Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
EIWA Championships
Wrestling Finishes Third at EIWA Championships, Four Bison Earn NCAA Bids
3/7/2015 9:00:00 PM | Wrestling
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Six placewinners, four automatic NCAA berths and the best team finish in program history highlighted the final day of the EIWA Championships for the Bucknell wrestling team Saturday at Lehigh's Stabler Arena. All six Bison that entered the day alive in the brackets posted top-five finishes in their weight classes, while the third-place team finish was the best ever for Bucknell.
Cornell captured its ninth consecutive team title, while host Lehigh was in second. Bucknell finished in a tie for third in 2009, but bettered that showing this year as it finished eight points ahead of fourth-place Columbia. The Bison jumped an impressive 12 spots from their 15th-place finish at last year's EIWAs.
“It was a tremendous team effort from our guys,” praised Bucknell head coach Dan Wirnsberger, who was named the EIWA Coach of the Year following the tournament. “It means a lot to come out here and win a trophy. Our guys battled and showed courage out there today.”
Paul Petrov (3rd at 125 pounds), Grim Gonzalez (5th at 133), Tyler Smith (3rd at 141), Victor Lopez (4th at 149), Tom Sleigh (5th at 184) and Joe Stolfi (2nd at 285) were the Bison placewinners. Each equaled or exceeded his seed and it marks Bucknell's most EIWA placewinners since 2010.
Petrov, Smith, Sleigh and Stolfi also earned automatic berths to the NCAA Championships, the most for the Bison since 2010. It will be Stolfi's third NCAA appearance, Petrov's second and the first for Smith and Sleigh.
“I don't even consider them freshmen anymore,” commented Wirnsberger about rookie placewinners Smith and Sleigh. “They showed their growth and maturity today. The sky is the limit for them and they have higher goals for themselves.”
Petrov, who was seeded third, opened the day in the semifinals, but lost on a pin in a surprising 2:12 to American's second-seeded David Terao. In the wrestlebacks, Petrov posted his third win of the year over Brown's fifth-seeded Billy Watterson and followed with a 5-3 victory over Lehigh's fourth-seeded Scott Parker to clinch a third-place finish and an automatic NCAA berth.
Petrov's third-place finish was a career best at the EIWA Championships and his 4-1 record over the two-day event gives him eight career EIWA Championship victories. Three of his four wins were against seeded opponents as he improved to 27-5 on the season. A two-time EIWA Championships semifinalist, Petrov will be making his second straight NCAA appearance.
“I don't worry about Paul,” said Wirnsberger. “He is always prepared and ready to go. I expected him to rebound and he did and it was good to see him battle back for two more wins.”
The seventh-seeded Gonzalez became an EIWA placewinner thanks to a 2-1 record on Saturday. The sophomore earned a medical forfeit to guarantee a top-six finish. He then lost a tight 4-3 decision to Cornell's fourth-seeded Mark Grey in the consolation semifinal, but bounced back with a 5-3 victory over American's fifth-seeded Josh Terao to earn a fifth-place finish in the bracket.
A two-year EIWA participant at 133 pounds, Gonzalez is now 23-11 on the year. The top three wrestlers at 133 pounds earned automatic NCAA berths.
Smith concluded an outstanding EIWA Championships with a thrilling final day of wrestling. The rookie opened the day with a 2-0 shutout of Cornell's Dylan Realbuto thanks to an escape and the riding-time point. He then pinned Hofstra's second-seeded Jamel Hudson in just over two minutes to clinch his automatic NCAA berth and advance to the third-place match.
Smith trailed to Drexel's David Pearce 6-0 early in the third-place match, but came back and the riding time point tied the score at 8-8 and forced overtime. Pearce was whistled for stalling just over 30 seconds into overtime, awarding Smith the winning point.
Thanks to his 5-1 record this weekend, Smith is now 24-6 this season. He is 11-1 in his last 12 bouts.
Lopez was looking to match the third-place finishes by Petrov and Smith, but came up just short. The sophomore advanced to the evening third-place bout with one-point wins over Brown's Steven Galiardo and second-seeded Charles Cobb from Penn. However, Lopez started out down 5-0 to Drexel's fourth-seeded Matthew Cimato in the third-place match. He fought back, but could only draw as close as 5-3 by the end. The top three finishers at 149 earned automatic berths to NCAAs.
Lopez was 2-1 on both days of the EIWA Championships, pushing his season win total to a career-high 27.
Sleigh gave Bucknell two freshman placewinners as he posted a 1-0 win in the fifth-place match at 184 pounds over Binghamton's Jack McKeever. The Bison rookie opened the day as one of three Bucknell wrestlers in the semifinals where he faced No. 2 seed Nathaniel Brown, a Lewisburg native who wrestles for Lehigh. Sleigh battled tough, but the redshirt junior outlasted him, 6-3. Sleigh then lost to Brown's Ophir Bernstein in the consolation semis by a 13-0 score.
Sleigh's fifth-place bout was decided on a second-period escape by him. It was his 30th victory of the season.
The night concluded with Stolfi taking the mat with a chance to become the first two-time EIWA champion in program history. He faced Binghamton's top-seeded Tyler Deuel in the finals, an opponent he lost to in the final regular-season dual two weeks ago. Deuel ended up pinning Stolfi, the nation's leader in falls, in just under 90 seconds.
Stolfi advanced to the championship for a second straight year thanks to a 6-0 win in the semifinal.
There were a total of 44 automatic NCAA qualifiers selected from the EIWA. Seventy additional NCAA at-large berths will be announced on Wednesday.
Bucknell's NCAA qualifiers will head to St. Louis, Missouri, for this year's national tournament, which will take place March 19-21.
EIWA Placewinners
Paul Petrov (No. 3 seed) – 3rd at 125
Grim Gonzalez (No. 7 seed) – 5th at 133
Tyler Smith (No. 5 seed) – 3rd at 141
Victor Lopez (No. 5 seed) – 4th at 149
Tom Sleigh (No. 6 seed) – 5th at 184
Joe Stolfi (No. 2 seed) – 2nd at 285
NCAA Qualifiers
Paul Petrov (125) – 2nd NCAA Appearance
Tyler Smith (141) – 1st NCAA Appearance
Tom Sleigh (184) – 1st NCAA Appearance
Joe Stolfi (285) – 3rd NCAA Appearance
Players Mentioned
