Cornell first. Lehigh third at EIWA; Fisk qualifies for nationals

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Published: March 10, 2010

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Lehigh sophomore heavyweight Zach Rey outlasted Dominick Russo of Rutgers 2-1 in the tiebreakers to win Lehigh's 196th EIWA Championship, leading the Mountain Hawks as the 106th EIWA Championships wrapped up Sunday at Stabler Arena. After senior Matt Fisk, a Wyalusing graduate, and sophomore Brandon Hatchett lost in finals bouts, Rey was able to defeat Russo for the third time this year, continuing Lehigh's streak of years with at least one individual champion to 11.

"It was good to get someone a championship," said Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. "That's what you come here for, to win championships. It wasn't a good weekend for us but at least we finished on a positive note and have something to build on as we move towards the NCAA tournament."

Cornell crowned five individual champions and racked up 160.5 team points to win its fourth straight team title. A strong showing by Penn in Sunday's morning session allowed the Quakers to leapfrog Lehigh for second place with 113 points, while the Mountain Hawks settled for third place with 109.5 points.

Rey and Russo battled through seven minutes of action with each man earning a point for an escape and neither man showing much in the offensive end. After a scoreless sudden victory period, Rey escaped in the first 30 second tiebreaker and was able to ride out Russo in the second 30 second period to win the title and improve to 28-5 on the season.

"It's my fifth time wrestling D.J.," Rey said after his finals win. "He's a good hand fighter. He's good on top. We've wrestled five times and we've figured each other out pretty well. I knew it was going to be a tough one but I was able to get the ride out in the OT."

Lehigh's other two finalists, Fisk and Hatchett were less fortunate as both men dropped decisions in finals bouts. Fisk dropped an 8-2 decision to Cornell's Mike Grey at 133. Grey took down Fisk in the first and added a second period escape to go up 3-0. Fisk chose neutral in the third and mustered a takedown to pull within one, but Grey escaped and added another takedown, plus a penalty point and riding time to claim his first title.

Hatchett dropped a 9-2 decision to Bucknell's Andy Rendos at 165, as the Bison claimed their first-ever individual EIWA title. Rendos countered a Hatchett shot with a cradle that resulted in a takedown and two point near fall at the end of the first period. The Bison senior added a second period takedown to build a 7-0 lead by the time Hatchett secured his only takedown in the third period.

In Sunday's morning session senior David Craig and freshmen Robert Hamlin earned automatic NCAA tournament berths by placing in the top four at 174 and 184 respectively.

Craig provided most of the excitement for the Lehigh faithful with a couple big moves in the final seconds of his two matches. The Lehigh senior had a commanding lead over Collin Wittmeyer of Army but picked up two big bonus points by pinning Wittmeyer with one second remaining. Craig needed late heroics in the third place match as well, after being ridden for nearly two full periods by Steve Bosak of Cornell Craig reversed Bosak onto his back in the final seconds, and the reversal, plus a two-point near fall gave him an 8-5 come-from-behind victory and third place.

"That could be key for him moving to the national tournament," explained Santoro. "Both guys were tired. Craig was ridden for almost four minutes. The fact that he put it together; he put a couple scrambles together and got that reversal at the end. That was huge."

Hamlin was involved in a pair close matches on Sunday. He needed a takedown in sudden victory to defeat Dan Rinaldi of Rutgers 4-2 in the consolation semifinals. In the third place match Hamlin could not overcome a first period takedown in a 3-1 loss to Bucknell's Shane Riccio.

Fisk claimed one of the tournament's major awards as he won the Sheridan Award for most falls in the championship bracket with two in 5:44. It's the second Sheridan Award for Fisk, who also won the award in 2007. Cornell claimed the other two major awards as Troy Nickerson, the 125-pound champion won the Fletcher Trophy for career points earned, and Mack Lewnes, the champion at 174, earned the Coaches Trophy as the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler.

"We've had poor performances before and come back from them," said Santoro. "If you can't get excited about the national tournament then you shouldn't be here. We have to wrestle 100-percent better in Omaha and I think we can."

Qualifiers will now move on to the NCAA Championships, March 18-20 at Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.

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