[Wrestling] EIWA Championships

[ugarte]

Cornell is in progress at the first day of the EIWA conference tournament. Things are going well so far.

125 - #1 seed Perrelli is in the finals
133 - #1 seed Grey is in the finals
141 - #6 seed Manson is alive in the consolation bracket after a loss in the quarters
149 - #1 seed Dake is in the finals
157 - #5 seed Meagher is alive in the consolation bracket after a loss in the quarters
165 - #1 seed Kerber is alive in the consolation bracket after a loss in the semis.
174 - #1 seed Lewnes is in the finals
184 - #2 seed Bosak is in the finals
197 - #1 seed Simaz is in the finals
285 - #7 seed Lane is alive in the consolation bracket after a loss in the quarters

[ugarte]

All of our wrestlers are at least in the consolation semis; I believe a win would get any of those four into the NCAA tournament but a loss wouldn't necessarily eliminate them. The six wrestlers in their respective finals have already qualified.

In the team standings, Cornell is running away with the tournament:

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   Team      Score Ch/Co
1. Cornell   146   6/4
2. Lehigh    104   3/6
3. American  84    3/4
4. Rutgers   83    1/4
5. Penn      80.5  2/6
6. Navy      69.5  2/7
7. Columbia  53    1/5
8. Army      52.5  1/4
9. Bucknell  49.5  1/4
10 Princeton 40.5  0/5
11. Harvard  35.5  0/5
12. F&M      18    0/2
13. Brown     6    0/0

[gjk22]

Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Allocations for NCAAs   
125- 5, Perrelli is IN
133 - 3, Grey is IN
141 - 5, Manson needs to win 1 of his next 2 matches
149 - 5, Dake is IN
157 - 5, Meagher needs to win one of his next 2
165 - 4, Kerber needs to win the next one (though would likely get an at-large if he lost)
174 - 5, Lewnes is IN
184 - 4, Bozak is IN
197 - 5, Simaz is IN
285 - 4, Lane needs to win his next one.


So in terms of getting guys to NCAAs-
- 6 finalists all qualified.
- Kerber and Meagher are good bets, both ranked nationally and likely to get to the auto spots. If not, they'd be good bets for at-large bids.
- Lane and Manson are most uncertain.

The early match between Lane and Lester from Columbia is big. Last time they met, Lester won a controversial 5-4 decision. Its essentially and win and in, lose and out for our HVWT. I like Manson's chances, though he is wrestling higher ranked wrestlers at this point.

[gjk22]

Bad news for the Big Red - Kerber just forfeited because of injury. This could derail the national title, depending on the severity. Kerber is ranked #5 nationally at 165, a clear All-American contender.

Meagher won and will wrestle for 3rd place.
Manson lost and will wrestle for 5th place.
Kerber lost by injury, and will wrestle for 5th.
Lane lost and will wrestle for 5th.

So both Lane and Kerber will need at-large bids to make the tournament. Manson needs to win the next one.

Bad, bad 30 minutes for the big red.

[ugarte]

Bad news for the Big Red - Kerber just forfeited because of injury. This could derail the national title, depending on the severity. Kerber is ranked #5 nationally at 165, a clear All-American contender.

Hopefully the injury is minor and he was held out as a precaution given that he is essentially guaranteed an at-large given his ranking.

[gjk22]

Bad news for the Big Red - Kerber just forfeited because of injury. This could derail the national title, depending on the severity. Kerber is ranked #5 nationally at 165, a clear All-American contender.

Hopefully the injury is minor and he was held out as a precaution given that he is essentially guaranteed an at-large given his ranking.

I agree with you. Even with the injury, he'll get the auto-bid, so if it is minor, we could be OK.

Manson just won a big match for 5th and the last auto bid at his weight. Therefore it looks like we'll have 9 going to NCAAs. If Lane wins for 5th place, he could possibly get an at-large to make it 10.

[ugarte]

Manson just won a big match for 5th and the last auto bid at his weight. Therefore it looks like we'll have 9 going to NCAAs. If Lane wins for 5th place, he could possibly get an at-large to make it 10.

Lane got the win - and kudos for that - but is a huge stretch for an at-large. It would be nice, though. If he could pick up a single win at NCAAs, top or bottom bracket, that would be a bonus.

Meagher lost his match for 3d - to the same wrestler who knocked him into the consolation bracket.

