EIWA (Wrestling Regionals)

[mountainred]

The Big Red will shoot for a Ninth straight EIWA title this Friday/Saturday but will have to do it in the belly of the beast (or at Lehigh if you want to be specific).  Ugarte, please feel to correct my mistakes, but here is where the team stands.

125 -- Nahshon Garrett remains one of the nation's best.  He'll be the top seed and a heavy favorite.  
133 -- It's been a rough season for Mark Grey.  He started at 141, but was asked to cut back to 133.  He'll be seeded 3rd or 4th and only the top 3 finishers at EIWA are guaranteed a spot at the NCAA, so his potential semi-final against Lehigh's Beckman or Drexel's DeVoy will be huge. (Grey could get a wild card slot, but who wants to wait for that?)
141 -- It looks like Dylan Realbuto has emerged as our guy at this weight.  He looked solid at Iowa and the EIWA will send 5 at this weight.  The problem is that Dylan will almost certainly be unseeded, so he could have a very tough path.  He'll be fun to watch though.
149 -- This is Chris Villalonga's last ride. CV is the defending champ, but lost to Penn's Cobb in sudden victory this season so the top seed is uncertain.  IMHO Chis is the best 149 pound wrestler in the league, but he'll have to prove it.
157 -- Brian Realbuto is fully back from his injury and seems to get better each week.  He'll be the top seed and a big favorite as he's 2-0 against the likely #2 seed (Lehigh's Minotti). Bear in mind Columbia's Scheidel upset him last year in the EIWA quarter-finals.
165 -- Dylan Palacio is also getting better with each week.  I wouldn't be surprised to see him get the top seed, which could set up a semi-final against former teammate Marshall Peppleman (now doing a graduate year at Lehigh).  Dylan has three wins against Pep this year and you know the old saying "that it is hard to beat a good wrestler four times in a season."  {not actually a saying.}
174 -- Duke Pickett remains off the radar, but has put together a very solid season.  He's 3-1 on the mat against the top challengers at this weight, but is coming off a 2-1 loss to Lehigh's Martinez.  The NCAA had no love for the EIWA at this weight, as only the finalists will be guaranteed NCAA bids. The top seed would help clear his path.  
184 -- A loaded weight at the EIWA.  But Gabe Dean is the best of the bunch.  His bad day in Vegas seems a lifetime ago.
197 -- The EIWA's top four at this weight are all ranked between 8 and 13.  On any given day Jace Bennett could beat all of them.  Or lose to all of them.  Jace is the defending champ.
285 -- The EIWA gets 5 heavyweight bids.  I'd love to see JAP get one of them, but it's not likely considering the season he's had.

The margin between Cornell and Lehigh is such that the Big Red will be favored for the team title, but could lose it on a bad day -- especially in Bethleham.  I'd love to qualify ten for the NCAA, of course, but six seem highly likely with two more (Grey and Duke) being very doable.  The last two (li'l Realbuto and JAP) will be tough.

[ugarte]

Thanks, mountainred.


Grey and Pickett are both good candidates for an at-large bid for NCAAs unless they wash out very early. Our other 6 expected qualifiers would almost certainly get at-large bids, regardess of their EIWA performance. 141 and Heavyweight are the only real questions. I'd love to see li'l Buto join his brother.

We really are capable of 7 champs and have an outside shot at 10 qualifiers. But I'd like to see 5 champs and 8 qualifiers.

[mountainred]

Grey and Pickett are both good candidates for an at-large bid for NCAAs unless they wash out very early. Our other 6 expected qualifiers would almost certainly get at-large bids, regardless of their EIWA performance. 141 and Heavyweight are the only real questions. I'd love to see li'l Buto join his brother.

We really are capable of 7 champs and have an outside shot at 10 qualifiers. But I'd like to see 5 champs and 8 qualifiers.

Duke is #11 on the most recent NCAA ranking, so he's probably in no matter what and doesn't need the automatic slot.  Love to see him get one though.  

Because of Grey's mid-year switch from 141 to 133, he's not listed on the NCAA rankings.  In the overused "bubble" parlance of early March, he's probably right on the bubble thanks to last year's performance and his other national rankings.  I would sleep better -- as would Mark -- if he claimed one of the automatic slots.

[ugarte]

Because of Grey's mid-year switch from 141 to 133, he's not listed on the NCAA rankings.  In the overused "bubble" parlance of early March, he's probably right on the bubble thanks to last year's performance and his other national rankings.  I would sleep better -- as would Mark -- if he claimed one of the automatic slots.

