Lehighsports.com

EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – Senior Matt Ciasulli captured Lehigh’s 192nd individual EIWA title to lead the Mountain Hawks to a fourth place finish at the 103rd EIWA Championships at East Stroudsburg’s Koehler Field House. Ciasulli scored a first period takedown and went on to defeat Army’s Matt Kyler 2-0 in the finals, leading a contingent of seven Mountain Hawks who earned berths to the NCAA Championships.

Lehigh’s five year run as EIWA team champions came to an end as Cornell scored 125.5 team points, placed six wrestlers in the finals and captured two titles to win its first championship since 1993. Navy placed second with 106 team points, followed by Penn with 99.5 and then the Mountain Hawks in fourth with 82 points.

Four Lehigh grapplers earned fourth place finishes, winning consolation semifinals before losing third place matches. Freshman Seth Ciasulli exceeded his No.  7 seed better than any other Mountain Hawk. Ciasulli held off Bucknell’s David Marble 5-4 in the consolation semis at 133, before falling by the same score to Harvard’s Robbie Preston in the medal round.

Seniors Dave Nakasone (157) and Matt Cassidy (197) and freshman David Craig (184) were all winners in the consolations, but all came up short in placement matches. Nakasone handled Christian Snook of Army 10-6 before losing his rematch with Columbia’s Devin Mesanko 3-1 in sudden victory. Craig edged Columbia’s Justin Barent, but was tilted in the third period against Cornell’s Josh Arnone and settled for fourth. Cassidy also picked up a win over a Columbia wrestler, Nick Sommerfield, but fell to fourth seed Eric Lapotsky of Bucknell in the third place match.

All four fourth place finishers earned automatic NCAA berths.

Both of Lehigh’s other consolation semifinalists also suffered tough losses to Army wrestlers. At 125, Matt Fisk fell behind Army’s Fernando Martinez after a reversal and three-point near fall, battled back to force overtime, but yielded a takedown in sudden victory to lose 9-7. Fisk responded with a convincing 9-0 win over American’s Jasen Borschoff to place fifth. The win earned Lehigh’s only bonus point of the session.

Weibel yielded several takedowns to Army’s Nathan Thobaben in the consolation semifinals, and was trailing 9-1 when he was pinned with four seconds remaining in his bout. In the fifth place match, Weibel trailed Columbia’s Kevin Lester 6-4, but scored on a desperation takedown attempt with time expiring in the third period, before adding the winning score in sudden victory.

Prior to the finals, Fisk and Weibel were given two of seven wild cards to the NCAA Championships following a meeting of the league’s head coaches. Lehigh qualified at least seven wrestlers for the NCAA Championships for the fifth straight season.

In other awards handed out after the finals, Fisk earned the Sheridan Trophy for the most falls in the quickest time in the championship bracket, with two in a total of 5:50. American won the team sportsmanship award, while Penn senior Matt Valenti won the Fletcher Trophy for most career team points scored. Valenti’s classmate Matt Eveleth was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler after upsetting top seed Troy Nickerson of Cornell 5-3 in the finals.

The seven Lehigh NCAA Qualifiers will next head to the NCAA Championships, March 15-17 at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan.

Championship Finals

Consolation Semifinals

Third Place Matches

Fifth Place Matches

Final Team Scores