By Austin Sommer
The 120th EIWA Championships has concluded and the team scoring was as close as it's been in awhile. The 2024 EIWA Team Championship was won by Cornell University with 164.5 team points, three champions, and nine NCAA qualifiers. In second place was Lehigh with 159.5 points, four champions, and eight NCAA qualifiers.
Finishing in the top-three as a team was Army West Point with 95.5 points and six NCAA qualifiers. Columbia and Penn tied for fourth place with 90.5 each. Columbia had two champions and will qualify three wrestlers to NCAAs. Penn did not have any champions, but qualified five wrestlers to NCAAs.
For all results, see link here 2024 EIWA Results
Key Takeaways:
Lehigh crowned four individual champs, Cornell finished with three, Columbia with two, and Navy with one champion.
Anthony D'Alesio becomes LIU's first NCAA D1 qualifier in school history
Ryan Crookham was named Outstanding Wrestler after winning 133lbs title
Kevin Ward of Army West Point ws voted EIWA Coach of the Year
Michael Joyce is Brown's first NCAA qualifier since 2019
Julian Ramirez of Cornell is the lone repeat champion
125 (5 Automatic Bids – NCAA qualifiers in bold at all weights below)
The top two seeds met in the finals. Lehigh's Luke Stanich proved why he was the top seed with a 6-0 win over Cornell's Ungar. Stanich widened the gap from their previous meeting in January. Army's Berginc took out Brown's Joyce 5-3 for third. Max Gallagher of Penn won via medical forfeit ovr Sotelo of Harvard. Some ranked wrestlers looking for an at-large bid include Sotelo of Harvard, who had to medically forfeit to 6th place. The other is American's Jack Maida. He placed 8th after medically forfeiting both matches on day 2.
1st – Luke Stanich (Lehigh) DEC Brett Ungar (Cornell), 6-0
3rd – Ethan Berginc (Army West Point) DEC Mike Joyce (Brown), 5-3
5th – Max Gallagher (Pennsylvania) M FOR Diego Sotelo (Harvard), 0-0 0:00
7th – Robert Sagaris (Long Island University) M FOR Jack Maida (American), 0-0 0:00
133 (5 Automatic Bids)
The top two seeds were in the finals here also. This was one of the most anticipated match-ups in the entire country – and it lived up to the hype. Crookham scored a takedown with under 30-seconds left to secure the win.
Braden Basile of Army kept the momentum rolling for him and the team, with another 3rd place finish for the Black Knights. In a winner-take-all bout for 5th place, American's Max Leete won a thrilling match in tiebreakers over Sacred Heart's Andrew Fallon. To add to the drama, Fallon was a teammate with Leete at American before transferring to Sacred Heart.
There are a few ranked wrestlers who failed to place at 133 looking for an at-large selection. Michael Colaiocco of Penn and Mason Leiphart of Franklin & Marshall fall into this category. Micah Roes of Binghamton earned 7th place, and will be on the bubble to earn an at-large bid.
1st – Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) DEC Vito Arujau (Cornell), 10-6
3rd – Braden Basile (Army West Point) DEC Kurt Phipps (Bucknell), 9-3
5th – Maximilian Leete (American) DEC Andrew Fallon (Sacred Heart), 2-2 TB2
7th – Micah Roes (Binghamton) DEC Hunter Adrian (Brown), 5-2 SV
141 (4 Automatic Bids)
Top-seeded Josh Koderhandt of Navy cruised to the finals. His opponent from Bucknell, Dylan Chappell, needed some magic in overtime during the semi-final bout over Hines of Lehigh. Chappell scored a takedown in tiebreakers to prevail 8-7. He has now made an EIWA final in back-to-back years. Koderhandt continued his dominance on the weekend with a major decision win in the finals. Penn's Composto avenged a loss to Hines of Lehigh earlier in the season for 3rd and for fifth place, Tyler Vasquez came from the 12th seed to beat Patrcik Phillips of F&M.
Ranked wrestlers looking for an at-large bid include Kai Owen of Columbia, but finishing in 7th place, makes him a long shot.
1st – Josh Koderhandt (Navy) MD Dylan Chappell (Bucknell), 12-2
3rd – CJ Composto (Pennsylvania) DEC Malyke Hines (Lehigh), 7-4 SV
5th – Tyler Vazquez (Princeton) F Pat Phillips (Franklin & Marshall), 2:17
7th – Kai Owen (Columbia) MD Nate Lucier (Binghamton), 17-4
149 (4 Automatic Bids)
For the fourth straight weight class, the top seed made the finals. Ethan Fernandez of Cornell squared off with Jack Crook of Harvard, coming in hot as the 6th seed. Crook knocked off Lehigh's Griffin and Army's Williams en route to the finals. However, his hot streak endedn when Fernandez won the finals bout via a technichal fall. Griffin scored 20 points in his 3rd place bout for a major decision win, while Swisher of Penn pinned Frindora of Drexel for 5th. Princeton's Eligh Rivera posted a strong 7th place finish.
