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The Heart of Amateur Wrestling

Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association
Championship Weekend March 6-7, 2010

By John Henning, College Editor

Bethlehem, PA. The EIWA Championships, the oldest conference wrestling tournament in the United States held it's 106^th edition this past weekend inside fan-friendly Stabler Arena on the Goodman Campus of Lehigh University. The sight lines for wrestling were outstanding, but all anyone could see at the end of the tournament was a sea of red, as in Cornell University Big Red. Cornell, the pre-tournament favorite won its fourth straight team title easily outdistancing surprising runner-up Penn, host Lehigh, and rising Bucknell and American.

The Big Red, lead by EIWA Coach of the Year Rob Koll, won all five of their finals bouts adding three additional medalists and will qualify 8 for the NCAA Championships in Omaha, NE March 18-20. Defending NCAA champion and senior Troy Nickerson started the Cornell onslaught by scoring a finals fall in the 125 weight class. Junior Mike Grey followed at 133 with a dominating win against Matt Fisk of Lehigh. First year Kyle Dake ranked #1 in the nation displayed uncanny balance in dispatching unseeded Jordan Lipp of American University at 141. Junior Mack Lewnes, also ranked #1 in the country and Cameron Simaz each defended their #1 seeds with solid wins at 174 and 197 respectively. Justin Kerber, 165 and Joshua Arnone, 285 each won their 3^rd place bouts while teammate Steve Bosak finished 4^th at 184 in one of the most exciting matches of the entire tournament against Lehigh's David Craig. After coming back from a 4-1 deficit, Bosak tied the bout 4-4 and anticipated winning by a riding time point. With just 10 seconds remaining Craig scored the winning reversal and 2-point near fall as time expired to win 8-5.

Most observers predicted Penn no higher than 5 or 6, but they saved their best effort for season's end by placing second by far out performing their seeds at almost every weight. It was a tremendous effort by any standard. Lehigh was expected to challenge Cornell but they faded quickly on day one and struggled to place 3^rd just ahead of Bucknell, who crowned their first ever individual champion in Andy Rendos at 165.

The remainder of the titlists were Kyler, Army at 149, #1 ranked O'Connor, Harvard at 157, Michael Cannon, American at 184 and Zach Rey, Lehigh at 285.

In all, ten of the thirteen teams were represented in the finals showcasing the parity that is emerging in the league.

Attendance was less than impressive due to the decision to provide free internet video of the tournament. The host school, Lehigh, suggested it was to serve their far-flung alumni, however, it is customary with many NCAA schools to offer video as pay-per-view so as not to hinder the live gate. Hopefully, the decision makers from all schools will reconsider such an offer in the future.

Random thoughts: Troy Nickerson looks immovable, a human brick with arms and legs. Two true freshmen, Garrett Frey, Princeton and Steven Keith, Harvard each performed brilliantly placing 2,3 at 125. The two did not meet in the tournament.

Mike Grey served notice he intends not just to place at nationals, but to win the nationals. He looked awesome in his bout with Fisk...very dominating: riding hard, scoring when he needed to and having 'attitude' by being aggressive with a little edge.

Kyle Dake did not have a good first day and could have easily been beaten by Navy's Pagan, but he gathered himself for the finals by dismantling a very game opponent. Dake showed extreme flexibility, powerful hips and outright hustle. His motor never stops...given his length, he will provide match-up problems for everyone at the NCAAs.

Mack Lewnes almost gave up his first offensive points of the season but was the recipient of a generous call....however he was never in trouble and easily beat Penn's Giffen who was wrestling very well throughout.

These four Cornell wrestlers could all be in the NCAA finals and all four are good enough to win..not saying they will just that they are good enough.

Cam Simaz is only a sophomore....I don't think he's good enough yet to go with Varner, Brester or Taylor, but he's gaining. Should be top 5 at nationals.

Coach Koll stated he needs Kerber, Bosak and Arnone to win some NCAA matches. I believe they will. Cornell's guys are all very physical, most possess good leverage and all are wrestling with confidence. They should be one of the favorites and maybe, just maybe, will put together a magical weekend and bring home the team title.

The EIWA will send at least 41 qualifiers to the NCAAs plus an unspecified number of wild card selections to be announce within a couple of days. Odds are in favor of American's Kyle Borshoff who is a returning All-American but placed 5th at 149.

The 197 weight class was very deep. American's Danny Mitchell turned some heads after beating #4 Kennedy in one of the weekend's more entertaining bouts. Thus, someone from 197 may get a bid.

It was a well-run tournament. The Wall Street Journal set a writer, Dan Ackerman, to cover the action. He asked me if there was an expert available that was not affiliated with any team......after hesitating, I said “not that I know of.” ;-)

Congratulations to Cornell and Pennsylvania for outstanding performances.

Lastly, and I don't know how to say this......but those uniforms used by Lehigh for the finals were, shall we say, less than attractive. An informal fan poll suggested they be donated to the Bethlehem Boys Club and take the write-off.