2020 EIWA Lightweight Preview
2020 EIWA Lightweight Preview
Get familiar with the top lightweights who will be competing for EIWA honors this weekend at Lehigh.
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Once again, the EIWA Championships will be live on FloWrestling. The EIWA has been awarded 44 automatic qualifying spots for the NCAA Championships, third only to the Big Ten and Big 12. Here are some of the biggest storylines for the first five weights at EIWAs.
Watch the EIWA Championships LIVE on FloWrestling
Friday & Saturday, March 6-7 | 11:00 & 10:00 AM ET
When the EIWA released its conference pre-seeds, it clarified that the pre-seeds were "subject to change by coaches' vote prior to the tournament. The coaches will meet Thursday afternoon at Lehigh to review the pre-seeds and make adjustments. The seeds will remain preliminary until locked in at weigh-ins on Friday morning."
So while these seeds could change, we won't know that until after the coaches' meeting on Thursday. With that in mind, here are some of the biggest EIWA lightweight stories.
125 - 7 Automatic Qualifiers
The lightest weight at EIWA's also has the most automatic qualifier allocations in seven. Here are the conference pre-seeds:
- Patrick Glory Princeton
- Michael Colaiocco Penn
- Brandon Paetzell Lehigh
- Trey Chalifoux Army West Point
- Gage Curry American
- Logan Treaster Navy
- Joe Manchio Columbia
- Nolan Hellickson Harvard
Pat Glory was an All-American last year as a freshman, and he'll be the favorite to win here. He's 20-0 this year with 4 falls, 8 techs, and 2 majors. Despite his dominance, he could be tested here as Brandon Paetzell pushed him to sudden victory during Princeton's dual with Lehigh in November.
Paetzell, the 3 seed here, finished the regular season ranked #5 in the country. His lone conference loss came in the aforementioned sudden victory match with Glory, a match that we could see again if Paetzell can get past #14 Colaiocco in the semifinals.
Penn's Michael Colaiocco, the #2 seed. He's having a nice freshman season at 22-5. If seeds hold, he'll see Columbia's Joe Manchio in the quarterfinals, a foe he beat in a dual earlier this month, and then Paetzell, who he has yet to face, in the semis.
Army's #16 Trey Chalifoux and American's #17 Gage Curry, the 4 and 5 seeds, are expected to square off in the quarterfinals with a semifinal against Pat Glory on the line. They are 2-2 in their college careers, so this potential quarterfinal could break the series tie.
Logan Treaster of Navy and Joe Manchio of Columbia are the 6 and 7 seeds with Harvard's Nolan Hellickson sitting in the 8 seed. That makes 125 one of the deepest brackets in the whole tournament.
133 - 2 Automatic Qualifiers
Just two EIWA 133-pounders will automatically qualify for NCAAs this year making the early rounds of the tournament extremely high-stakes.
- Chas Tucker Cornell
- Zack Trampe Binghamton
- Nick Farro Lehigh
- Casey Cobb Navy
- Darren Miller Bucknell
- Andrew Wert Army West Point
- Carmen Ferrante Penn
- Angelo Rini Columbia
Chas Tucker, the top seed here, is the only undefeated 133-pounder in the country. If he wins EIWAs, he will probably be seeded either #2 or #3 at NCAAs which could be a big advantage. He will have a solid test in the EIWA finals, however, as both Zach Trampe and Nick Farro have pushed him to overtime this season.
Binghamton's Zack Trampe missed the months of December and January and enters conference weekend with an 8-2 record having won his first 8 matches of the season and dropped his last 2. If seeds hold, he'll see Penn's Carmen Ferrante in the quarters and Lehigh's Nick Farro in the semis. He has yet to face either opponent.
Lehigh's Nick Farro is the #3 seed in this bracket with 2 automatic NCAA qualifiers. He has had an up and down season, but at his best this year, he has notched wins over #9 Sammy Alvarez and #16 Allan Hart. He's capable of making a run to the finals, and his potential semi with Zack Trampe is a match to circle.
Navy's Casey Cobb, Bucknell's Darren Miller, Army West Point's Andrew Wert, Penn's Carmen Ferrante, and Columbia's Angelo Rini hold the #4-#8 seeds. Each will need to out-place his seed and make the finals to qualify for NCAAs.
141 - 5 Automatic Qualifiers
There will be 5 NCAA qualification spots on the line at 141, a weight class that feels wide-open.
