Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
EIWA Championships
Rendos Wins Program's First Individual Title at EIWA Championships, Bucknell Wrestling Finishes Fourth in Team Standings
3/7/2010 7:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 7, 2010
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Last year, Andy Rendos became Bucknell's first All-American in nearly a decade and a half. On Sunday, Rendos accomplished something no other Bison wrestler ever has by winning an individual title at the EIWA Championships. The senior helped Bucknell finish fourth overall in the team standings and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships along with teammates David Marble, Kevin LeValley and Shane Riccio, who all had top-three showings in their respective weight classes.
Wrestling at the EIWA Championships with a roster that contained seniors for the first time since the program was reinstated prior to the 2006-07 campaign, Bucknell's upperclassmen carried the squad this weekend. Rendos, Marble and Riccio are seniors, while LeValley is a junior.
One year after finishing in a surprising tie for third, Bucknell fell back just one spot this year as it was behind three-time champion Cornell (160.5 points), Penn (113) and host Lehigh (109.5). The Bison accumulated 103.5 points despite not entering a wrestler in the 125-pound bracket. The fourth-place EIWA showing is the second-best in program history.
A four-time EIWA placewinner who lost in the 165-pound championship match last year, Rendos saved his best for last as he defeated Lehigh's Brandon Hatchett by a 9-2 score in Sunday's championship bout. Rendos was 4-0 over the last two days, outscoring his opponents 33-4. Hatchett was the No. 3 seed in the field, two spots behind Rendos, who solidified his top seed.
Entering this weekend, Bucknell had 18 all-time EIWA placewinners, but none had ever claimed a title. Marble, who finished second at 133 pounds in 2008, and Rendos, who was second last year, possessed the previous best individual showings.
Rendos wrapped up his EIWA career having placed third, fourth, second and now first. He is 13-4 all-time at the EIWA Championships with all four losses coming to just two opponents. Rendos will now head to the NCAAs for the fourth consecutive year as the top six placewinners at 165 pounds earned automatic berths to the NCAA Championships.
Thanks to his 4-0 record this weekend, Rendos is now 28-4 this year and 116-29 in his career. He is just two victories shy of Bobby Ferraro's program wins record. He has also won eight bouts in a row since returning from a knee injury in late January.
LeValley had a chance to make it two Bison individual champions on Sunday, but he dropped a tight 5-3 decision to Army's Matthew Kyler at 149 pounds. Kyler avenged an overtime loss to LeValley during a November dual at West Point. While the loss snapped a 12-match winning streak for LeValley, he is just the third different Bison to post a top-two finish at the EIWA Championships, joining Rendos and Marble.
LeValley's previous best finish at EIWAs was a sixth-place showing last year. He did not place as a freshman in 2008 and is now 8-6 all-time at the event. Of his six losses this year, five have come to ranked opponents, while all six losses have been by a combined 12 points.
Marble placed at the EIWA Championships for the fourth time in his career. The fourth-seeded 133-pounder lost in Saturday's semifinals to eventual champion Mike Grey of Cornell. He came back from that loss with a pair of pins on Sunday. He opened with a second-period pin against fifth-seeded Bryan Ortenzio of Penn, the third straight year he has defeated Ortenzio in the postseason, and then claimed third place with a pin of Brown's Cortlandt Choate. The third-place showing is the second-best of Marble's career. He previously finished sixth, second and fourth, all at 133 pounds. He and Rendos are the only wrestlers in program history to be placewinners four consecutive years.
Riccio became an EIWA placewinner for a third consecutive year by following a similar path to Marble. Riccio lost in the semifinals of the 174-pound bracket Saturday evening, but rebounded with a pair of victories in the consolation bracket Sunday. His first was a first-period pin of Brown's Jack Roberts. In the third-place bout, Riccio posted a 3-1 victory over Lehigh's Robert Hamlin in a matchup of the third (Riccio) and fourth (Hamlin) seeds. The top four spots in the 174-pound bracket ended up going according to seed.
With his two victories Sunday, Riccio improved his season record to 33-9, matching his career high for wins.
