2020 EIWA Upperweight Preview
2020 EIWA Upperweight Preview
Some of the best action at the EIWA Championships will be in the upperweights. Here are the biggest big guy storylines to follow.
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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 last 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 upperweight stories.
165 Pounds - 6 Automatic Qualifiers
The parity at 165 makes it one of the most interesting weights of the whole EIWA Championships. This weight has 6 automatic qualifiers, and 6 guys ranked between #10 and #22.
- Tanner Skidgel Navy
- Philip Conigliaro Harvard
- Zach Hartman Bucknell
- Cael McCormick Army West Point
- Ebed Jarrell Drexel
- Grant Cuomo Princeton
- Ricky Stamm Hofstra
- Brian Meyer Lehigh
The top seed, #10 Tanner Skidgel, is undefeated against conference opponents this year but has yet to see Conigliaro or Hartman, the #2 and #3 seeds. He is seeded to see Lehigh's Brian Meyer in the quarters and Army's Cael McCormick in the semis. He has wins over both of those opponents this season.
Harvard freshman #19 Phil Conigliaro earned the #2 seed with an undefeated conference record and an overall record of 27-6. He's slated to see Hoftra's Ricky Stamm in the quarterfinals followed by Bucknell's Zach Hartman in the semifinals. Conigliaro beat Hartman 7-3 at Midlands this year.
Bucknell's Zach Hartman wrestled the first couple weeks of the season at 157 before moving up to 165. Since moving up, he's gone 20-5, good enough for the #3 seed. He has yet to face Princeton's #21 Grant Cuomo, his potential quarterfinals opponent.
Cael McCormick of Army West Point earned the #4 seed with an 18-5 record. His only conference loss came at the hands of the top seed Skidgel. He has a potential quarterfinal against #5 seed Ebed Jarrell of Drexel. They haven't wrestled this year but have split their two meetings in previous seasons.
Hofstra's Ricky Stamm and Lehigh's Brian Meyer are the #7 and #8 seeds and will need to work their way into the top 6 to qualify for NCAA's.
174 Pounds - 4 Automatic Qualifiers
Four EIWA 174-pounders will automatically qualify for NCAA's in a weight with a lot of top level experience.
- Jordan Kutler Lehigh
- Spencer Carey Navy
- Ben Harvey Army West Point
- Brandon Womack Cornell
- Michael O'Malley Drexel
- Sage Heller Hofstra
- Kevin Parker Princeton
- Mitch Hartman Bucknell
Lehigh senior Jordan Kutler is the top seed here and the #3 174-pounder in the country. He is looking for his third EIWA title and third All-American honor, and he'll be the heavy favorite this weekend. His path to a title includes a potential quarterfinal with Bucknell's Mitch Hartman and a potential semifinal with Cornell's Brandon Womack. He is a combined 4-0 lifetime against those two.
The #2 seed, Navy's Spencer Carey, is a Junior with an 18-6 record and is ranked #22. He has yet to face his projected quarterfinal opponent, Princeton's Kevin Parker but just defeated his potential semifinal opponent, Army's Ben Harvey.
Harvey, the #3 seed, has finished one match shy of All-American honors in each of the last two seasons. He's 18-8 this year. His potential quarterfinal opponent is Hofstra's Sage Heller. The two have not met since 2017 when Heller bet Harvey 18-11.
Cornell's Brandon Womack split time with Greco Junior Wold Silver medalist Andrew Berreyesa before ultimately earning the starting spot and the #4 seed. He could see #5 seed Michael O'Malley of Drexel in the quarterfinals, a guy who has a win over #2 seed Spencer Carey this year. O'Malley, Heller, Parker, and Hartman are on the outside looking in for an NCAA qualification bid.
184 Pounds - 4 Automatic Qualifiers
The 184 weight class has 4 automatic qualification bits for 5 returning NCAA qualifiers.
