Cornell Wins 28th EIWA Title, Nine Punch Tickets to Nationals
SOURCE: cornellbigred.com
March 09, 2024

 


LEWISBURG, Pa. - Three Cornell wrestlers won titles as the Big Red wrapped up its 28th EIWA Championship in its final trip to the tournament on Saturday night at Bucknell University's Sojka Pavilion.

Cornell's champions included first-timers Ethan Fernandez (149 pounds) and Meyer Shapiro (157) and two-timer Julian Ramirez (165). Brett Ungar (125), Vito Arujau (133) and Jacob Cardenas (197) took second in their weight classes. Benny Baker (174) and Lewis Fernandes (285) earned third-place finishes, while Chris Foca (184) took fourth.

All nine qualified for the NCAA Championships in Kansas City, Missouri, and amassed 164.5 points for the Big Red over the two-day tournament, edging second-place Lehigh by five. The Big Red has won three EIWA titles in a row under head coach Mike Grey and 14 since 2007.

Lehigh pulled close to or ahead of Cornell at various points Saturday, but the Big Red always responded with crucial bonus-point wins.

After Lehigh took the lead at the end of the semifinal round, Baker, Foca and Fernandes rattled off three bonus wins in the consolation semis to put the Big Red back in front. Baker earned a major decision over Myles Takats (Bucknell), Foca pinned Jacob Nolan (Binghamton), and Fernandes stuck No. 2 Cory Day (Binghamton). Those wins gave Cornell a 12-point lead going into the night session.


Lehigh made another charge early in the final round, but No. 1-seeded Fernandez, who was unranked to start the season, beat Harvard's Jack Crook 20-5 by technical fall to give Cornell some breathing room. Ivy Rookie of the Year and No. 1 Shapiro beat No. 3 Max Brignola (Lehigh) 6-3, and Ramirez earned his second straight EIWA title with a 5-3 win over No. 3 Andrew Cerniglia.


In the third-place match at 174 pounds, No. 8 Baker finished his impressive run by beating Ivy League Wrestler of the Year and No. 1 seed Philip Conigliaro (Harvard) for the second straight night. Baker's victory over Conigliaro in the quarterfinal round on Friday punched his ticket to Kansas City.


Cornell Notes and Highlights

Cornell and Lehigh have combined to win every EIWA title since 2002.

The Big Red has crowned at least one EIWA champion in each of the last 21 seasons and in 31 of the last 32 years.

Cornell has finished in the top two as a team at each EIWA Tournament since 2005 (except the 2021 season when it didn't compete).

Cornell has had multiple individual EIWA champions every year it has participated in the tournament since 2007.

Cornell has 175 EIWA champions and 535 place winners in program history.

This is the ninth time nine Cornell wrestlers have qualified for NCAAs in program history. It has happened twice under head coach Mike Grey.

Ramirez became Cornell's 21st two-time EIWA champion.

Shapiro became the first freshman to win an EIWA title since four-time national champion Yianni Diakomihalis in 2018.

Shapiro will enter nationals on an 18-match win streak. He has 12 bonus-point wins during this streak (including three at EIWAs).

With Fernandez's title, Cornell has won the 149-pound EIWA championship three years in a row.

Baker has won seven of his last eight matches after a nine-match losing streak that stretched from December to early February. He has three ranked wins in this stretch.

On his way to a second-place finish, No.2 Cardenas avenged his February loss to No. 3 Lou DePrez (Binghamton).

125: No. 2 Brett Ungar (top 5 qualify for NCAAs)

Round of 16: No. 2 Ungar def. No. 15 Eric Howe (Franklin & Marshall) 17-1 by technical fall

Quarterfinal: No. 2 Ungar def. No. 7 Max Gallagher (Penn) 4-3 by decision

Semifinal: No. 2 Ungar def. No. 3 Diego Sotelo (Harvard) 6-3 by decision

Final: No. 2 Ungar lost to No. 1 Luke Stanich (Lehigh) 6-0 by decision

133: No. 2 Vito Arujau (top 5 qualify for NCAAs)

Round of 16: No. 2 Arujau def. No. 15 Hunter Adrian (Brown) 8-2 by decision

Quarterfinal: No. 2 Arujau def. No. 10 Max Leete (American) 4-2 by decision

Semifinal: No. 2 Arujau def. No. 6 Braden Basile (Army) 12-6 by decision

Final: No. 2 Arujau lost to No. 1 Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) 10-6 by decision

