Cornell wins 2022 EIWA Championships

By John Aadland, EIWA Director of Sports Information

The 2022 EIWA Championship tournament at Cornell University has concluded.  Host Cornell and the resurgent Quakers of Pennsylania battled throughout the tournament, with Cornell taking the title in the end.  Princeton finished third with defending champion Lehigh in fourth.  Columbia rounded out the top five.  Lehigh 285-pounder Jordan Wood became the first wrestler in conference history to win a fifth title.

2022 EIWA Brackets

Final team standings are as follows:

1. Cornell153.0
2. Pennsylvania143.0
3. Princeton120.5
4. Lehigh111.0
5. Columbia84.5
6. Binghamton79.5
7. Navy63.5
8. Army West Point57.0

9       Harvard                         49.0

10     Drexel                           47.0

11     Bucknell                        39.5

12     Hofstra                          36.0

13. Franklin & Marshall29.0
14. Brown26.5
15. American25.5
16. Sacred Heart5.0
17. Long Island U.3.0

Individual place-winners at each weight class are:

125 pounds (three automatic qualifiers)

1      Vitali Arujau                    Cornell

2      Patrick Glory                   Princeton

3      Ryan Miller                     Penn

4      Joe Manchio                    Columbia

5      Beau Bayless                   Harvard

6      Sheldon Seymour             Lehigh

7      Brandon Seidman             Bucknell

8      Reese Fry                        Brown

133 pounds (two automatic qualifiers)

1      Michael Colaiocco           Penn

2      Josh Koderhandt              Navy

3      Dom LaJoie                     Cornell

4      Jack Maida                      American

5      Richard Treanor               Army West Point

6      Nick Kayal                      Princeton

7      Jaxon Maroney                Drexel

8      Nicky Cabanillas              Brown

141 pounds (four automatic qualifiers)

1      Matt Kazimir                   Columbia

2      CJ Composto                   Penn

3      Wil Gil                            F&M

4      Connor McGonagle          Lehigh

5      Darren Miller                   Bucknell

6      Ryan Anderson                Binghamton

7      Danny Coles                    Princeton

8      Justin Hoyle                     Hofstra

149 pounds (four automatic qualifiers)

1      Yianni Diakomihalis        Cornell

2      Anthony Artalona            Penn

3      Max Brignola                   Lehigh

4      Marshall Keller                Princeton

5      Danny Fongaro                Columbia

6      PJ Ogunsanya                  Army West Point

7      Lukus Stricker                 Harvard

8      Nick Lombard                  Binghamton

157 pounds (five automatic qualifiers)

1      Quincy Monday               Princeton

2      Andrew Cerniglia             Navy

3      Josh Humphreys              Lehigh

4      Markus Hartman              Army West Point

5      Doug Zapf                       Penn

6      Hunter Richard                Cornell

7      Nick Delp                        Bucknell

8      Trevor Tarsi                     Harvard

165 pounds (seven automatic qualifiers)

1      Philip Conigliaro              Harvard

2      Josh Ogunsanya               Columbia

3      Zach Hartman                  Bucknell

4      Julian Ramirez                 Cornell

5      Brevin Cassella                Binghamton

6      Lucas Revano                  Penn

7      Evan Barczak                   Drexel

8      Val Park                          Navy

174 pounds (four automatic qualifiers)

1      Mickey O’Malley             Drexel

2      Nick Incontrera                Penn

3      Ben Pasiuk                      Army West Point

4      Jacob Nolan                     Binghamton

5      Jake Logan                      Lehigh

6      Chris Foca                       Cornell

4      Nick Fine                        Columbia

7      Nate Dugan                     Princeton

184 pounds (three automatic qualifiers)

1      Jonathan Loew                 Cornell

2      Travis Stefanik                Princeton

3      AJ Burkhart                     Lehigh

4      Charles Small                  Hofstra

5      Neil Antrassian                Penn

6      Brian McLaughlin            Drexel

7      Brian Bonino                   Columbia

8      Cory Day                         Binghamton

197 pounds (five automatic qualifiers)

