Wrestling Fares Well at Day One of EIWA Championships

Saturday, March 8

Philadelphia, Pa.

All Day

Drexel University

EIWA Championships

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Wrestling Fares Well at Day One of EIWA Championships

3/8/2014 4:41:00 PM | Wrestling

Saturday's Brackets

PHILADELPHIA - The Drexel wrestling team fared well on the first day of the EIWA Championships hosted by Penn at the Palestra today. Five Dragons are still in contention, two of which have continued to win in the championship bracket.

Kevin Devoy Jr, who was ranked number six in the league going into the tournament, has won two matches so far, both by major decision. He will next face #2 Mark Grey of Cornell. Austin Sommer had two victories, both of which were upsets as he defeated #4 Raamiah Bethea of Penn in the first round and then overcame Army's #5 Paul Hancock with an 8-7 decision. Sommer will face #1 Nestor Taffur of Boston University tomorrow in the semifinals of the 157 weight class.

Tanner Shoap, #8 Noel Blanco, and #1 Brandon Palik are also still alive in the consolation rounds of the tournament. Shoap fell to #6 David White of Binghamton but then defeated Franklin & Marshall's Jason Bing and Navy's Brendan Campbell. Shoap will take on #5 Darian Cruz of Lehigh in his first match tomorrow.

Blanco defeated Franklin & Marshall's Sharron Townsend by major decision, but then fell to #1 Christopher Villalonga of Cornell in the second round. Blanco then overcame Penn's Andrew Lenzi and will take on Princeton's #4 Richard Krop next.

Palik came out strong with a 12-1 major decision over Hayden Hrymack of Rutgers. In the second round, however, he fell to #9 Bryce Barnes of Army. Palik will next face Paul Rands of Navy.

Competition at the Palestra will continue tomorrow. The schedule of events for the remainder of the tournament are listed below.

125:     #6 David White (Binghamton) DEC Tanner Shoap (DU) 8-2
             Tanner Shoap (DU) DEC Jason Bing (F&M) 4-0
             Tanner Shoap (DU) DEC Brendan Campbell (Navy) 10-7
             Tanner Shoap (DU) vs. #5 Darian Cruz (Lehigh)

133:     #6 Kevin Devoy Jr (DU) MAJ Garrett Frey (Princeton) 15-2
              #6 Kevin Devoy Jr (DU) MAJ Esteban Gomez-Rivera (American) 17-8
              #6 Kevin Devoy Jr (DU) vs. #2 Mark Grey (Cornell)

141:      Jordan Laster (Princeton) DEC David Pearce (DU) 5-1
              David Pearce (DU) DEC Nick Tighe (Binghamton) 6-3
              Jeff Canfora (Penn) DEC David Pearce (DU) 5-4

149:     #8 Noel Blanco (DU) MAJ Sharron Townsend (F&M) 10-1
              #1 Christopher Villalonga (Cornell) MAJ #8 Noel Blanco (DU) 9-0
              #8 Noel Blanco (DU) DEC Andrew Lenzi (Penn) 9-4
              #8 Noel Blanco (DU) vs. #4 Richard Krop (Princeton)

157:      Austin Sommer (DU) DEC #4 Raamiah Bethea (Penn) 11-9
              Austin Sommer (DU) DEC #5 Paul Hancock (Army) 8-7
              Austin Sommer (DU) vs. #1 Nestor Taffur (Boston U)

165:      Philip Marano (Brown) DEC Jason Fugiel (DU) 5-2
              Judson Ziegler (Princeton) DEC Jason Fugiel (DU) 3-0

174:      #8 Bradley Wukie (Penn) DEC Kevin Matyas (DU) 9-4
              #1 Elliot Riddick (Lehigh) MAJ Kevin Matyas (DU) 16-5

184:      Cameron Croy (Harvard) DEC Alex DeCiantis (DU) 5-2
              James Mannier (Navy) DEC Alex DeCiantis (DU) 3-1

197:      #1 Brandon Palik (DU) MAJ Hayden Hrymack (Rutgers) 12-1
              #9 Bryce Barnes (Army) DEC #1 Brandon Palik (DU) 8-6
              #1 Brandon Palik (DU) DEC Matt Idelson (Columbia) 5-0
            #1 Brandon Palik (DU) vs. Paul Rands (Navy)

285:      #8 Steven Graziano (Penn) DEC Joseph Giorgio (DU) 2-1
              Ryder Cavey (Brown) DEC Joseph Giorgio (DU) 5-0

TOMORROW'S SCHEDULE:

SESSION 2: Sunday, March 9^th
10:00 a.m. – Championship Semi-Finals & Consolation
12:00 p.m. – Consolation Semi-Finals
1:00 p.m. – Consolation Finals (3rd, 5th, & 7th)

SESSION 3: Sunday, March 9^th
3:45 p.m. – EIWA Hall of Fame Introductions
4:00 p.m. – Championship Finals