Mountain Hawks head to Bucknell for 107th EIWA Championships
3/1/2011 8:13:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The 13 EIWA member institutions converge on Lewisburg, Pennsylvania for the 107th EIWA Championships, hosted by Bucknell at Sojka Pavilion. The EIWA is the nation's oldest wrestling conference, with Lehigh being the historically dominant team, having won 196 individual titles and 34 team championships. Lehigh finished third at last year's tournament and will look to win its first team title since 2006, but the Mountain Hawks will have to deal with the four-time defending league champion Cornell Big Red, plus a slew of other tough contenders. Also at stake are 45 automatic berths to the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia.
Eight Mountain Hawks are ranked in the latest Amateur Wrestling News rankings, led by All-American heavyweight Zach Rey, who is ranked No. 1. Rey is the first Lehigh wrestler to be ranked No. 1 since Troy Letters in December 2005. Stephen Dutton and Joey Napoli moved into the top 20 with strong finishes to the regular season. On February 22, the NCAA released its final set of coaches' panel rankings, with the same eight Lehigh wrestlers represented in the top 33 in their respective weight classes.
Nine wrestlers are ranked in the top six in the final EIWA regular season rankings. Seven of the nine are ranked in the top two of their respective weight classes with Dutton, Rey and sophomore Robert Hamlin ranked No. 1 at their weights.
Rey completed a 26-0 regular season as the nation's No. 1 ranked heavyweight. Rey captured an EIWA title last season and finished third at the NCAA Championships to earn Lehigh's 128th All-American medal and the Mountain Hawks' first since 2006. Half of Rey's 
26 wins this season have come against opponents currently ranked in the top 20, including wins over six current top ten grapplers. He finished with a 33-4 record last season and owns an 82-10 mark for his career. Rey completed Lehigh's first undefeated regular season since Troy Letters in 2005 and has finished second and first in two previous trips to the EIWA Championships.
26 wins this season have come against opponents currently ranked in the top 20, including wins over six current top ten grapplers. He finished with a 33-4 record last season and owns an 82-10 mark for his career. Rey completed Lehigh's first undefeated regular season since Troy Letters in 2005 and has finished second and first in two previous trips to the EIWA Championships.True freshmen Frank Cagnina and Stephen Dutton have combined to go 33-14 this season with 18 bonus wins. Cagnina is coming off an upset win over Penn's Rollie Peterkin, while Dutton is the likely No. 1 seed at 141 after defeating three ranked EIWA opponents in the last month. Cagnina and Dutton are the ninth and tenth true freshmen to start for Lehigh since the start of the 2005-06 season. They will look to join Matt Fisk (2006) and David Craig (2007) as recent true freshman NCAA qualifiers for the Mountain Hawks.
The EIWA received 45 automatic bids to the NCAA Championships when the NCAA announced its qualifier allocations last week. Each qualifying tournament was awarded spots per weight class based on current year data including Division I winning percentage, RPI and a coaches ranking. Under this system, the number of automatic qualifiers varies in each weight class within the EIWA. Wrestlers who fail to qualify this weekend will be eligible for one of 48 at-large berths which will be announced on Wednesday, March 9.
This year the nation's oldest college wrestling conference holds its 107th championships. Lehigh has historically dominated the EIWA's, having won 34 team titles including five straight from 2002-2006. The Mountain Hawks have won at least one individual title in each of the last 11 EIWA tournaments. Lehigh had one champ (Rey) and two runners-up (Matt Fisk, Brandon Hatchett) in 2010. Lehigh qualified seven wrestlers for the NCAA Championships last year, and has qualified at least five wrestlers in each of the last 11 EIWA tournaments.
Tournament seeds and brackets will be announced Friday evening.
The 107th EIWA Championships get underway Saturday at 10 a.m. from Bucknell's Sojka Pavilion. The tournament will proceed through the completion of the semifinals Saturday evening. Sunday's two sessions feature consolations and placement matches beginning at 10 a.m. and the championship finals at 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon's final session will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 as well as Lehighsports.com.
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Event:
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107th EIWA Championships
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Dates:
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March 5-6, 2011
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March 6 Schedule:
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Session 1: Prelims, quarters, consolations: 10 a.m.
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Session 2: Semifinals: 3:30 p.m.
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March 7 Schedule:
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Session 3: Consolation Semifinals, Place finals: 10: a.m.
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Session 4: Finals: 3 p.m.
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Location:
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Lewisburg, Pa.
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Arena:
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Sojka Pavilion (4,000)
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Lehigh's dual record:
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15-6, 7-1 EIWA
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History:
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Lehigh has won 34 team championships, most of any EIWA school
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TV:
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None
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Radio:
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Live coverage of the finals on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 with Steve Lomangino
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Internet Broadcast:
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Bucknell will stream video of the entire tournament through BisonVision. Video will be free for first three sessions. Lehigh's audio broadcast of the finals will be streamed live at Lehighsports.com.
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