2017 EIWA Championships

Top 10 Matches Of EIWAs

Top 10 Matches Of EIWAs

There were some seriously scrappy matches that went down this past weekend at Bucknell's Sojka Pavilion, as the top wrestlers in the EIWA conference looked to clinch one of the 43 automatic qualifying bids to the NCAA Championships.

Mar 6, 2017 by Ryan Holmes
Top 10 Matches Of EIWAs
There were some seriously scrappy matches that went down this past weekend at Bucknell's Sojka Pavilion, as the top wrestlers in the EIWA conference looked to clinch one of the 43 automatic qualifying bids to the NCAA Championships. Mixed in with the dominant showings by Gabe Dean at the tournament were some action-packed matches that had us on the edge of our seats.

Here are the top 10 matches of the EIWA Championships:

Hunter Ladnier, Harvard vs. Laike Gardner, Lehigh
It was an epic semifinal battle that went back and forth and even needed some overtime to determine the winner.


Jordan Laster, Princeton vs. Matt Cimato, Drexel
Just like the other 149-pound semifinal between Ladnier and Garder, this one also needed overtime following a 5-5 tie at the end of regulation.

Dylan Palacio, Cornell vs. Russ Parsons, Army
Palacio used some magic in finals in the form of some stingy last-minute defense to pick up the win over Parsons, who was inches away from getting the winning takedown as the clock hit all zeros.

Frank Mattiace, Penn vs. Tom Sleigh, Bucknell
Mattiace had an impressive run to the top at 197 that culminated with this tie-breaking battle with top seed Tom Sleigh.


Tyler Smith, Bucknell vs. AJ Jaffe, Harvard
If there's time on the clock then there's time to score, and nothing embodies that statement more than the last-second heroics and scrambling ability that took place in the final seconds of this bout.

May Bethea, Penn vs. Dylan Palacio, Cornell
Just a little bit of Palacio being Palacio once again. He pulled out some pretty savvy tricks to get the win over Bethea in the quarters.

Darian Cruz, Lehigh vs. Josh Terao, American
Two of the slickest guys in the weight class clashed in the finals, where Terao was left chasing Cruz after Cruz got the much-needed takedown in the third period.

Randy Cruz, Lehigh vs. Tyler Smith, Bucknell
It came down to the final seconds between these two familiar foes in the semis, with Smith left hanging on a leg when time ran out.

Brooks Martino, Penn vs. Ty White, Columbia
Trailing late in the third period, Martino came up clutch to pin White and make it to the finals.

Ryan Preisch, Lehigh vs. Brian Realbuto, Cornell
In one of the most anticipated rematches of the tournament, Realbuto got the one takedown of the match to help him claim another title.