VESTAL, N.Y. — Semifinalists Nicholas Gil (Sr / Crystal Lake, Ill.), Jared Prince (Jr / Safety Harbor, Fla.), Tanner Skidgel (So / Tulsa, Okla.) and Spencer Carey (Jr / Ringwood, N.J.) are among the seven Navy wrestlers who will advance to Saturday's competition as the opening day of the 115th EIWA Championship held at Events Center in Vestal, N.Y. came to a close Friday evening. The Midshipmen stand fifth in the team standings with 54.0 points.

Defending EIWA Champion Lehigh finds itself atop the team standings with a three-point cushion over Cornell and Princeton (85.0-82.0). Lehigh has nine wrestlers remaining in the competition, including six who will appear in Saturday's semifinals, while Cornell and Princeton have eight wrestlers left in the tournament, including six who will also see action in the semis. Army is seven points back in fourth place (78 pts) and is the only team in the field with all 10 wrestlers still active in the tournament. Navy rounds out the top five with 54 points and seven wrestlers advancing to Saturday's action.

The EIWA received 47 automatic bids to the NCAA Championship (March 21-23 at PPG Paints Arena / Pittsburgh) when the NCAA announced its qualifier allocations last week. Each qualifying tournament was awarded spots per weight class based on current year data including Division I winning percentage, RPI and a coaches ranking. Wrestlers who fail to qualify this weekend will be eligible for one of 44 at-large berths which will be announced on Tuesday, March 12.  Automatic qualifier allocations for the EIWA are as follows:  4 at 125 / 4 at 133 / 3 at 141 / 5 at 149 / 6 at 157 / 4 at 165 / 5 at 174 / 6 at 184 / 6 at 197 / 4 at 285.

Competition resumes Saturday morning at 10:00 am with the semifinals and consolation quarterfinals.

Team Scores
1.  85.0 - Lehigh
2.  82.0 - Cornell
     82.0 - Princeton
4.  78.0 - Army
5.  54.0 - Navy
6.  45.5 - Binghamton
7.  42.0 - American
8.  37.0 - Brown
9.  33.5 - Columbia
10. 32.0 - Drexel
11. 26.5 - Penn
12. 22.5 - Bucknell
13. 22.0 - Franklin & Marshall
14. 11.0 - Harvard
15. 9.0 - Hofstra
16. 0.0 - Sacred Heart

Navy Results at 2019 EIWA Championship
125:  Jacob Allen (0-2)
• 13-16 this season | 13-16 career
• One of seven Navy wrestlers to make their first EIWA appearance
Round of 16: lost to (1) Vitali Arujau, Cornell / Dec / 7-4
Consolation of 8 #1: lost to Trey Keeley, Brown / Dec / 8-1 TB2

133:  (4) Casey Cobb (2-1, Advances to Day 2)
• 24-10 this season | 24-10 career
• One of seven Navy wrestlers to make their first EIWA appearance
• One of five first-time EIWA entries for Navy to survive the opening day of competition and advance
Round of 16: def Hunter Kosco, Brown / Dec / 4-3
Quarterfinals: lost to (5) Lane Peters, Army / Dec / 3-2
Consolation of 8 #2: def Geo Barzona, Bucknell / Dec / 1-0
Consolation Quarterfinals: (8) Doug Zapf, Penn

141:  (2) Nicholas Gil (2-0, Advances to Day 2)
• 27-5 this season | 105-38 career
• One of four Navy wrestlers to advance to the EIWA Semifinals
• Having competed in three EIWA Championships, will make his second consecutive appearance in the EIWA Semifinals.
• Now stands to 8-5 all-time at the EIWA Championship
• With 105 career victories, Gil needs just one win to tie 12th-place Ed Prendergast (2005-08).
Round of 16: def Gerard Daly, Sacred Heart / Tech Fall / 19-2 (4:34)
Quarterfinals: def (7) Marshall Keller, Princeton / Major Dec / 10-0
Semifinals: (6) Corey Shie, Army

149:  (4) Jared Prince (2-0, Advances to Day 2)
• 18-8 this season | 65-23 career
• One of four Navy wrestlers to advance to the EIWA Semifinals
• Having competed in three EIWA Championships, will make his third consecutive appearance in the EIWA Semifinals and will battle Princeton's Matt Kolodzik in the semis for a third year in a row.
• Now stands to 10-2 all-time at the EIWA Championship
Round of 16: def Zach Krause, Brown / Dec / 5-0
Quarterfinals: def PJ Ogunsanya, Army / Dec / 1-0
Semifinals: (1) Matt Kolodzik, Princeton

157:  Quentin Hovis (2-1, Advances to Day 2)
• 11-11 this season | 27-17 career
• One of seven Navy wrestlers to make their first EIWA appearance
• One of five first-time EIWA entries for Navy to survive the opening day of competition and advance
Round of 16: lost to (1) Zach Hartman, Bucknell / Dec / 1-0
Consolation of 8 #1: def (9) Evan Barczak, Drexel / 12-5
Consolation of 8 #2: def (10) Joe Oliva, Penn / Fall / 1:26
Consolation Quarterfinals: (4) Dan Reed, Columbia

165:  (3) Tanner Skidgel (2-0, Advances to Day 2)
• 18-8 this season | 23-11 career
• One of seven Navy wrestlers to make their first EIWA appearance
• One of five first-time EIWA entries for Navy to survive the opening day of competition and advance
• One of four Navy wrestlers to advance to the EIWA Semifinals
Round of 16: def Evan DeLuise, Penn / Dec / 2-0
Quarterfinals: def (6) Laurence Kosoy, Columbia / Dec / 3-0
Semifinals: (2) Jon Viruet, Brown

174:  (4) Spencer Carey (2-0, Advances to Day 2)
• 23-12 this season | 38-22 career
• One of seven Navy wrestlers to make their first EIWA appearance
• One of five first-time EIWA entries for Navy to survive the opening day of competition and advance
• One of four Navy wrestlers to advance to the EIWA Semifinals
Round of 16: def Connor Allshouse, American / Fall / 2:40
Quarterfinals: def (5) Vincent DePrez, Binghamton / Dec / 7-3
Semifinals: (1) Jordan Kutler, Lehigh

184:  (9) Anthony Cable (1-2)
• 17-15 this season | 23-23 career
• One of seven Navy wrestlers to make their first EIWA appearance
Round of 16: lost to (8) Kyle Inlander, Bucknell / Dec / 5-3 SV
Consolation of 8 #1: def Leo Tarantino, Harvard / Dec / 5-3
Consolation of 8 #2: lost to (10) Brian Bonino, Columbia / dec / 3-1 SV

197:  (5) Joshua Roetman (2-1, Advances to Day 2)
• 23-9 this season | 38-21 career
• One of seven Navy wrestlers to make their first EIWA appearance
• One of five first-time EIWA entries for Navy to survive the opening day of competition and advance
Round of 16: def Sam Wusterfeld, Columbia / Fall / 1:55
Quarterfinals: lost to (4) Stephen Loiseau, Drexel / Dec / 4-2
Consolation of 8 #2: def Anthony DePrez, Binghamton / Dec / 6-1
Consolation Quarterfinals: (10) Tucker Ziegler, Brown

285:  (10) Thomas Ott (0-2)
• 10-16 this season | 28-44 career
Round of 16: lost to (7) Antonio Pelusi, Franklin & Marshall / Dec / 4-3 TB2
Consolation of 8 #1: lost to Ben Goldin, Penn / Dec / 2-0


### Go Navy ###