Ranked wrestlers looking for an at-large bid include 5th place finisher Jude Swisher of Penn. Rivera of Princeton has an outside chance with his 7th place finish.
1st – Ethan Fernandez (Cornell) TF Jack Crook (Harvard), 20-5 6:57
3rd – Kelvin Griffin (Lehigh) MD Matthew Williams (Army West Point), 20-9
5th – Jude Swisher (Pennsylvania) F Dominic Findora (Drexel), 0:55
7th – Eligh Rivera (Princeton) DEC Richard Fedalen (Columbia), 14-9
157 (3 Automatic Bids)
The top seed was held here also. We saw Meyer Shapiro of Cornell square off with 3rd seeded Max Brignola of Lehigh in the final. For the second time this season, Shapiro prevailed by decision. The third place bout was a qualification match. Revano of Penn used a gritty takedown in tiebreaker to win over Lukez of Army. Brown's Blake Saito placed 5th, where he came in seeded. Columbia's Andy Garr was the 17th seed and finished in 6th place. What an incredible tournament he had. Hofstra's Clark had a 4-3win over Royster of LIU. Royster was the 13th seed – which was another great overperformance.
Ranked wrestlers looking for an at-large bid at this weight include Nate Lukez of Army. He came in as the 4th seed, just shy of earning an allocation for the conference.
1st – Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) DEC Max Brignola (Lehigh), 6-3
3rd – Lucas Revano (Pennsylvania) DEC Nathan Lukez (Army West Point), 9-6 TB2
5th – Blake Saito (Brown) DEC Andy Garr (Columbia), 9-6
7th – Jurius Clark (Hofstra) DEC Rhise Royster (Long Island University), 4-3 TB2
165 (5 Automatic Bids)
Julian Ramirez returned to the EIWA Championships to defend his crown. He faced off against Navy's Andrew Cerniglia posted a 7-0 win over Cassella of Binghamton in the semis. Ramirez was victorious over Cerniglia in a 5-3 decision. Cassella of Binghamton won 4-1 over in overtime against a tough Filipowicz for third place. The 5th place bout would reward the winner with an NCAA bid and Lehigh's Jake Logan came away the winner over Bucknell's Noah Mulvaney by an 8-7 score. Logan is now 2-0 on the year against Mulvaney. Drexel's Cody Walsh placed 7th
Noah Mulvaney will now hope to eanr an at-large selection. He qualified an allocation for the conference and was one spot on the podium shy of the coveted automatic bid. He has pretty good odds of advancing to NCAAs as an at-large selection.
1st – Julian Ramirez (Cornell) DEC Andrew Cerniglia (Navy), 5-3
3rd – Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) DEC Gunner Filipowicz (Army West Point), 4-1 SV
5th – Jake Logan (Lehigh) DEC Noah Mulvaney (Bucknell), 8-7
7th – Cody Walsh (Drexel) DEC Cael Berg (Harvard), 9-3
174 (6 Automatic Bids)
Ben Pasiuk of Army came from the 4 seed and won his semi final match over 8th seed Benny Baker of Cornell. Wolak was the 3rd seed and majored 2nd seeded, Incontrera of Penn. Benny Baker upset Harvard's Phil Conigliaro twice this weekend. Once in the quarter finals, then again for 3rd place. Incontrera defeated Takats of Bucknell (7th seed) for 5th place. Danny Wask was 7th, after coming in as the 5th seed.
Ranked wrestlers who will need an at-large bid to advance to the NCAA Championship include Navy's Danny Wask. He came in as the fifth seed and dropped matches to Pasiuk and Conigliaro.
1st – Lennox Wolak (Columbia) DEC Benjamin Pasiuk (Army West Point), 5-1
3rd – Benny Baker (Cornell) DEC Philip Conigliaro (Harvard), 4-2
5th – Nick Incontrera (Pennsylvania) DEC Myles Takats (Bucknell), 6-2
7th – Danny Wask (Navy) DEC Dimitri Gamkrelidze (Binghamton), 4-2
184 (7 Automatic Bids)
Aaron Ayzerov of Columbia beat top-seed Chris Foca of Cornell for the third time this season. Foca is a returning All-American from last season. He finished fourth this year after suffering an injury default loss to David Key of Navy in the third place bout. Key outwrestled his no. 8 seed to finish in third. James Conway of F&M had a nice win over Nolan for fifth. The big story here was LIU's Anthony D'Alesio wh become the first D1 qualifier in the program's history! LIU joined the EIWA in 2019. He earned seventh place, as the 10th seed.