1      Lou DePrez                     Binghamton

2      Luke Stout                       Princeton

3      Jacob Koser                     Navy

4      Cole Urbas                      Penn

5      Jacob Cardenas                Cornell

6      JT Davis                          Lehigh

7      JT Brown                        Army West Point

8      Sam Wustefeld                Columbia

285 pounds (four automatic qualifiers)

1      Jordan Wood                   Lehigh

2      Lewis Fernandes              Cornell

3      Joe Doyle                        Binghamton

4      Ben Goldin                      Penn

5      Matt Cover                      Princeton

6      Zachary Knighton-Ward   Hofstra

7      Cenzo Pelusi                    Franklin & Marshall

8      Danny Conley                  Columbia

Additional award winners:

Coaches’ Trophy for Outstanding Wrestler of the EIWA Championships

Vitali Arujau, Cornell University

John Fletcher Memorial Award for most cumulative team points at the EIWA Championships during his career

Jordan Wood, Lehigh University — 109.0 points

Billy Sheridan Memorial Award for most falls in least time in the championship bracket

Lewis Fernandes, Cornell University — two falls in 3:36.

EIWA Coach of the Year, voted by the head coaches

Roger Reina, University of Pennsylvania

2021 NCAA Qualifiers/Champs/AAs: 49/0/2

2021 Team Standings: 1. Lehigh – 158.5; 2. Navy – 129; 3. Army-West Point – 119.5; 4. Hofstra – 106.5; 5. Drexel – 89.5; 6. Bucknell – 84.5; 7. Binghamton – 75.5; 8. Sacred Heart – 39; 9. American – 30.5; 10. Long Island – 24.5. (The five Ivy League schools – Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Penn and Princeton – did not compete when winter sports were cancelled).

2021 Individual Champs/Runner-ups: 125 – Jaret Lane (Lehigh)/Logan Treaster (Navy); 133 – Malyke Hines (Lehigh)/Jacob Allen (Navy); 141 – Cody Trybus (Navy)/Lane Peters (Army); 149 – P.J. Ogunsanya (Army)/Jimmy Hoffman (Lehigh); 157 – Holden Heller (Hofstra)/Nick Palumbo (Sacred Heart); 165 – Zach Hartman (Bucknell)/Tanner Skidgel (Navy); 174 – Ben Pasiuk (Army)/Michael O’Malley (Drexel); 184 – Lou DePrez (Bing.)/David Key (Navy); 197 – John Jakobsen (Lehigh)/JT Brown (Army); Hwt – Jordan Wood (Lehigh)/Robert Heald (Army).

All-Time Team Championships (Started in 1905) – School-No. (Last): Lehigh – 38 (2021); Cornell – 25 (2017); Penn State – 16 (1973, left for Big Ten in 1990); Navy – 13 (1990); Syracuse – 8 (1994, dropped sport in 2001); Yale – 7 (1941, dropped sport in 1991); Penn – 4 (1999); Pitt – 4 (1960, moved to ACC in 2011); Princeton – 3 (1978); Army – 1 (1987); Harvard – 1 (2001)

2022 Top Storylines:

• Welcome back Ivy League schools – Last year the six Ivy League schools — Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Penn and Princeton — of the EIWA did not compete when the Ivy League cancelled the season. Without many of its star-powered wrestlers, the EIWA featured just two All-Americans in EIWA champ Zach Hartman (Bucknell) at 165 and Lou DePrez (Binghamton), who moved up to 197 this winter.

• Cornell, with new coach Mike Grey, and Princeton appear to have the most All-American potential this March, especially from Cornell’s two-time NCAA champ Yianni Diakomihalis (149) and Vito Arujau (125), who both missed the last two years after each took an Olympic redshirt in 2019-20. Of these two, Arujau appears to have the tougher road, especially against Princeton AA Pat Glory. The two met in a Feb. 5 dual when the Tiger prevailed 11-9.

• Two brothers with an African background — Army senior P.J. Ogunsanya (149) and Columbia sophomore Josh Ogunsanya (165) — could each make an impact at the EIWAs as both have been ranked all year by WIN. P.J.’s only EIWA loss came to Diakomihalis in a Jan. 15 dual, while Josh defeated Pitt’s NCAA finalist Jake Wentzel in a 4-3 tiebreaker on Feb. 6.