Cornell powers through the first day of the EIWA championship as 8 of 10 Big Red wrestlers stormed through the quarterfinal round. Like in 2009, five Big Red wrestlers defeated their semifinal opponents for a finals birth and an opportunity to challenge for the Gold: Troy Nickerson at 125, Mike Grey at 133, Kyle Dake at 141, Mack Lewnes at 174, and Cam Simaz at 197. Lehigh finishes the day with three finalists and trails Cornell in team standings.

The Big Red out distances its nearest team opponent, Lehigh, by the score of 124 to 92.5. Bucknell, American, Harvard, and Penn send three wrestlers each into the finals, schedule to start today at 3pm on the campus of Lehigh University at the Stabler arena.

With a team victory this afternoon, Cornell will be the third team since the post World War II era to win four straight titles; it would tie them with Penn, who won four straight from 1996-99, for the second most and puts them within reach to challenge Lehigh for five (2002-06).

Yet the all-time record belongs to the Big Red of 1912-17 with six.  With Cornell’s current recruiting class and many strong returning veterans, it may be a while before this streak ends. However, don’t expect their conference rivals to lie down. Success only makes them more determined to dethrone them and consequently making the conference stronger in 2011.

Team Scores

1. Cornell – 124
2. Lehigh – 92.5
2. Pennsylvania – 92.5
4. Bucknell – 81.5
5. American – 75
6. Navy – 73.5
7. Rutgers – 72
8. Columbia – 58.5
9. Army – 54.5
10. Brown – 43.5
11. Harvard – 42.5
12. Princeton – 23
13. Franklin & Marshall – 2

Final Match-ups

125 – Troy Nickerson (Cor) vs Garrett Frey (Pr)
133 – Mike Grey (Cor) vs Matthew Fisk (Le)
141 – Kyle Dake (Cor) vs Jordan Lipp(Am)
149 – Kevin LeValley(Buc) vs Matthew Kyler(Arm)
157 – JP O’Connor (Har) vs BryC Saddoris (Navy)
165 – Andrew Rendos (Buc) vs Brandon Hatchett (Le)
174 – Mack Lewnes (Cor) vs Scott Griffin (Penn)
189 – Michael Cannon (Amr) vs Louis Caputo (Har)
197 – Cam Simaz (Cor) vs Micah Burak (Penn)
285 – Zachery Rey (Le) vs Dominick Russo(Rut)

Number of Finalists by Team

Cornell – 5
Lehigh – 3
American – 2
Bucknell – 2
Harvard – 2
Penn – 2
Princeton – 1
Army – 1
Navy – 1
Rutgers – 1

Related posts:

1. Mat Side With Rob Koll – 2010 EIWA Recap
2. Eight Cornell Wrestlers Earn Ivy First Team Honors
3. Mat Side with Rob Koll – Weekend Review 10-08
4. Mat Side with Rob Koll – Weekend Observations 10-07
5. 2010 NCAA DI Tournament Predictions and Team Rank