ngineer
March 3rd, 2007, 11:21 PM
The 103rd EIWA Tournament is history and Cornell put an end to Lehigh's tremendous 5 year streak. Mountain Hawks had won the 14 team team tourney 6 of the last 7 years. The final results were not surprising as they fairly reflected the rankings of the wrestlers going in to the tourney. Seven teams had legitimate shots with such a wide open tourney. The quality of competition has increased significantly as the EIWA will be sending 47 qualifiers to the NCAA--second only to the Big Ten.
Lehigh, however, did qualify SEVEN to the NCAA's, which was amazing considering the loss of another starter the day before the tournament.
149er Santos was declared ineligible due to a skin infection. 125 pounder Kevin Vinh was pulled out of class and told to get on the bus. He competed heroically, losing in the first round 9-8 and then losing in wrestle-backs 8-5. Considering he was giving away so much weight his effort was admirable.
Matt Ciasulli is Lehigh's only EIWA Champion this year at 141. Other Mountain Hawk qualifiers:
125--Matt Fisk--5th (also won Sheridan Award -most pins in least time)
133--Seth Ciasulli--Freshman finished 4th in very tough wt class after being seeded 7th.
157--David Nakasone--4th-wrestled very tough with two close losses.
184--Frosh David Craig--4th-somewhat disappointing due to #1 seed, but he seemed slightly intimidated by the atmosphere and got horsed abit. He's a natural 184 and in the tourney setting it seemed the bigger framed wrestlers who had cut from 200 lbs were too much, as opposed to beating the same guys in individual dual meets during the year.
197--Sr. Matt Cassidy--4th--wrestled tough while battlng injuries all year. hopefully can recover for NCAA's
Hwt--Paul Weibel--5th received wild-card (along with Fisk) with an amazing comeback. Fighting stomach problems and trailing 6-3 with 20 seconds left, Paul escaped and took down the Columbia wrestler with 2 seconds left to send the match into overtime. Weibel then took down Lester in sudden victory.
Team Scores:
1. Cornell 125.5
2. Navy 106
3. Penn 99.5
4. Lehigh 82
5. Columbia 74.5
6. American 71
6. Harvard 71
8. Army 58
9. Bucknell 40
10. Brown 34.5
11. Rutgers 19.5
12. ESU 16
13. F & M 4
12. Princeton 0
Most Outstanding Wrestler: Matt Evelith (Penn). Difficult choice between him and Josh Glenn of American who won second title, but at different weight class, and Matt Valenti of Penn (though Valenti won Fletcher Award for most career tournament points).
Evelith shocked the arena when, trailing #1 seed and last years NCAA Finalist Troy Nickerson, 3-0 in the third period, he took Nickerson to the mat with a headlock and had Nickerson fighting off the pin for a minute and a half, to win 5-3.
Ciasulli became Lehigh's 192nd Eastern Champ--Cornell is next with 119. The team title was Cornell's 15th. Lehigh leads all EIWA teams with 34 team titles. Its 5 year streak was the second longest in history, with Yale having the only 6 year streak from 1912-17.
NCAA's begin at the Palace at Auburn Hills, Michigan on March 15 with the championships on St. Patrick's Day to be televised on ESPN.
Lehigh, however, did qualify SEVEN to the NCAA's, which was amazing considering the loss of another starter the day before the tournament.
149er Santos was declared ineligible due to a skin infection. 125 pounder Kevin Vinh was pulled out of class and told to get on the bus. He competed heroically, losing in the first round 9-8 and then losing in wrestle-backs 8-5. Considering he was giving away so much weight his effort was admirable.
Matt Ciasulli is Lehigh's only EIWA Champion this year at 141. Other Mountain Hawk qualifiers:
125--Matt Fisk--5th (also won Sheridan Award -most pins in least time)
133--Seth Ciasulli--Freshman finished 4th in very tough wt class after being seeded 7th.
157--David Nakasone--4th-wrestled very tough with two close losses.
184--Frosh David Craig--4th-somewhat disappointing due to #1 seed, but he seemed slightly intimidated by the atmosphere and got horsed abit. He's a natural 184 and in the tourney setting it seemed the bigger framed wrestlers who had cut from 200 lbs were too much, as opposed to beating the same guys in individual dual meets during the year.
197--Sr. Matt Cassidy--4th--wrestled tough while battlng injuries all year. hopefully can recover for NCAA's
Hwt--Paul Weibel--5th received wild-card (along with Fisk) with an amazing comeback. Fighting stomach problems and trailing 6-3 with 20 seconds left, Paul escaped and took down the Columbia wrestler with 2 seconds left to send the match into overtime. Weibel then took down Lester in sudden victory.
Team Scores:
1. Cornell 125.5
2. Navy 106
3. Penn 99.5
4. Lehigh 82
5. Columbia 74.5
6. American 71
6. Harvard 71
8. Army 58
9. Bucknell 40
10. Brown 34.5
11. Rutgers 19.5
12. ESU 16
13. F & M 4
12. Princeton 0
Most Outstanding Wrestler: Matt Evelith (Penn). Difficult choice between him and Josh Glenn of American who won second title, but at different weight class, and Matt Valenti of Penn (though Valenti won Fletcher Award for most career tournament points).
Evelith shocked the arena when, trailing #1 seed and last years NCAA Finalist Troy Nickerson, 3-0 in the third period, he took Nickerson to the mat with a headlock and had Nickerson fighting off the pin for a minute and a half, to win 5-3.
Ciasulli became Lehigh's 192nd Eastern Champ--Cornell is next with 119. The team title was Cornell's 15th. Lehigh leads all EIWA teams with 34 team titles. Its 5 year streak was the second longest in history, with Yale having the only 6 year streak from 1912-17.
NCAA's begin at the Palace at Auburn Hills, Michigan on March 15 with the championships on St. Patrick's Day to be televised on ESPN.