Agreed on all counts.

[RichH]

Grey and Pickett are both good candidates for an at-large bid for NCAAs unless they wash out very early. Our other 6 expected qualifiers would almost certainly get at-large bids, regardless of their EIWA performance. 141 and Heavyweight are the only real questions. I'd love to see li'l Buto join his brother.

We really are capable of 7 champs and have an outside shot at 10 qualifiers. But I'd like to see 5 champs and 8 qualifiers.

Duke is #11 on the most recent NCAA ranking, so he's probably in no matter what and doesn't need the automatic slot.  Love to see him get one though.  

Because of Grey's mid-year switch from 141 to 133, he's not listed on the NCAA rankings.  In the overused "bubble" parlance of early March, he's probably right on the bubble thanks to last year's performance and his other national rankings.  I would sleep better -- as would Mark -- if he claimed one of the automatic slots.

Do prior season performances come into play? I assume wrestling employs more "smokey back room" hand-waving than hockey currently does.

[mountainred]

Grey and Pickett are both good candidates for an at-large bid for NCAAs unless they wash out very early. Our other 6 expected qualifiers would almost certainly get at-large bids, regardless of their EIWA performance. 141 and Heavyweight are the only real questions. I'd love to see li'l Buto join his brother.

We really are capable of 7 champs and have an outside shot at 10 qualifiers. But I'd like to see 5 champs and 8 qualifiers.

Duke is #11 on the most recent NCAA ranking, so he's probably in no matter what and doesn't need the automatic slot.  Love to see him get one though.  

Because of Grey's mid-year switch from 141 to 133, he's not listed on the NCAA rankings.  In the overused "bubble" parlance of early March, he's probably right on the bubble thanks to last year's performance and his other national rankings.  I would sleep better -- as would Mark -- if he claimed one of the automatic slots.

Do prior season performances come into play? I assume wrestling employs more "smokey back room" hand-waving than hockey currently does.

Doesn't everything involve more "smokey back room" than hockey?  Which is to the credit of hockey.

From the official NCAA release:  "The at-large selections will be made based on the following criteria: head-to-head competition, qualifying event placement, quality wins, results against common opponents, winning percentage, RPI, coaches ranking and the number of matches contested at that weight class."  http://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2015-02-26/ncaa-announces-qualifier-allocations-2015-di-wrestling.

Grey isn't listed on the NCAA's RPI rankings, but the coaches ranking has him 27th.  While making the round of 12 the year before isn't an official criteria, it certainly has to factor into the coaches ranking.

[ugarte]

EIWA Championships start today at 10. You can follow the live match results at http://arena.flowrestling.org/event/60-eiwa-championship and if you get a flowrestling subscription, can watch the tournament itself.

Cornell seeds:
125: Nahshon Garrett - 1
131: Mark Grey - 4
141: Dylan Realbuto - unseeded
149: Chris Villalonga - 1
157: Brian Realbuto - 1
165: Dylan Palacio - 2
174: Duke Pickett - 1
184: Gabe Dean - 1
197: Jace Bennett - 2
Hwt: Jacob Aiken-Phillips - 7

Grey, li'l Buto and JAP have to outperform their seeds to qualify for NCAAs. The rest have some room for error, either to slip in the tournament or with an at-large bid due to their overall ranking. Still, Cornell dominated the tournament last year, running away with the team title by the largest margin in decades, and that's always fun.

Let's Go Red!

[ugarte]

First round:

125: Garrett WBF 1:26
133: Grey WBF 2:15
141: D. Realbuto LMD 5-13
147: Villalonga W 8-2
157: B. Realbuto W 6-3
165: Palacio WBF 0:43
174: Pickett WMD 17-9
184: Dean WBF 1:21
197: Bennett WBF 3:56
Hwt: Aiken-Phillips W 8-3

Fantastic morning session for the Big Red. Could hardly have gone better, since Dylan Realbuto was wrestling the 2 seed. We were the favorite in all of the other matches, so we didn't score any upsets, but 5 falls and a MD is a lot of bonus points.

QF and wrestlebacks start at 12:30.

[ugarte]

Second round already underway.

