Lehigh University
EIWA Championships
Mountain Hawks send three to EIWA finals
3/8/2009 2:45:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
 |
PHILADELPHIA – Three Lehigh wrestlers will compete for an EIWA Championship on Sunday night after winning semifinal bouts in Sunday’s morning session at the Palestra. The Mountain Hawks semifinal effort was highlighted by freshman Zach Rey who pinned Penn’s Trey McLean 28 seconds into the second sudden victory period in their match at 285. Rey joins juniors Seth Ciasulli and David Craig as semifinal winners who will wrestle in the finals on Sunday night.
The Mountain Hawks also grabbed a firm hold on second place in the team standings with 99 points heading into the finals. Eight Lehigh wrestlers earned places in the top six, while a total of seven Mountain Hawks earned automatic bids to the NCAA tournament.
Rey, the No. 2 seed at heavyweight was locked in a tight battle with McLean, who he pinned in the final dual meet of the season two weeks ago. The match was tied 1-1 after regulation and after a scoreless sudden victory period and two tiebreaker periods where each wrestler escaped, Rey finally scored a takedown in the second sudden victory period and immediately brought McLean to his back, where the fall was whistled at the 9:32 mark. Rey will next face top seed Ryan Flores of Columbia in the finals.
Ciasull, seeded second at 141, was the first Lehigh wrestler to go through to the finals as he converted a first period takedown which proved to be the difference in a 3-1 win over Penn’s Rick Rappo. He will also face a No. 1 seed in the finals, Harvard’s Corey Jantzen.
At 184, Craig posted a convincing 8-0 major decision over Navy’s Casey Caldwell to reach his first EIWA finals. Craig scored a takedown and two-point near fall in the first period and added an escape and takedown in the third en route to his third straight bonus win. He will face third seed Justin Kerber of Cornell in the finals.
The semifinals were not as kind to three other Lehigh wrestlers. At 133, junior Matt Fisk fell 9-3 to No. 2 seed Mike Grey of Cornell, but battled back with wins in the consolations to place third and earn his third trip to nationals. Fisk scored a late reversal to force overtime and then converted a takedown in sudden victory to defeat Bucknell’s David Marble 4-2.
Senior Trevor Chinn could not get past Navy’s No. 2 seed Bryce Saddoris at 149. Saddoris scored a first period takedown and added another late to win 5-3. In the consolations, Chinn picked up his third win of the season over Penn’s Cesar Grajales with a 3-2 decision, but had to settle for fourth place after losing 3-2 to American’s Kyle Borshoff.
At 165, the fourth time was not a charm for junior Mike Galante, who lost his fourth match in the last two years to Bucknell’s Andy Rendos, 8-0 in the semifinals. Galante did earn his first NCAA tournament berth however, with a win by fall over Navy’s Matt DeMichiel and a 7-3 decision over Matt Pletcher of Rutgers in the third place match.
The two Mountain Hawks who entered the day alive in the consolations won their opening bouts to earn a spot in the top six. Sophomore Alex Caruso punched his second straight ticket to nationals with a 4-0 win over Mike Whalen of Rutgers. He later added a 3-2 win over Scott Giffin of Penn, but had to settle for fourth place at 174 after losing to Bucknell’s Shane Riccio.
Freshman John McDonald won his third round consolation over American’s Thomas Williams, but had to settle for sixth place after dropping his next two bouts. McDonald held third period leads over both Bucknell’s Derek Reber and Navy’s Prescott Garner but was turned for three-point near falls in the third period of each of his bouts.
In the team race, Cornell is well on its way to its third straight team title with seven finalists and 128 points. Lehigh is second with 99 points, while Bucknell and host Penn are tied for third, 20 points behind the Mountain Hawks.
The 105th EIWA Championships will wrap-up on Sunday night with the finals, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The finals will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 as well as online at Lehighsports.com beginning at 6:15.
Semifinals
|
Weight |
Matchup |
Result |
|
Score/Time |
|
133 |
Mike Grey (Cornell) |
dec. |
Matt Fisk (Lehigh) |
9-3 |
|
141 |
Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Rick Rappo (Penn) |
3-1 |
|
149 |
Bryce Saddoris (Navy) |
dec. |
Trevor Chinn (Lehigh) |
5-3 |
|
165 |
Andy Rendos (Bucknell) |
maj. dec. |
Mike Galante (Lehigh) |
8-0 |
|
184 |
David Craig (Lehigh) |
maj. dec. |
Casey Caldwell (Navy) |
8-0 |
|
285 |
Zach Rey (Lehigh) |
Fall |
Trey McLean (Penn) |
9:32, s.v. 2 |
Third Round Consolations
|
125 |
John McDonald (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Thomas Williams (American) |
7-2 |
|
174 |
Alex Caruso (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Mike Whalen (Rutgers) |
4-0 |
Consolation Semifinals
|
125 |
Derek Reber (Bucknell) |
dec. |
John McDonald (Lehigh) |
3-2 |
|
133 |
Matt Fisk (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Bryan Ortenzio (Penn) |
3-0 |
|
149 |
Trevor Chinn (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Cesar Grajales (Penn) |
3-2 |
|
165 |
Mike Galante (Lehigh) |
Fall |
Matt DeMichiel (Navy) |
2:01 |
|
174 |
Alex Caruso (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Scott Giffin (Penn) |
3-2 |
Third Place Match
|
133 |
Matt Fisk (Lehigh) |
dec. |
David Marble (Bucknell) |
4-2, s.v. |
|
149 |
Kyle Borshoff (American) |
dec. |
Trevor Chinn (Lehigh) |
3-2 |
|
165 |
Mike Galante (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Matt Pletcher (Rutgers) |
7-3 |
|
174 |
Shane Riccio (Bucknell) |
dec. |
Alex Caruso (Lehigh) |
3-2 |
Fifth Place Match
|
125 |
Prescott Garner (Navy) |
dec. |
John McDonald (Lehigh) |
10-6 |
Team Scores entering finals
|
Team |
Points |
|
1. Cornell |
128 |
|
2. Lehigh |
99 |
|
T3. Bucknell |
79 |
|
T3. Penn |
79 |
|
T5. American |
66 |
|
T5. Navy |
66 |
|
7. Army |
50 |
|
8. Harvard |
48.5 |
|
9. Rutgers |
47.5 |
|
10. Columbia |
41 |
|
11. Brown |
34.5 |
|
12. ESU |
15.5 |
|
13. F&M |
8.5 |
|
14. Princeton |
3 |