All that is left are our six finalists' matches (plus four finals that I don't care about):

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125 #1 Perrelli v #1 Rappo (Penn)     Perrelli is 2-0 against Rappo for his career.
133 #1 Grey v #2 Cagnina (Lehigh)     Grey was out with an injury for the Lehigh dual; never faced each other.
149 #1 Dake v #2 LeValley (Bucknell)  Never faced each other.
174 #1 Lewnes v #2 Demichiel (Navy)   Never faced each other.
184 #2 Bosak v #1 Hamlin (Lehigh)     Earlier this year, Hamlin won 5-4.
194 #1 Simaz v #2 Burak (Penn)        Simaz is 6-0 against Burak for his career with 1 MD.

141: Manson takes 5th Place
157: Meagher takes 4th Place
165: Kerber takes 5th Place
Hwt: Lane takes 5th Place

Heading into the finals, the standings are:

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1. Cornell 154.5 (6)
2. Lehigh  115   (3)
3. Rutgers 112.5 (1)
4. Penn     98   (2)
5. American 94   (3)

Cornell has locked up the team title. Lehigh has unofficially locked up second since their Hwt. is the prohibitive favorite to win the title.

[ugarte]

It has been reported that Cagnina is going to MF the 133 final, so congrats to Mike Grey for his EIWA championship. He heads into the NCAAs undefeated after spending the majority of the season recovering from an injury.

[ugarte]

Frank Perrelli gets a late takedown against Rappo to take the lead, adds a point for RT and wins 6-4 for his first EIWA championship.

[ugarte]

Oof. Kyle Dake loses 4-2 in SV2. The radio call made it seem like he may have been robbed of an escape in the first rideout and it was a questionable takedown but... you need some offense if you are going to win.

[ithacat]

This team has been so good recently that this feels a bit disappointing. Same number of auto-bids coming out of the EIWAs as last year and one less champion. Is perfection really asking too much?

[ugarte]

This team has been so good recently that this feels a bit disappointing. Same number of auto-bids coming out of the EIWAs as last year and one less champion. Is perfection really asking too much?

I was going to say the same thing.

After Dake lost, Lewnes dominated his final, picking up a MD and the title. Bosak wrestled a great match against Hamlin and once again lost by a point. Simaz and Burak didn't do much of anything but Simaz escaped to start the third period and won 1-0.

So, this is what "disappointing" looks like for the 2011 team:

4 individual champions (Perrelli, Grey, Lewnes and Simaz)
2 second place finishes (Dake and Bosak)
1 fourth place (Meagher)
3 fifth place (Kerber, Manson and Lane)
8 automatic qualifiers plus 1 likely at-large bid
And a dominating blowout of a team victory for the conference championship.

I'll take that disappointment every year, thanks.

I hope Kerber is at 100% for NCAA's. We're going to need him.

[gjk22]

http://intermatwrestle.com/Files/pdf/10-11/ncaadivisionichampionships.pdf

Brackets are out. Boise State has the most qualifiers with 10, Iowa has the most seeded wrestlers with 9, and Cornell and Penn State have the most top 4 seeded wrestlers with 4 each. I think one of these 4 teams will win.

Cornell Seeds
#1 - Simaz 197
#3 - Lewnes 174
#3 - Bozak 184
#4 - Dake 149

I would group these guys as could win, and potential finalists. All of these guys will go in expecting to win.

#8 - Mike Grey 133
#9 - Justin Kerber 165
#11 - Perrelli 125

I would group these guys as hopeful all-Americans with upside. Grey and Kerber could actually place much higher than seed, or much lower. If two of these three guys make All American, we are in great shape.

Unseeded - Manson 141
Unseeded - Meagher 157

These are guys where any points are great. Manson has a big pigtail against a BSU guy, and Meagher has to wrestle the number one seed in his first match.

[Trotsky]

What qualifies a wrestler as All-American?  Semifinals?

Edit: it appears to be top 8 in the NCAA tournament.

[ugarte]

What qualifies a wrestler as All-American?  Semifinals?

Edit: it appears to be top 8 in the NCAA tournament.

So it is.

Cornell got a ton of worst-case scenarios. Everyone is going to have to be at the top of their game for Cornell to win the team title.

I was hoping that Meagher would be seed-protected at 157. He wasn't, despite a winning record against the #11 seed, and will face the #1 wrestler in the first round. I was hoping that Grey would be #5 or 6; he got #8 (which isn't unfair but is disappointing) and is expected to face* the #1 wrestler in the QF. Perrelli's performance at EIWAs and Kerber's late season struggles both got pushed to low seeds and Dake's loss in the conference final pushed him down to #4, where he is on track to face* the defending national champion in the semis instead of the finals.

Ugh. Win in on the mat, guys, because the seeding committee didn't do you any favors.



* This isn't woofing, it is describing chalk.