Sacred Heart senior Nick Palumbo won twice at the EIWA championships in Philadelphia. (Photo courtesy Sacred Heart athletics)
Six Cornell wrestlers won Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) championships as the Big Red won their second straight EIWA championship on Sunday in Philadelphia at the historic Palestra. Cornell won the title with 165½ points with Lehigh finishing second with 120½ and Penn taking third with 106.
Vito Arujau (133 pounds), Vince Cornella (141), Yianni Diakomihalis (149), Julian Ramirez (165), Chris Foca (174), and Jacob Cardenas (197) all captured titles for Cornell, while Brett Ungar (125) took second at 125. Heavyweight Brendan Furman grabbed seventh.
Diakomihalis concluded his EIWA tournament career with his fourth league championship and also picked up special accolades. He captured the Fletcher Award for most career points scored at the tournament as well as the Outstanding Wrestler Award.
Sacred Heart and Brown finished tied for 15th place out of 16 teams with 7½ points. Five Pioneer wrestlers won matches in the tournament with senior Nick Palumbo (157) winning twice.
Palumbo (8-5) earned an opening round win over Ty Whalen of Princeton with a pin (6:15) but fell to No. 2 Josh Whalen of Princeton in the quarterfinals before being eliminated in a 5-4 loss to American’s Jack Nie.
Palumbo and freshman Aidan Zarrella (165) each led the team this year with eight victories.
Cornell’s Arujau left no doubt throughout the weekend, including an 8-0 major decision over top 10 opponent and defending EIWA champ Michael Colaiocco of Pennsylvania in the finals at 133. It was the second straight conference crown for Arujau.
Cornella’s first conference tournament was certainly a success, as the freshman pinned his first three opponents before registering a 13-3 major over Penn’s Carmen Ferrante in the title bout. He also earned the Sheridan Award for most falls in least time.
Ramirez beat NCAA finalist Quincy Monday of Princeton by one point in a back-and-forth exciting finals bout at 165 to earn his first EIWA championship.
Foca followed Ramirez onto center mat and continued his winning streak, topping Army’s Ben Pasiuk for his initial conference gold. Foca had a pin and a technical fall during the event.
Cardenas fell behind early against Lehigh’s Michael Beard, the #2 wrestler in the country, in the finals, but responded with a flurry of offense to win a thriller, 10-9.
Patrick Glory of Princeton and Josh Humphreys of Lehigh both won their third championships.
NCAA finalist Glory cruised to the finals, where he took a 2-0 decision over Cornell’s Brett Ungar at 125 pounds. Meanwhile, Humphreys bonused his way to the championship match before besting Penn’s Anthony Artalona, 6-4.
Lehigh’s Tate Samuelson won an EIWA title in his first year in the conference, outscoring his foes 31-8 at 184 pounds.
Grady Griess of Navy finished the evening with a dramatic takedown at the buzzer to defeat Lehigh’s Nathan Taylor and win the heavyweight title.
Material from an EIWA release was used in this report.
2023 EIWA Championships
At Philadelphia
Team results — 1. Cornell 165½, 2. Lehigh 120½, 3. Pennsylvania 106, 4. Columbia and Navy 95, 6. Army West Point 82½, 7. Princeton 81½, 8. Harvard 63, 9. Bucknell 54, 10. Drexel 50½, 11. Binghamton 45½, 12. Hofstra 34, 13. American 28, 14. Franklin & Marshall 16½, 15. Brown and Sacred Heart 7½, 17. LIU 3
Championship finals
125 Pat Glory (Princeton) DEC Brett Ungar (Cornell), 2-0
133 Vito Arujau (Cornell) MD Michael Colaiocco (Pennsylvania), 8-0
141 Vince Cornella (Cornell) MD Carmen Ferrante (Pennsylvania), 13-3
149 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) MD Dylan Chappell (Bucknell), 15-3
157 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) DEC Anthony Artalona (Pennsylvania), 6-4
165 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) DEC Quincy Monday (Princeton), 6-5
174 Chris Foca (Cornell) DEC Benjamin Pasiuk (Army West Point), 10-5
184 Tate Samuelson (Lehigh) DEC Jacob Nolan (Binghamton), 6-1
197 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) DEC Michael Beard (Lehigh), 10-9
285 Grady Griess (Navy) DEC Nathan Taylor (Lehigh), 5-1 SV
3rd place (Consolation final)
125 Ryan Miller (Pennsylvania) DEC Ethan Berginc (Army West Point), 3-0
133 Angelo Rini (Columbia) MD Brendan Ferretti (Navy), 11-2
141 Josh Koderhandt (Navy) DEC Malyke Hines (Lehigh), 7-6
149 Doug Zapf (Pennsylvania) DEC Trae Mcdaniel (Army West Point), 3-2
157 Nathan Lukez (Army West Point) DEC Trevor Tarsi (Harvard), 9-5
165 Joshua Ogunsanya (Columbia) DEC Brevin Cassella (Binghamton), 2-1
174 Lennox Wolak (Columbia) MD Philip Conigliaro (Harvard), 16-8
184 David Key (Navy) DEC Brian Bonino (Drexel), 8-3
197 Luke Stout (Princeton) MD Jacob Koser (Navy), 11-1
285 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) DEC Ben Goldin (Pennsylvania), 7-1
5th place
125 Nick Babin (Columbia) DEC Diego Sotelo (Harvard), 7-2
133 Jack Maida (American) DEC Kyle Waterman (Drexel), 6-3
141 Matt Kazimir (Columbia) DEC Darren Miller (Bucknell), 3-0
149 Luke Nichter (Drexel) DEC Danny Fongaro (Columbia), 3-1
157 Nick Delp (Bucknell) DEC Jack Nies (American), 4-0
165 Josh Kim (Harvard) DEC Dalton Harkins (Army West Point), 3-1 SV
174 Sammy Starr (Navy) M FOR Nick Incontrera (Pennsylvania), 0-0 0:00
184 Nate Dugan (Princeton) DEC Jacob Ferreira (Hofstra), 3-2
197 Trey Rogers (Hofstra) DEC Jack Wehmeyer (Columbia), 6-3
285 Cory Day (Binghamton) DEC Dorian Crosby (Bucknell), 3-0
7th place
125 Carter Bailey (Lehigh) F Mason Leiphart (Franklin & Marshall), 2:48
133 Kurtis Phipps (Bucknell) F Hunter Adrian (Brown), 2:25
141 Justin Hoyle (Hofstra) DEC Julian Sanchez (Army West Point), 6-5
149 Max Brignola (Lehigh) DEC Marshall Keller (Princeton), 8-3
157 Ty Whalen (Princeton) DEC Tyler Williams (Drexel), 6-0
165 Lucas Revano (Pennsylvania) DEC Evan Barczak (Drexel), 3-2
174 Ross Mcfarland (Hofstra) DEC Jake Logan (Lehigh), 3-2
184 James Conway (Franklin & Marshall) MD Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia), 13-4
197 Sean O`Malley (Drexel) DEC Daniel Lawrence (Army West Point), 7-2
285 Brendan Furman (Cornell) DEC Austin Kohlhofer (Army West Point), 6-0
Outstanding wrestler: Yianni Diakomihalis, Cornell
EIWA brackets and results (FloArena)
