I can see the Dragons having up to 6 NCAA qualifiers this season. Some will have a tougher road to qualification than others, but overall I can see some good things happening at the EIWA tournament. From where I sit Drexel has one strong contender for an EIWA title & two others more than capable of high place finishes.
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| 125 Antonio Mininno Junior Record: 20-37 NCAA: 20'NQ EIWA: 20'7th |
No guarantee, it'll be a fight, but Mininno is capable of another top 8 EIWA finish and qualifying for his second NCAA appearance. Among the field he has a win over Mike Colaiocco of Pennsylvania and two victories over Dylan Ryder of Hofstra.
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| 149 Parker Kropman Senior Record: 67-40 NCAA: 19'NQ, 21'NQ EIWA: 19'WC, 20'4th, 21'5th |
The one thing that is for certain when Parker Kropman steps onto the mat, is that he has a chance to win. A 3-1 victory over three time All American Matt Kolodzik of Princeton and an 8-6 victory over Jared Prince of navy are all the proof anyone needs of that. With Kropman, it's never a bad idea to think "upset." With that said, on paper, I can't see him beating Yanni Diakomihalis of Cornell but he's taken Anthony Artalona of Pennsylvania into both overtime and tiebreakers. Everyone else in the EIWA though, if fair game. Kropman is very capable of a 3rd or even 2nd place EIWA finish.
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| 157 Luke Nichter Freshman Record: 8-3 NCAA: 21'NQ EIWA: 21'3rd |
Both of his parents played varsity basketball in college and he ends up a wrestler. Go figure. Had a pretty decent showing in his first varsity year last season. Took 3rd at the EIWA's and had two victories over Hofstra's Greg Gaxiola. A move up to 157 I think will prove to be a challenge, and like Mininno it'll be a fight but he should place top 8 EIWA and contend for NCAA qualification.
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| 165 Evan Barczak Junior Record: 59-37 NCAA: 21'NQ EIWA: 21'4th |
I can't see him defeating Zach Hartman of Bucknell or Philip Conigliaro of Harvard. Those are matches I can't see him winning. Brian Meyer of Lehigh defeated Barczak 6-3 last season & there are some other tough wrestlers in the EIWA as well. Tough to say where Barczak will place, but if he wrestles a really good tournament I could see him as high as 3rd.
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| 174 Michael O'Malley Sophomore Record: 51-18 NCAA: 20'NQ, 21'NQ EIWA: 20'4th, 21'2nd SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 19'7th |
If the Dragons have a hope for an EIWA champion, I think it lies in Michael O'Malley. An EIWA runner-up last season, he dropped a tight 2-1 decision to Army's Ben Pasiuk. I also think that Hofstra's Sage Heller will be a contender, whom O'Malley owns a 6-4 decision over, but O'Malley is in the hunt. His most impressive win to date is a 5-3 victory over All American Ben Womack of Cornell.
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| 184 Bryan McLaughlin Junior Record: 44-36 NCAA: 20'NQ, 21'NQ EIWA: 20'6th, 21'4th |
After qualifying for the NCAA championships at 197 the past two seasons, McLaughlin moves down to 184 lbs this season. He had wins such as 5-4 decision over Nick Reenan and a 5-4 decision over Jake Koser of Navy at 197. One would think he'll have those types of wins at 184 too.
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125: NQ
133: DNQ
141: DNQ
149: NQ
157: NQ
165: NQ
174: NQ
184: NQ
197: DNQ
HWT: DNQ
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