The top five placewinners at 133 pounds and the top four at 149 and 174 earned automatic berths to NCAAs. It will be the fourth straight trip for Marble, while Riccio and LeValley will be going for the third consecutive year. Before sending a program-record six wrestlers to NCAAs a year ago, Bucknell had had more than three NCAA qualifiers just three times in program history.
More Bison wrestlers could earn at-large berths to the NCAA Championships. Later this week the NCAA will announce 46 additional at-large qualifiers. Last year, David Thompson earned an at-large berth for Bucknell.
In addition to the four NCAA qualifiers, Bucknell had four other placewinners as the EIWA awarded points down to eighth place this year for the first time. John Regan (7th at 141), Brantley Hooks (6th at 157), Rob Waltko (6th at 184) and Joe McMullan (8th at Hwt.) each finished in the top-eight of their weight classes.
With eight placewinners, Bucknell has now had 26 in its seven years competing at the EIWA Championships. Nineteen of those 26 have come from wrestlers active on this year's roster.
Five of Bucknell's nine EIWA entrants matched or exceeded their seed, including Marble, Hooks, Rendos, Riccio and Waltko.
Bucknell remained as strong in the team standings this year as last despite featuring different wrestlers at six weight classes, including 125 pounds (2009: Derek Reber; 2010: None), 141 pounds (2009: Adam Healey; 2010: John Regan), 157 pounds (2009: Scott Sechler; 2010: Brantley Hooks), 184 pounds (2009: David Thompson; 2010: Rob Waltko), 197 pounds (2009: Nathan Jones; 2010: Jay Hahn) and Heavyweight (2009: None; 2010: Joe McMullan).
This year's NCAA Championships take place March 18-20 in Omaha, Neb. In the meantime, the Bison will wait and see if any additional grapplers qualify through this week's at-large process.
EIWA Championships Final Standings
1. Cornell - 160.5
2. Penn - 113
3. Lehigh - 109.5
4. Bucknell - 103.5
5. American - 96
6. Rutgers - 87
7. Navy - 81.5
8. Army - 65
8. Columbia - 65
10. Brown - 55
11. Harvard - 52.5
12. Princeton - 24
13. Franklin & Marshall - 2
Sunday Results Only
133: No. 17 David Marble (No. 4 seed), Sr., Harpursville, N.Y.
Consolation Semifinals: W, fall #5 Bryan Ortenzio (Penn), 4:53
Consolation Finals: W, fall Cortlandt Choate (Brown), 5:59
Marble Finishes 3rd at 133 Pounds
141: John Regan (No. 6 seed), So., Plum Borough, Pa.
7th-Place Match: W, fall #5 Casey Thome (Army), 4:49
Regan Finishes 7th at 141 Pounds
149: No. 7 Kevin LeValley (No. 1 seed), Jr., Hugo, Colo.
Finals: L, dec. #3 Matthew Kyler (Army), 5-3
LeValley Finishes 2nd at 149 Pounds
157: Brantley Hooks (No. 7 seed), Jr., Spartanburg, S.C.
Consolation Semifinals: L, dec. #4 Daryl Cocozzo (Rutgers), 5-2
5th-Place Match: L, dec. #5 Matt Dragon (Penn), 7-6
Hooks Finishes 6th at 157 Pounds
165: No. 10 Andy Rendos (No. 1 seed), Sr., Brockway, Pa.
Finals: W, dec. #3 Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh), 9-2
Rendos Finishes 1st at 165 Pounds
174: No. 15 Shane Riccio (No. 3 seed), Sr., Warren, N.J.
Consolation Semifinals: W, fall Jack Roberts (Brown), 2:34
Consolation Finals: W, dec. #4 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh), 3-1
Riccio Finishes 3rd at 174 Pounds
184: Rob Waltko (No. 6 seed), Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Consolation Semifinals: L, fall #4 Steve Bosak, 4:01
5th-Place Match: L, dec. #8 Collin Wittmeyer (Army), 7-4
Waltko Finishes 6th at 184 Pounds
Hwt: Joe McMullan (No. 7 seed), Fr., Easton, Pa.
7th-Place Match: L, dec. Orion Ross (Army), 7-5 (sv2)
McMullan Finishes 8th at Hwt.
Bucknell's Automatic NCAA Qualifiers
David Marble, Kevin LeValley, Andy Rendos, Shane Riccio
