DePrez wins title, Binghamton shines on day two of EIWA Championship
March 06, 2022

 


Bearcats send four to NCAA Championships, take sixth at conference tournament

ITHACA, N.Y. - Binghamton wrestling finished a successful EIWA Championship Sunday, finishing in sixth place out of 17 teams. The Bearcats were led by Lou DePrez, who grabbed the third individual title of his career. Joe Doyle produced some fireworks en route to a third place finish and Jacob Nolan (fourth place at 174 pounds) and Brevin Cassella (fifth place at 165 pounds) had their highest finishes as Bearcats. All four qualified for the NCAA Championship in Detroit.

"I'm really happy with our team's effort," head coach Kyle Borshoff said. This is the best EIWA's we've ever had. I couldn't be happier for the four qualifiers and for Lou's third championship."

DePrez used two wins Saturday to reach the semi final. The senior used three takedowns to beat Jacob Koser 6-5 before advancing to the final. There, he dominated his bout with Luke Stout of Princeton, getting four takedowns and two escapes for a 10-4 decision.

"It feels good to get this one," DePrez said. "It's been a long year compared to last year, as far as bumping up to 197 and getting back to the full season. I feel good and am excited to compete in Detroit."


The 197-pound two time All-American is the first three time EIWA champion in Binghamton program history.

Doyle went 3-0 on the day with a pin. He won a 4-1 decision over Cenzo Pelusi before his NCAA fate-defining match with Zachary Knighton-Ward of Hofstra. Two EIWA veterans, Doyle and Knighton-Ward went at it in the first period with a flurry of takedowns. Trailing 5-4 in the second period, Doyle got a reversal and two back points before giving up an escape. He then threw Knighton-Ward to his back for the pin and clinched a bid to the NCAA Championship.

To add to his success, he topped his championship off with a 4-0 win over Ben Goldin of Penn, avenging a semifinal loss.

Nolan won twice, nabbing fourth place. He defeated Nick Fine of Columbia 5-0 and advanced to the third place match via injury forfeit. He fell to 2021 EIWA champion Ben Pasuik of Army in his final bout, but the top four at 174 pounds clinched bids to Detroit. It is the second straight season Nolan will compete at the national tournament.

Cassella navigated his way through a deep 165-pound bracket, winning an all-important matchup with Val Park to punch his ticket to nationals. Despite falling to reigning All-American Zach Hartman of Bucknell, he rebounded with a 3-2 decision over Lucas Revano of Penn to take fifth place.

Ryan Anderson, Cory Day and Nick Lombard all made the podium. Anderson earned sixth place while Day and Lombard grabbed eighth.

The Bearcats finished with 79.5 team points, 16 points ahead of seventh placed Navy and five points behind fifth placed Columbia. Sixth place is tied for the best finish in program history.

Cornell won with 153 points. Behind the Big Red was Penn (143), Princeton (120.5), Lehigh (111), Columbia (84.5), Binghamton (79.5), Navy (63.5), Army (57), Harvard (49), Drexel (47), Bucknell (39.5), Hofstra (36), Franklin and Marshall (29), Brown (26.5), American (25.5), Sacred Heart (5) and LIU (3).

The Bearcats will have two weeks to prepare for NCAA Championships. Action begins on March 17.





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