Posted: 03/06/2013
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh joins the other 13 EIWA member institutions in Piscataway, N.J. for the 109th EIWA Championships, hosted by Rutgers. The EIWA is the nation’s oldest wrestling conference, with Lehigh being the historically dominant team, having won 200 individual titles and 34 team championships. Lehigh has finished second in three of the last four tournaments, falling just 2.5 points short of Cornell last year. The Mountain Hawks will be looking to win their first team title since 2006, while trying to deny the Big Red a seventh straight team title. Also at stake are 45 automatic berths to the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.
Four Mountain Hawks are ranked in the latest Amateur Wrestling News rankings, led by two-time defending EIWA Champion and All-American Robert Hamlin and junior Joey Napoli who are ranked third at 184 and 157 respectively. Sophomore Nathaniel Brown jumped into the top 20 with his runner-up showing at the Midlands Championships. Senior Shane Welsh vaulted into the rankings with back-to-back wins over top ten wrestlers back in January. All four Mountain Hawks are also ranked my InterMat and W.I.N. Magazine. The NCAA Announced its third Coaches’ Panel Rankings last week, with freshman Randy Cruz and sophomore Anthony Salupo joining the quartet in the top 33 at 133 and 141 respectively.
With wins Feb. 15-16 in western Pennsylvania, Hamlin became the 13th Lehigh wrestler to win 100 career matches. His 100th victory was a second period pin of Clarion’s Steve Cressley, which was just the sixth fall of his storied career. The first NCAA wrestling All-American from the state of Vermont, Hamlin owns an 83-8 mark since the start of the 2010-11 season. He has won back-to-back EIWA titles at 184 and has earned All-America honors in each of the last two seasons, finishing second in 2011 and fourth last year. Hamlin enters the EIWA Championships tied with Pete Yozzo ‘87 and Lehigh assistant coach Brad Dillon ‘04 for 11th place on the school’s career wins list. He will bid to become Lehigh’s 14th three-time EIWA Champion and its first since Cory Cooperman in 2006.
For the second straight season, Welsh has parlayed a strong showing at the Midlands Championships into success in the second half of the dual season. Last year, Welsh placed eighth at the Midlands and went on to capture the EIWA title at 149, capping a 22-7 season. This season Welsh finished seventh at the Midlands, and since his seventh-place match, Welsh has reeled off 12 consecutive wins, including victories over ninth-ranked Nick Lester of Oklahoma and seventh-ranked Scott Sakaguchi of Oregon State back in January.
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 40 at-large berths which will be announced on Wednesday, March 13.
This year the nation’s oldest college wrestling conference holds its 108th 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 13 EIWA tournaments. Lehigh had three champions (Welsh, Hamlin and Brandon Hatchett) and one runner-up (Zach Rey) in 2012. Hamlin’s title was the 200th individual title for a Lehigh wrestler, tops among EIWA member schools. Lehigh qualified nine wrestlers for the NCAA Championships last year, and has qualified at least five wrestlers in each of the last 13 EIWA tournaments.
Tournament seeds and brackets will be announced Thursday evening.
The 109th EIWA Championships get underway Friday at 11 a.m. from the RAC in Piscataway, N.J. Session two, featuring the semifinals will begin Friday at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, session three, with the consolation semifinals and seventh place matches will begin at 10 a.m., while Saturday’s finals session featuring matches for first, third and fifth place will begin at 3 p.m. Live audio of Lehigh’s matches from Saturday’s finals session will be streamed online at Lehighsports.com.
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Event:
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109th EIWA Championships
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Dates:
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March 8-9, 2013
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March 8 Schedule:
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Session 1: Prelims, quarters, consolations: 11 a.m.
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Session 2: Semifinals: 5:30 p.m.
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March 9 Schedule:
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Session 3: Consolation Semifinals, 7th place matches: 10: a.m.
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Session 4: Finals (1st, 3rd and 5th place): 3 p.m.
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Location:
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Piscataway, N.J.
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Arena:
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Rutgers Athletic Center (8,000)
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Lehigh’s dual record:
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10-7, 4-4 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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None
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Internet Broadcast:
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Rutgers will offer video of the tournament up to the Finals through FloWrestling. Video of the finals will be streamed through RVision. Lehigh’s audio broadcast of the finals will be streamed live at Lehighsports.com.
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