- Sal Profaci American
- Doug Zapf Penn
- Matt Kazimir Columbia
- Cody Trybus Navy
- Noah Baughman Cornell
- Wil Gil F&M
- Ryan Pomrinca Lehigh
- Anthony Sparacio Binghamton
The top seed belongs to Sal Profaci of American. If seeds hold, he'll have Binghamton's Anthony Sparacio in the quarterfinals followed by Navy's Cody Trybus in the semifinals. Profaci has yet to wrestle Trybus but did beat Sparacio in a dual in February. If Profaci makes the finals, he's seeded to see Penn's Dough Zapf.
Zapf is ranked #15 in the country and is the only top 25 141-pounder in the bracket. He'll expect to see Lehigh's Ryan Pomrinca for the first time in the quarterfinals and Columbia's Matt Kazimir in the semis. Zapf is 3-0 lifetime against Kazimir. Despite being the #2 seed, the 26-5 Zapf is probably the favorite to win this weight.
Columbia's #3 seed Matt Kazimer will expect to see F&M's Wil Gil in the quarterfinals. Gil had a win over Kazimir earlier this year which could bode well for Kazimer's chances of qualifying for NCAAs.
The #4 and #5 seeds, Cody Trybus of Navy and Noah Baughman of Cornell will expect to square off in the quarterfinals for the first time. Each will need to wrestle to his seed in order to qualify for NCAAs.
149 - 4 Automatic Qualifiers
This weight has 4 NCAA qualification spots on the line, and the pre-seeds suggest that some of the best action at 149 could come before the finals.
- Kizhan Clarke American
- Jimmy Hoffman Lehigh
- Hunter Richard Cornell
- Matt Kolodzik Princeton
- Matthew Kolonia Bucknell
- PJ Ogunsanya Army West Point
- Ricky Cabanillas Brown
- Lucas Revano Penn
For the second weight in a row, American has the top seed. Sophomore Kizhan Clarke is 35-5, undefeated against conference opponents this year, and is ranked #14 in the country. If seeds hold, he'll see three-time All-American Matthew Kolodzik in the semifinals.
Princeton's Matthew Kolodzik is #4 in the country as well as #4 in the EIWA pre-seeds. This bracket seems ripe to be re-seeded, but if not, we could the potential final in the semis. Kolodzik and Clarke have not met in their careers. Kolodzik did beat the #3 seed Hunter Richard in a dual this season.
The other seeded semifinal would be between #2 seed Jimmy Hoffman of Lehigh and #3 seed Hunter Richard of Cornell. These two have yet to meet this season. Hoffman is 17-4 this year and ranked #25. Richard is also having a solid season at 22-9.
Bucknell's Matthew Kolonia, Army West Point's PJ Ogunsanya, Brown's Ricky Cabanillas, and Penn's Lucas Revano, the #5-#8 seeds will all be trying to work their way into the top 4 to qualify for NCAA's.
One wrestler who does not appear in the pre-seeds is Navy's Jared Prince who has wrestled at both 149 and 157 this season. Prince is 3-1 with a win over Old Dominion All-American Larry Early and will throw a wrench in whichever weight class he enters.
157 - 3 Automatic Qualifiers
The 157-pound bracket only has 3 NCAA qualification spots despite having some of the best depth of the lightweights.
- Markus Hartman Army West Point
- Quincy Monday Princeton
- Josh Humphreys Lehigh
- Anthony Artalona Penn
- Hunter Ladnier Harvard
- Kyle Mosher Columbia
- Jaden Fisher Bucknell
- Holden Heller Hofstra
Army's #9 Markus Hartman is the top seed, an improbable position considering he was not the starter for the first half of the season, but Hartman has earned the top spot. He took out #4 Quincy Monday and #17 Anthony Artalona at Midlands. If seeds hold, he could see a rematch with Artalona in the semifinals.
Quincy Monday is the #2 seed. Monday is 21-3 on the year with a number of excellent wins. He will expect to see Lehigh's Josh Humphreys in the semifinals. These two are 2-2 in their careers with Monday taking both matches this year and Humphreys taking both a season ago.
Both the #3 seed Josh Humphreys and the #4 seed Anthony Artalona finished one match away from All-American honors a season ago, Humphreys at 157 and Artalona at 149. Those two have not met in college, but if seeds hold, they'll meet in a 3rd-place match with a trip to Minneapolis on the line.
Hunter Ladnier, Kyle Mosher, Jaden Fisher, and Holden Heller round out this tough 157 field. As I mentioned earlier, we do not know which weight class Navy's Jared Prince will wrestle. If he chooses 157, he could cause all kinds of trouble here.
