Within the conference Lehigh ought to shine pretty bright this season. I can see them having as many as 5 EIWA champions. Altogether I see 8 qualifiers and up to 3 All Americans. Lehigh's schedule is not out yet at the date this was written (written, not posted). I hope that when it does come out that they are either participating in CKLV, Midlands or Southern Scuffle. It seems to me that the Mountain Hawks fared better in the seasons that they participated in these tough in-season tournaments. In the years they didn't participate in at least one of them, I think it hurt individual performances at the end of the year.
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| 125 Jaret Lane Junior Record: 38-15 NCAA: 21'NQ EIWA: 21'1st SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 20'R12 |
With the return of Vitali Arujau of Cornell and Patrick Glory of Princeton it is going to be tough for Lane to repeat as EIWA champion, but he should finish a strong 3rd within the conference. Look for a 1-2/2-2 performance at the NCAA's.
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| 133 Brandon Paetzell Senior Record: 71-31 NCAA: 19'NQ, 20'NQ EIWA: 19'3rd, 20'3rd |
Paetzell on the other hand who has finished 3rd twice at the EIWA championships stands a very good shot at winning a conference title for the Mountain Hawks this season. With victories over All Americans Montorie Bridges of Wyoming and Louie Hayes of Virginia, I can see Paetzell sneaking his way into the 7th place match at Nationals. Should prove to be a top 12 wrestler all season.
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| 141 Malyke Hines Freshman Record: 24-7 NCAA: 21'NQ EIWA: 21'1st |
It's going to be a tougher road than it was last year, and I wonder if Hines can win himself EIWA title #2. Zach Trampe of Binghamton, Wil Gil of Franklin & Marshall and Corey Shie of Army are all tough customers, but none strike me as unbeatable for Hines. As to who might be unbeatable? Matt Kazimir of Columbia, who owns a technical fall over Hines. Parity galore, stranger things have happened in the EIWA. As to the the NCAA he owns a very impressive 14-2 major decision over Brian Courtney of Virginia, but I need to see him against other quality 141 lbs'ers before forming too much of an opinion.
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| 149 Jimmy Hoffman Junior Record: 52-26 NCAA: 20'NQ, 21'NQ EIWA: 20'6th, 21'2nd |
I think the EIWA final at this weight will be Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell and Anthony Artalona of Pennsylvania. It's also noted that three seasons ago Hoffman dropped a 16-4 major to A.J. Jaffe of Harvard for whatever that's worth...or isn't. So with that knowledge I see Hoffman battling it out with P.J. Ogunsanya of Army for the 4th place at the EIWA championships. He is 2-3 Vs Ogunsanya thus far.
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| 157 Josh Humphreys Junior Record: 42-13 NCAA: 19'R12, 20'NQ EIWA: 19'1st, 20'1st |
Standing in the way trying to block his path to a third EIWA title will be Quincy Monday of Princeton, whom Humphreys is 3-2 against. Should prove to be an exciting EIWA final. Within the NCAA, among the nations best 157 lbs'ers, I see Humphreys finishing 5th or 6th.
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| 165 Brian Meyer Sophomore Record: 27-31 NCAA: 21'NQ EIWA: 21'3rd |
It's very difficult to say where Meyer will finish at the EIWA championships. Evidence suggest that he could win the whole thing or he might end up fighting just to place. Victories over Ricky Stamm of Hofstra and Evan Barczak of Drexel pose in Meyer's favor. Being 0-2 Vs Grant Cuomo of Princeton and 0-1 Vs Henry Hauge Jr of Navy do not. Perhaps what bodes best for Meyer is that he took EIWA champion Zach Hartman to a 3-2 decision. As said it is tough to say where Meyer finishes but what is for certain is that the higher he places, the better his chances for NCAA qualification.
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| 174 Jake Logan Freshman Record: 20-14 NCAA: 21'NQ EIWA: 21'4th Southern Scuffle: 20'8th |
Logan would have the toughest road of all of his teammates but I do think he's capable of winning an EIWA title this season. Even though EIWA champion Ben Pasiuk of Army majored him 20-11 the first time they met, Logan took him to a 6-5 match their second meeting. Then Logan took EIWA runner-up Michael O'Malley into the tiebreakers. So yes, I can see Logan turning those losses into wins and making a run at the EIWA title.
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| HWT Jordan Wood Senior Record: 88-22 NCAA: 18'R12, 19'4th, 20'NQ*, 21'NQ EIWA: 18'1st, 19'1st, 20'1st, 21'1st MIDLANDS: 17'2nd SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 18'2nd |
Being a 5 time conference champion is an elite group that only a few will ever be in and Jordan Wood has a 99.9999% chance of being one of them. Within the NCAA, as of right now I see Wood finishing 4th or 5th. Might up that or down that as the season progresses, but believe strongly he makes AA for the second time in his career.
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125 - NQ
133 - 7th/8th
141 - NQ
149 - NQ
157 - 5th/6th
165 - NQ
174 - NQ
184 - DNQ
197 - DNQ
HWT - 4th/5th
Not quite the glory years of 2003-2005, but still Lehigh shows to be a solid team, that again should wrestle quite well within the conference.
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