Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
EIWA Championships
Bucknell Wrestling in 10th Place at EIWA Championships, Five Bison Alive in Consolation Brackets
3/8/2013 7:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 8, 2013
PISCATAWAY, N.J. –Freshman Paul Petrov advanced to the semifinals of the 133-pound bracket and was one of five Bison to advance to the second day of the EIWA Championships for the Bucknell wrestling team Friday at the Rutgers Athletic Center. The Bison are in 10th place in the team standings after day one, but only six teams have more wrestlers still alive in the tournament.
Corey Lear (165), Robert Marchese (184), Tyler Lyster (197) and Joe Stolfi (285) joined Petrov in winning at least one bout Friday and they will each wrestle for placing on Saturday. Lear and Stolfi, who along with Petrov are in the consolation semifinals of their brackets, still have a chance to earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships depending on how high they finish.
The sixth-seeded Petrov was the lone Bison to advance to the semifinals as he pinned Franklin & Marshall's Robert Ruiz and then posted a tight 5-4 upset victory over third-seeded Bricker Dixon of Cornell, avenging a two-point loss during the regular season. Petrov was then pinned in the semifinals by Lehigh's second-seeded Randy Cruz.
Petrov, who reached the 20-win plateau for the season, can still finish as high as third and will wrestle Rutgers' Vincent Dellafave in the consolation semifinals on Saturday morning. He can finish no worse than sixth. The top two in the weight class earn automatic NCAA berths.
The second seed in the 13-person 165-pound bracket, Lear was expected to at least match Petrov's semifinal berth and was hoping for a finals matchup with No. 1 seed Kyle Dake, but after defeating Lehigh's Benjamin Haas in the opening round, he was upset by No. 7 Josh Houldsworth from Columbia. Lear, who now has a career-high 26 wins and moved into a tie for ninth place in Bucknell history in victories (89), won two bouts in the consolation bracket to advance to the consolation semis. He will face Navy's fifth-seeded Peyton Walsh on Saturday.
Already a two-time EIWA placewinner (7th in 2011, 5th in 2012), Lear has guaranteed a top-six finish in his weight class. He must defeat Walsh to clinch an NCAA automatic berth and his best-ever EIWA showing.
Marchese opened his day in the 184-pound bracket with an 8-0 loss to seventh-seeded Ophir Bernstein (Brown). However, he bounced back with a 7-3 decision over Army's Ryan Tompkins. A loss to Penn's Canaan Bethea followed, but Marchese will still wrestle for seventh place on Saturday. The freshman will take on Princeton's Scott Gibbons, his fourth consecutive seeded foe.
The seventh-seeded Lyster went 2-2 on Friday, alternating wins and losses. He opened the day with an 8-3 decision over American's Devon Bradley, his first career EIWA Championships victory and his 20th win overall this season. A loss to second-seeded James Fox dropped Lyster to the consolation bracket, where he won by a 10-0 shutout and was then shutout 5-0.
Lyster will wrestle Rutgers's Dan Seidenberg for seventh place on Saturday morning. It will be their first meeting of the season.
Stolfi, who won eight bouts in a row at one point this season and was seeded fifth, moved to the quarterfinals with a 3-0 shutout decision in the opening round. However, he dropped a 10-5 decision to Navy's fourth-seeded Daniel Miller to fall to the consolation bracket.
A pin and a 5-1 decision advanced Stolfi to the consolation semifinals, where he will face Penn's Steven Graziano on Saturday. Stolfi, who needs to finish in the top four to earn an automatic NCAA berth, collected a 9-0 major decision vs. Graziano during the regular season.
Seniors Derrik Russell (141) and Adam Healey (149) as well as freshmen Vincent Favia (157) and Robert Schlitt (174) were also in action on Friday, but each was eliminated from competition. Bucknell did not have an entrant at 125 pounds. The Bison's nine wrestlers combined for a 9-16 mark on the first day of the two-day tournament.
Cornell, which has won the last six team crowns is in first place, while Navy and Penn round out the top three in the team standings.
Wrestle-back semifinals and seventh-place matches will take place Saturday morning, while first, third and fifth-place finals will be contested during the final session Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
Team Scores
1. Cornell – 109.5
2. Navy – 94
3. Penn – 91.5
4. Lehigh – 82.5
5. Rutgers – 74.5
6. Harvard – 72
7. Columbia – 67.5
8. Army – 64
9. American – 49.5
10. Bucknell – 39.5
11. Brown – 28
12. Princeton – 23.5
13. Franklin & Marshall – 17.5
14. Sacred Heart - 0
Bucknell Results
133: Paul Petrov, Fr. (#6 seed)
First Round: W, fall Robert Ruiz (Franklin & Marshall), 1:50.
Quarterfinals: W, dec. #3 Bricker Dixon (Cornell), 5-4.
Semifinals: L, fall #2 Randy Cruz (Lehigh), 2:51.
141: Derrik Russell, Sr.
First Round: L, dec. #4 Trevor Melde (Rutgers), 2-0.
Consolation Round 2: L, dec. #6 Connor Hanafee (Army), 8-3.
Russell Eliminated
149: Adam Healey, Sr.
First Round: L, tech. fall #6 Zachary Bintliff (Princeton), 16-0.
Consolation Round 2:L, dec. #5 Kevin Tao (American), 8-3.
Healey Eliminated
157: Vincent Favia, Fr. (#7 seed)
First Round: L, dec. Mark Cirello (American), 5-4.
Consolation Round 2: L, dec. #8 Troy Hernandez (Penn), 10-3.
Favia Eliminated
165: Corey Lear, Sr. (#2 seed)
First Round: W, dec. Benjamen Haas (Lehigh), 5-1.
Quarterfinals: L, dec. #7 Josh Houldsworth (Columbia), 10-3.
Consolation Round 2: W, fall Judson Ziegler (Princeton), 2:38.
Consolation Quarterfinals: W, dec. Devon Gobbo (Harvard), 6-1.
174: Robert Schlitt, Fr.
First Round: L, dec. Cameron Croy (Harvard), 8-3.
Consolation Round 2: L, fall #8 Marshall Peppelman (Cornell), 0:31.
Schlitt Eliminated
184: Robert Marchese, Fr.
First Round: L, maj. dec. #7 Ophir Bernstein (Brown), 8-0.
Consolation Round 2: W, dec. #8 Ryan Tompkins (Army), 7-3.
Consolation Quarterfinals: L, dec. #5 Canaan Bethea (Penn), 4-1.
197: Tyler Lyster, So. (#7 seed)
First Round: W, dec. Devon Bradley (American), 8-3.
Quarterfinals: L, dec. #2 James Fox (Harvard), 7-4.
Consolation Round 2: W, maj. dec. #8 Nicholas Mills (Columbia), 10-0.
Consolation Quarterfinals: L, dec. #6 Jacob Bennett (Cornell), 5-0.
285: Joe Stolfi, So. (#5 seed)
First Round: W, dec. Collin Wittmeyer (Army), 3-0.
Quarterfinals: L, dec. #4 Daniel Miller (Navy), 10-5.
Consolation Round 2:W, fall Dillon Ingham (Brown), 5:38.
Consolation Quarterfinals: W, dec. #8 David Ng (Harvard), 5-1.