QF
125: [1] Garrett WTF 15-0 (5:07) (possibly 16-0 if they add in RT)
133: [4] Grey W 4-3 (will face the 1 seed in the semifinals)
147: [1] Villalonga W 3-1
157: [1] B. Realbuto WMD 12-2
165: [2] Palacio  WBF 6:42
174: [1] Pickett W 5-4
184: [1] Dean WMD 20-7
197: [2] Bennett WMD 8-0
Hwt: [7] Aiken-Phillips LMD 2-12 (expected loss to the 2 seed; still can qualify by finishing 5th or better)

Consy:
141: [UN] D. Realbuto W 8-2

Consy 2:
141: [UN] D. Realbuto WMFF(tough break for Harvard as the #1 seed hurts his arm in the QF and has to default out; their loss is our gain)
Hwt: [7] Aiken-Phillips WMD 10-0

[ithacat]

ugarte,

Dylan Palacio gets the fall at 6:42 over Gobbo of Harvard
Duke Pickett with a 5-4 decision over Richard McDonald of Brown

PS, thanks for the updates...

[ugarte]

ugarte,

Dylan Palacio gets the fall at 6:42 over Gobbo of Harvard
Duke Pickett with a 5-4 decision over Richard McDonald of Brown

PS, thanks for the updates...

I had to get lunch!

[ithacat]

ugarte,

Dylan Palacio gets the fall at 6:42 over Gobbo of Harvard
Duke Pickett with a 5-4 decision over Richard McDonald of Brown

PS, thanks for the updates...

I had to get lunch!

You've earned it...

[ugarte]

After day 1, Cornell has all 10 guys alive for day 2, as does Lehigh. Cornell has 8 in the championship draw, Lehigh has 7.

Don't know if the team standings are updated but Flo says:

Cornell 93
Lehigh 88
Columbia 55
Penn 54
Bucknell 52

Because of the conference depth at 157 and 197, Realbuto and Bennett have already qualified for the NCAAs, since neither can finish worse than 6th.

Other AQ placements: 125(3); 133(3); 141(5); 149(3); 165(4); 174 (2); 184(5); Hwt(5).

This is trickiest at 133, since Grey is clearly good enough for at at-large bid on the mat, but spent much of the year at 141 so he may not be eligible for an at-large bid. This is also true of Realbuto at 141, but Dylan is a freshman who didn't earn a spot in the starting lineup until very late in the year.

Aiken-Phillips is in a good position to earn his spot. His morning match is against a guy he can beat (Koll seemed to think he should have won their first match) and his next opponent would likely be a wrestler he beat earlier this year (fairly easily IMO).

Let's Go Red.

-------------

Saturday's matches, starting at 10AM:

Semi:
125: [1] Garrett v. [4] Parker (Lehigh) - Garrett won 9-5 earlier this year
133: [4] Grey v. [1] Beckman (Lehigh) - Beckman won 6-2 earlier this year
149: [1] Villalonga v. [4] Climato (Drexel) - Villalonga won by MD 14-0
157: [1] Realbuto v. [4] Parsons (Army) - Haven't wrestled
165: [2] Palacio v. [3] Gracey (Army) - Gracey won by MD 13-5 earlier this year
174: [1] Pickett v. [4] Bernstein (Navy) - haven't wrestled
184: [1] Dean v. [4] Thomas (Penn) - Dean won 3-1 SV earlier this year and went 3-0 last year
197: [2] Bennett v. [3] Riddick (Lehigh) - Bennett has won twice, 2-1 and 4-1

Consy 3:
141: [UN] Realbuto v. [5] Smith (Bucknell) - haven't wrestled
Hwt: [7] Aiken-Phillips v. [6] Hughes (Hofstra) Hughes won 3-2 earlier this year

[mountainred]

Great summary ugarte.  I've been too busy watching and ignoring work. (And if you missed Palacio's win over Gobbo because of lunch, I'm really sorry.  It was insane and represented everything we love and hate about watching him wrestle.)

Other than Brian Relabuto's first win being a little too close for comfort, that was just about as good a first day as could be hoped.

[ugarte]

Day 2:

125: Garrett wins 12-5 and is on to the finals. Automatic qualifier for the NCAAs.
133: Grey loses 2-1. Gives up an escape and a RT point, never gets an escape of his own. Up next, [7] Gonzalez (Bucknell) who advanced on MFF over [3].
141: D. Realbuto loses 2-0. Gives up a quick escape and then a third period rideout. Dylan is done. He'll be back next year.
149: Villalonga with a 3-1 OT win. Whew. Automatic qualifier for NCAAs. He keeps it close against people he should whip. Very frustrating.