Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Wrestler Eric Lapotsky Tabbed Damon's Bison Athlete of the Week
3/5/2007 7:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 5, 2007
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell freshman wrestler Eric Lapotsky (Mount Carmel, Pa./Mount Carmel Area) was named the Damon's Bison Athlete of the Week on Monday after earning an automatic bid into the NCAA Wrestling Championships with a third-place finish at the EIWA Tournament this past weekend. The award is the second this season for Lapotsky and marks the fourth time a member of the wrestling squad has been honored in 2006-07.
Lapotsky, who entered the EIWA Championships as the No. 4 seed at 197 pounds, defeated No. 5 Nick Sommerfield of Columbia 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the championship bracket to open the weekend's competition. In the semifinals, he suffered his only loss of the tournament, a 15-4 major decision to No. 1-seeded All-American Jerry Rinaldi from Cornell.
In the consolation bracket, Lapotsky notched an 8-3 victory over No. 7 Matthew Parsons of Navy in the semifinal and recorded a 11-6 decision over 2006 EIWA Champion Matt Cassidy of Lehigh in the consolation final to secure third place in the tournament and earn an automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Championships as one of the top-four placewinners in his weight class.
Lapotsky, along with teammate Andy Rendos (Brockway, Pa./Brockway Area), broke the Bucknell record for dual-meet wins in a season during the 2006-07 campaign and finished with a duals record of 19-2 (6-1 EIWA), while leading the squad with 12 pins on the year. He holds a 25-4 record overall and had won 19 straight bouts before his setback against Rinaldi.
Joining Lapotsky at the NCAA Championships will be Rendos, who was an automatic qualifier at 165 with a third-place showing at the EIWA Championships, and David Marble (Harpursville, N.Y./Harpursville Central) who placed sixth in the 133-pound bracket and secured one of the conference's wild card NCAA bids.
For the first time in program history, three freshmen have qualified for the NCAA Championships in the same year. The trio of grapplers will travel to Auburn Hills, Mich., for the three-day tournament, Thursday through Saturday, March 15-17, and will be looking to add to Bucknell's list of four All-Americans.