- Lou DePrez Binghamton
- Chris Weiler Lehigh
- Noah Stewart Army West Point
- Tanner Harvey American
- Jonathan Loew Cornell
- Travis Stefanik Princeton
- Kyle Davis Sacred Heart
- Joe Franzese Columbia
Lou DePrez, the #1 seed, is a contender for the NCAA title this year and will be the favorite at EIWA's. This year, he pinned his potential quarterfinal opponent Joe Franzese of Columbia and beat his potential semifinal opponent Tanner Harvey 8-6.
The #2 seed, #17 Chris Weiler, owns a win ovewr DePrez this year and will push for an EIWA title. He'll have to get to the finals first and will be projected to face Sacred Heart's Kyle Davis in the quarterfinals before potentially seeing #19 Noah Stewart in the semis.
Army's Noah Stewart is projected to see #21 Travis Stefanik in one of the most exciting quarterfinals of the weight. Stefanik, an NCAA qualifier last year, is not seeded to earn an automatic NCAA bid this year.
NCAA Qualifier #24 Tanner Harvey of American is seeded to earn the 4th and final EIWA spot at NCAA's. To do so, he will need to fend off #6 seed Stefanik, #5 seed Jonathan Leow of Cornell, #7 seed Kyle Davis of Sacred Heart, and #8 seed Joe Franzese of Columbia.
197 Pounds - 6 Automatic Qualifiers
One of the deepest brackets at EIWA's, 197 has 6 NCAA qualification spots up for grabs.
- Patrick Brucki Princeton
- Jake Koser Navy
- John Jakobsen Lehigh
- Ben Darmstadt Cornell
- Drew Phipps Bucknell
- Cole Urbas Penn
- Bryan McLaughlin Drexel
- JT Brown Army West Point
The two highest ranked 197-pounders, #4 Ben Darmstadt and #6 Pat Brucki, are seeded to meet in the semifinals. Darmstadt, who beat Brucki this year, is curiously seeded #4 while Brucki is seeded #1. Darmstadt's only EIWA loss at 197 this year was an injury default to unseeded Sam Wustefeld of Columbia, and he has wins over Brucki and #3 seed John Jakobsen of Lehigh.
Navy's Jake Koser, the #2 seed, is undefeated this year in EIWA action including wins over his potential quarterfinal and semifinal opponents #7 seed Bryan McLaughlin of Drexel and #3 seed John Jakobsen of Lehigh.
Bucknell's Drew Phipps and Penn's Cole Urbas are the #5 and #6 seeds respectively, putting them in the driver's seat to qualify for NCAA's. The #7 and #8 seeds belong to Drexel's Bryan McLaughlin and Army West Point's JT Brown. Each will push for their own NCAA qualifier bids.
285 Pounds - 3 Automatic Qualifiers
The EIWA has 3 heavyweights ranked in the top 25 and 3 NCAA automatic qualification spots.
- Yaraslau Slavikouski Harvard
- Jordan Wood Lehigh
- Ben Sullivan Army West Point
- Brendan Furman Cornell
- Ben Goldin Penn
- Joe Doyle Binghamton
- Zachary Knighton-Ward Hofstra
- Connor Fredericks Sacred Heart
Harvard's #9 Yaraslau Slavikouski earned the top seed. The freshman is 27-7 this year with a 4th place finish at Midlands. He hasn't seen Sacred Heart's Connor Fredericks, his potential quarterfinal opponent, but he has a win over the #4 seed Brendan Furman, who he could see in the semis.
All-American Jordan Wood is the #2 seed here and is ranked just ahead of Slavikouski at #8. Like Slavikouski, he is undefeated in EIWA competition. He has not seen Zachary Knighton-Ward of Hofstra, his potential quarterfinals opponent, or Army West Point's Ben Sullivan, who he could see in the semifinals.
Sullivan, the Army West Point sophomore, is 14-6 this year and ranked #19 heading into the post season. He has not seen Binghamton's Joe Doyle, his potential quarterfinals opponent, this year but was 2-1 against him a year ago.
Cornell's Brendan Furman and Penn's Ben Golden have the #4 and #5 seeds putting them on the outside looking in to qualify for NCAA's.
