Lehigh University
EIWA Championships
Five on to finals as Lehigh leads after day one
3/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
 |
Leading Lehigh’s youth movement were freshmen Matt Fisk and Trevor Chinn. The No. 2 seed Fisk won his first bout by a 5-0 score, and then defeated third seeded Mike Silengo of Penn in the semifinals. He became Lehigh’s first true freshman NCAA qualifier in Greg Strobel’s 11 years as head coach, and will wrestle Cornell’s true freshman Troy Nickerson in the finals.
Chinn, a redshirt freshman who is competing because of junior Matt Ciasulli’s knee injury suffered in the final weekend of the regular season, had two of the day’s more exciting wins, as the number six seed needed sudden victory to down American’s No. 3 seed Tom Kniezewski in the quarterfinals and then Cornell’s seventh seed Keith Dickey in the semifinals. Chinn will face top seed Matt Dragon of Penn in the finals.
Seniors Cory Cooperman and Travis Frick also advanced to the finals. Cooperman won a pair of matches by major decision as he looks for his third EIWA crown in four years. He will face Max Meltzer of Harvard in the finals. Frick opened with a major decision over Matthew DeNichilo of
Junior Matt Cassidy is Lehigh’s fifth finalist, scoring a third period take down to beat Paul Velekei of Penn 3-2. Cassidy also had two earlier wins, a decision and a major decision. He will tangle with top seeded Jerry Rinaldi of Cornell on Sunday.
Four other Mountain Hawks are still alive in the consolation round. Seniors Derek Zinck and Troy Letters both fell victim to upsets, but have a chance to qualify for nationals by placing third, or earning a wild card. Zinck was edged 3-2 by Brown’s Mike Savino in the quarters, while Letters fell to No. 4 seed Steve Anceravage 5-3 in the semifinals. Letters led 2-0 but fell victim two a four-point reversal, near fall combination, and could not get the takedown needed in the third period to force sudden victory.
Junior Paul Weibel won by technical fall over William Beechum of
Sophomore Jeff Santo is the only Mountain Hawk who is no longer alive. Santo fell to top seed Matt Valenti in the quarterfinals at 133 and then dropped his consolation bout 4-3.
Cornell sits three and a half points behind Lehigh in the team standings, with Penn, Harvard and Navy rounding out the top five.
The 102nd EIWA Championships conclude on Sunday from Lehigh’s Stabler Arena. The consolation semifinals and placement matches will get underway at 10:00 am with the Championship finals slated for a 3:00 start. Live video and audio for the finals will be available online at lehighsports.com, with streaming powered by Yahoo! Sports. The finals will also be broadcast on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 with coverage beginning immediately following Lehigh’s men’s basketball game against Holy Cross.
Pigtail round
|
Weight |
Match-up |
Result |
|
Score |
|
149 |
Trevor Chinn (LU) |
tech. fall |
Marcello Medini ( |
24-9, 6:43 |
|
157 |
Derek Zinck (LU) |
maj. dec. |
Jaime Lijo ( |
14-5 |
|
165 |
Troy Letters (LU) |
WBF |
Martin Everin ( |
1:02 |
|
184 |
David Helfrich (LU) |
WBF |
Gordon Scharf ( |
2:09 |
|
197 |
Matt Cassidy (LU) |
dec. |
Billy Colgan (Harvard) |
8-5 |
Quarterfinals
|
Weight |
Match-up |
Result |
|
Score |
|
125 |
Matt Fisk (LU) |
dec. |
Jeff Sato ( |
5-0 |
|
133 |
Matt Valenti (Penn) |
dec. |
Jeff Santo (LU) |
13-6 |
|
141 |
Cory Cooperman (LU) |
maj. dec. |
Kyle Ferris (ESU) |
12-3 |
|
149 |
Trevor Chinn (LU) |
dec. |
Tom Kniezewski (AU) |
3-1 s.v. |
|
157 |
Mike Savino (Brown) |
dec. |
Derek Zinck (LU) |
3-2 |
|
165 |
Troy Letters (LU) |
maj. dec. |
Keith Smith (ESU) |
10-2 |
|
174 |
Travis Frick (LU) |
maj. dec. |
Matthew DeNichilo (Prin) |
14-5 |
|
184 |
Josh Glenn (American) |
dec. |
David Helfrich (LU) |
5-4 t.b. |
|
197 |
Matt Cassidy (LU) |
maj. dec. |
Leo Saniuk (Brown) |
10-2 |
|
285 |
Paul Weibel (LU) |
tech. fall |
William Beechum ( |
19-3, 7:00 |
First round consolations
|
Weight |
Match-up |
Result |
|
Score |
|
133 |
Matt DeLorenzo ( |
dec. |
Jeff Santo (LU) |
4-3 |
|
157 |
Derek Zinck (LU) |
maj. dec. |
Mark Smith (ESU) |
12-4 |
|
184 |
David Helfrich (LU) |
maj. dec. |
Branden Stearns (Brown) |
16-4 |
Semifinals
|
Weight |
Match-up |
Result |
|
Score |
|
125 |
Matt Fisk (LU) |
dec. |
Mike Silengo (Penn) |
7-2 |
|
141 |
Cory Cooperman (LU) |
maj. dec. |
Sal Tirico ( |
11-2 |
|
149 |
Trevor Chinn (LU) |
dec. |
Keith Dickey (Cornell) |
5-3 s.v. 2 |
|
165 |
Steve Anceravage (CU) |
dec. |
Troy Letters(LU) |
5-3 |
|
174 |
Travis Frick (LU) |
dec. |
Matt Stolpinski (Navy) |
9-4 |
|
197 |
Matt Cassidy (LU) |
dec. |
Paul Velekei (Penn) |
3-2 |
|
285 |
Tanner Garrett (Navy) |
dec. |
Paul Weibel (LU) |
8-6 |
Consolation quarterfinals
|
Weight |
Match-up |
Result |
|
Score |
|
157 |
Derek Zinck (LU) |
dec. |
Rudy Rueda (American) |
10-5 |
|
184 |
dec. |
Luke Calvert (Army) |
4-3 |
Team Scores
|
Team |
Points |
|
1. LEHIGH |
104 |
|
2. Cornell |
100.5 |
|
3. Penn |
85.5 |
|
4. Harvard |
70.5 |
|
5. Navy |
64.5 |
|
6. Army |
58.5 |
|
7. |
49.5 |
|
8. American |
44.5 |
|
9. Brown |
19 |
|
10. |
11.5 |
|
11. ESU |
9 |
|
12. |
2 |
|
13. F & M |
1.5 |
Photos © 2006, Lehigh Athletics, Jeff Nolan
