard)

#10 – Nick Incontrera (Penn)

#26 – Benny Baker (Cornell)

#27 – Danny Wask (Navy)

#30 – Myles Takats (Bucknell)

184

Congrats to Navy's David Key on being named an All-American! He is Navy's first since Matthew Miller in 2016. Key battled his way through the tournament, wrestling one match on Saturday morning. He dropped it to #7 Stewart. Cary Kolat finally coached his first All-American as head coach at Navy.

8th Place – David Key (Navy)

NCAA Qualifiers

#13 – Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia)

#14 – Chris Foca (Cornell)

#16 – Nate Dugan (Princeton)

#19 – James Conway (Franklin & Marshall)

#26 – Max Hale (Penn)

#32 – Anthony D'Alesio (LIU)  

197

Congratulations to both All-Americans at this weight. Michael Beard of Lehigh and Jacob Cardenas each return to the podium. On Saturday, Michael Beard dropped his lone match to #9 Little of Little Rock to end the season with an 8^th place finish. Jacob Cardenas of Cornell defeated #12 Elam of Missouri in the rubber match between the two. They split on the weekend, while Cardenas won the regular season meeting. He then fell to #8 Buchanan of Oklahoma in the 3^rd place match.

4th Place – Jacon Cardenas (Cornell)

8th Place – Michael Beard (Lehigh)

NCAA Qualifiers

#6 – Lou Deprez (Binghamton)

#16 – Luke Stout (Princeton)

#24 – Cole Urbas (Penn)

#28 – Jack Wehmeyer (Columbia)

#32 – John Crawford (Franklin & Marshall)

285

There was no action on Saturday at this weight class. Nathan Taylor was the highest performer with a top-12 finish. There were many wrestlers who won multiple matches.

NCAA Qualifiers

#5 – Nathan Taylor (Lehigh)

#15 – Lewis Fernandes (Cornell)

#16 – Cory Day (Binghamton)

#17 – Grady Griess (Navy)

#19 – Dorian Crosby (Bucknell)

#22 – Matthew Cover (Princeton)

#23 – Lucas Stoddard (Army)

#24 – Keaton Kluever (Hofstra)