Max Hale of Penn will need an at-large bid in order to advance to NCAAs. He was the 4th seed, and finished in eighth place.
1st – Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia) DEC Nate Dugan (Princeton), 8-4
3rd – David Key (Navy) DEF Chris Foca (Cornell), 1-0 4:05
5th – James Conway (Franklin & Marshall) DEC Jacob Nolan (Binghamton), 10-6
7th – Anthony D`alesio (Long Island University) DEC Maximus Hale (Pennsylvania), 4-2
197 (6 Automatic Bids)
The finals match was a rematch from last season's EIWA final. Michael Beard needed an overtime takedown to revenge last year's result. Lou Deprez finished his final EIWA tournament in 3rd place with a major. Urbas of Penn placed fifth on a medical forfeit over Luke Stout. Bucknell's Logan Deacetis earned 7th over Crawford of F&M.
Two wrestlers who will need an at-large bid are 8th seeded, Bucknell's Logan Deacetis, and F&M's 6th seeded John Crawford. They finished 7th and 8th, respectively.
1st – Michael Beard (Lehigh) DEC Jacob Cardenas (Cornell), 6-3 SV
3rd – Lou Deprez (Binghamton) MD Jack Wehmeyer (Columbia), 11-1
5th – Cole Urbas (Pennsylvania) M FOR Luke Stout (Princeton), 0-0 0:00
7th – Logan Deacetis (Bucknell) MD John Crawford (Franklin & Marshall), 12-2
285 (8 Automatic Bids)
Nathan Taylor made a return trip to the finals, where he was runner up last year. He won with bonus point an all of his matches to clinch his title. His opponent, Dorian Crosby, was the seventh seed but the home crowd helped propel him past two higher ranked opponents. He will return to the NCAA championships this year as an EIWA runner-up. Princeton's Matt Cover outplaced his no. 8 seed, finishing in 4th. Lewis Fernandes earned third place, highlighted by a fall over second seed, Day of Binghamton in the wrestlebacks. Day's 5th place finish came on a 6-0 win over Stoddard of Army. Last year's EIWA champ, Grady Griess of Navy, finished in 7th place, but still earned a trip to NCAAs.
This weight class was wrestled to a ninth place finish due to having eight automatic bids. William Jarrell of American will be looking for an at-large bid as the 9th place finisher. He also has some quality wins on the year, which will help his case for an at-large spot in the NCAAs. Eight qualifiers to the NCAA Championship is already a historic high for the conference and a ninth qualifier at 285 would be the icing on the cake!
1st – Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) F Dorian Crosby (Bucknell), 1:27
3rd – Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) DEC Matthew Cover (Princeton), 9-2
5th – Cory Day (Binghamton) DEC Lucas Stoddard (Army West Point), 6-0
7th – Grady Griess (Navy) M FOR Keaton Kluever (Hofstra), 0-0 0:00
9th – William Jarrell (American) DEC Alex Semenenko (Brown), 4-0
Army's Kevin Ward was voted EIWA Coach of the Year by his fellow coaches. He led the Black Knights to a 6-1 conference record and the finished the year ranked 25th in the nation. Army's third place finish was their highest finish in recent history.
The Official's Award for Team Sportsmanship was awarded to Hofstra. The award is presented annually to the team who portrays exemplary sportsmanship over the course of the tournament.
The John Fletcher Memorial Trophy given to the wrestler who earn's the most career EIWA tournament points was earned by Lou Deprez. His 86 career points earned for Binghamton was five more than Vito Arujau's career points earned for Cornell. Deprez ended his career as a 5-time EIWA placer and 3-time champion.
The Billy Sheridan Memorial Award for most falls in the least amount of time in the winner's bracket was awarded to Nathan Taylor of Lehigh, with two pins in 3:55.
The Coaches Trophy for Outstanding Wrestler, as voted by the coaches, was awarded to Ryan Crookham. The freshman earned the prestigious trophy by defeated returning NCAA Champ, Vito Arujau of Cornell, in the finals at 133lbs.
All 53 automatic qualifiers are now determined and have earned their spot at the 2024 NCAA Championships. The NCAA selection committee will decide on the remaining at-large selections for each weight. There are typically five per weight, some weights have four and some have six. We can expect a few names being added to the EIWA qualifier list, but we will have to wait until Wednesday to confirm who among the EIWA hopefuls will earn an at-large selection and wrestle in Kansas City.