141: No. 2 Vince Cornella (top four qualify for NCAAs)

Round of 16: No. 2 Cornella def. No. 15 Raymond Lopez (American) 9-2 by decision

Quarterfinal: No. 2 Cornella lost No. 7 Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) 4-1 in SV

Consolation Round of 8: No. 2 Cornella lost by medical forfeit to No. 12 Tyler Vasquez (Princeton)

149: No. 1 Ethan Fernandez (top 4 qualify for NCAAs)

Round of 16: No. 1 Fernandez def. No. 17 Braden Bower (Bucknell) 4-1 by decision

Quarterfinal: No. 1 Fernandez def. No. 9 Dominic Findora (Drexel) 17-2 by technical fall

Semifinal: No. 1 Fernandez def. No. 4 Jude Swisher (Penn) 9-6 by decision

Final: No. 1 Fernandez def. No. 6 Jack Crook (Harvard) 20-5 by technical fall

157: No. 1 Meyer Shapiro (top 3 qualify for NCAAs)

Round of 16: No. 1 Shapiro def. No. 17 Andy Garr (Columbia) by fall in 58 seconds

Quarterfinal: No 1 Shapiro def. No. 8 Jonathan Ley (Navy) 18-2 by technical fall

Semifinal: No. 1 Shapiro def. No. 4 Nate Lukez (Army) 11-1 by major decision

Final: No. 1 Shapiro def. No. 3 Max Brignola (Lehigh) 6-3 by decision

165: No. 1 Julian Ramirez (top 5 qualify for NCAAs)

Round of 16: No. 1 Ramirez def. No. 17 Breon Phifer (American) by fall in 1:01

Quarterfinal: No. 1 Ramirez def. No. 9 Cael Berg (Harvard) by fall in 2:10

Semifinal: No. 1 Ramirez def. No. 4 Noah Mulvaney (Bucknell) 10-4 by decision

Final: No. 1 Ramirez def. No. 3 Andrew Cerniglia (Navy) 5-3 by decision

174: No. 8 Benny Baker (top 6 qualify for NCAAs)

Round of 16: No. 8 Baker def. No. 9 Jack Janda (Drexel) 15-7 by major decision

Quarterfinal: No. 8 Baker def. No. 1 Phil Conigliaro (Harvard) 9-4 by decision

Semifinal: No. 8 Baker lost to No. 4 Ben Pasiuk (Army) by fall in 5:41

Consolation semifinal: No. 8 Baker def. No. 7 Myles Takats (Bucknell) 14-4 by major decision

Third-place match: No. 8 Baker def. No. 1 Philip Conigliaro (Harvard) 4-2 by decision

184: No. 1 Chris Foca (top 7 qualify for NCAAs)

Round of 16: No. 1 Foca def. No. 16 Dalton Harkings (Army) 15-0 by technical fall

Quarterfinal: No. 1 Foca def. No. 8 David Key (Navy) 10-6 by decision

Semifinal: No. 1 Foca lost to No. 5 Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia) 9-6 by decision

Consolation semifinal: No. 1 Foca def. No. 6 Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) by fall in 1:16

Third-place match: No. 1 Foca lost to No. 8 David Key (Navy) by inj. default

197: No. 2 Jacob Cardenas (top 6 qualify for NCAAs)

Round of 16: No. 2 Cardenas def. No. 15 Alex Whitworth (Harvard) 15-0 by technical fall

Quarterfinal: No. 2 Cardenas def. No. 7 Jack Wehmeyer (Columbia) 11-3 by major decision

Semifinal: No. 2 Cardenas def. No. 3 Lou DePrez (Binghamton) 4-1 by decision

Final: No. 2 Cardenas lost to No. 1 Michael Beard 6-3 by decision

285: No. 5 Lewis Fernandes (top 8 qualify for NCAAs)

Round of 16: No. 5 Fernandes def. No. 12 Alex Semenenko (Brown) by fall in 3:53

Quarterfinal: No. 5 Fernandes def. No. 4 Keaton Kluever (Hofstra) 13-0 by major decision

Semifinal: No. 5 Fernandes lost to No. 1 Nate Taylor (Lehigh) by fall in 2:28

Consolation semifinal: No. 5 Fernandes def. No. 2 Cory Day (Binghamton) by fall

Third-place match: No. 5 Fernandes def. No. 8 Matt Cover (Princeton) 9-2 by decision

Up Next

The Big Red's qualifiers will compete at the NCAA Championships at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on March 21-23.


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