Four of Navy's 10 entrants placed among the top eight in their respective weight classes, including 2022 finalists Josh Koderhandt (Fr / 133 / Belleville, Ill.) and Andrew Cerniglia (So / 157 / Nazareth, Pa.), who helped lead the Navy wrestling team to a seventh-place finish at the 118th EIWA Championship held Saturday and Sunday at Newman Arena at Bartels Hall in Ithaca, N.Y. Jacob Koser (Jr / 197 / Dillsburg, Pa.) joins Koderhandt and Cerniglia as automatic qualifiers for the 2022 NCAA Championship (March 17-19 at Little Caesars Arena / Detroit).

Cornell, who hosted the tournament for the first time since 2003, crowned three individual champions (125, 149, 184) en route to winning the team title for the first time since 2017. Penn (133), Columbia (141), Princeton (157), Harvard (165), Drexel (174), Binghamton (197) and Lehigh (285) accounted for the remaining individual winners. The Big Red paced the field with 153 points, placing nine wrestlers among the top eight. Penn followed in second with 143 points, followed by Princeton (120.5), Lehigh (111), Columbia (84.5), Binghamton (79.5), Navy (63.5), Army (57), Harvard (49) and Drexel (47) rounding out the top 10.

Koderhandt and Cerniglia wrestled in the championship bout in their respective weight classes for the first time in their careers. Koderhandt, the top seed at 133 pounds, not only earned a spot in the finals by defeating Cornell's Dom LaJoie in the semifinals, it also assured him of a ticket to the NCAA Championship. Koderhandt's escape to open the third period pushed the match into extra minutes where the rookie would not only get the takedown, but he finished the move by pinning fourth-seeded LaJoie. Koderhandt, however, fell short of capturing the title, as second-seeded Michael Colaiocco snapped Koderhandt's winning streak at eight with an 8-4 decision. Koderhandt now stands 25-7 on the year and boasts the most wins by a Navy freshman since Jared Prince went 27-9 as a rookie in 2016-17.

Fourth-seeded Cerniglia picked up one of the biggest wins of the tournament when he turned a takedown by top-seeded Josh Humphreys of Lehigh into a win by fall with under 10 seconds remaining in the opening period. The win not only derailed on opportunity for Humphreys to win a third-consecutive EIWA title at 157 pounds, it punched Cerniglia's ticket to his second-straight NCAA Championship. Cerniglia fell behind early in his match to second-seeded Quincy Monday of Princeton who went on to take the match by a 9-4 decision. Cerniglia will head to the NCAA Championship with a 27-6 record, having recorded the most wins by a Navy wrestler since Nicholas Gil turned in a 29-8 record in 2018-19.

Koser, the #4 seed at 197 pounds, trailed top-seeded and defending two-time EIWA Champion Lou DePrez 6-3 going into the third period of the semifinals. DePrez spent the entire period fending off Koser and was called three times for stalling (1:13, 0:44, 0:19), but the Navy junior would fall short in his quest to claim the title in a 6-5 loss. To Koser's credit, he fought back and beat his next two competitors by a combined mark of 20-0, beating JT Davis of Lehigh by major decision (11-0) in the consolation semifinals and Cole Urbas of Penn by major decision (9-0) in the third-place match. The win over Davis, the #9 seed, clinched Koser's second NCAA bid in the last two seasons.

Val Park (Jr / 165 / Edmond, Okla.), the #10 seed, had high hopes of also punching his ticket to the NCAA Championship, needing to finish seventh or better to qualify. Park opened the day by dropping a 3-1 decision to Binghamton's Brevin Cassella in the consolation round of four before seventh-seeded Evan Barczak of Drexel dealt Park a 5-0 setback in the seventh-place bout. It was Park's second loss in the tournament to Barczak after dropping a 4-2 decision in sudden victory in the opening match of the tournament.

While the EIWA received 42 automatic bids to the NCAA Championship, wrestlers who failed to qualify over the weekend will be eligible for one of 43 at-large berths. The at-large announcement will be made on Tuesday, while brackets and seeding will be announced at 6:00 pm on Wednesday via ncaa.com(.) All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.


2022 EIWA Championship | March 5-6, 2022 | Ithaca, N.Y.
Team Scores
1.  153.0 - Cornell (125 Vitali Arujau / 149 Yianni Diakomihalis / 184 Jonathan Loew)
2.  143.0 - Penn (133 Michael Colaiocco)
3.  120.5 - Princeton (157 Quincy Monday)
4.  111.0 - Lehigh (285 Jordan Wood)
5.  84.5 - Columbia (141 Matt Kazimir)
6.  79.5 - Binghamton (197 Lou DePrez)
7.  63.5 - Navy
8.  57.0 - Army
9.  49.0 - Harvard (165 Philip Conigliaro)
10.  47.0 - Drexel (174 Mickey O'Malley)
11.  39.5 - Bucknell
12.  36.0 - Hofstra
13.  29.0 - Franklin & Marshall
14.  26.5 - Brown
15.  25.5 - American
16.  5.0 - Sacred Heart
17.  3.0 - LIU

Coaches' Trophy - Outstanding Wrestler of the EIWA Championship
Vitali Arujau, Cornell

John Fletcher Memorial Award - Most cumulative teams points at the EIWA Championship (career)
Jordan Wood, Lehigh (109.0)

Billy Sheridan Memorial Award - Most falls in least time (championship bracket)
Lewis Fernandes, Cornell (2 falls / 3:36)

EIWA Coach of the Year
Roger Reina, Penn

Good Sportsmanship Award
Columbia

Navy Results at 2022 EIWA Championship
125 - (6) Jacob Allen (1-2, Did Not Place)
• Rd of 16: defeated (11) Robbie Sagaris, LIU / Fall / 2:44
• Quarterfinals: lost to (3) Ryan Miller, Penn / Dec / 7-4
• Cons. of 8 #2: lost to Sheldon Seymour, Lehigh / Dec / 5-4

133 - (1) #22 Josh Koderhandt (3-1, 2nd Place)
• Rd of 16: defeated Matt Templeton, Hofstra / Tech Fall / 19-4 (5:19)
• Quarterfinals: defeated (8) Jaxon Maroney, Drexel / Dec / 2-0
• Semifinals: defeated (4) Dom LaJoie, Cornell / Fall / 7:46 SV
• Finals: lost to (2) Michael Colaiocco, Penn / Dec / 8-4

141 - (9) Tyler Hunt (1-2, Did Not Place)
• Rd of 16: defeated (8) Danny Coles, Princeton / Dec / 7-5
• Quarterfinals: lost to (1) Matt Kazimir, Columbia / Dec / 6-0
• Cons. of 8 #2: lost to (14) Justin Hoyle, Hofstra / Dec / 3-2

149 - (13) Jonathan Miranda (1-2, Did Not Place)
• Rd of 16: lost to (4) PJ Ogunsanya, Army / Fall / 3:57
• Cons. of 8 #1: defeated (12) Ricky Cabanillas, Brown / Dec / 9-7 SV
• Cons. of 8 #2: lost to (7) Lukus Stricker, Harvard / Major / 12-1

157 - (4) #23 Andrew Cerniglia (3-1, 2nd Place)
• Rd of 16: defeated (13) Jack Bokina, Brown / Tech Fall / 3:56
• Quarterfinals: defeated (5) Markus Hartman, Army / Dec / 4-2
• Semifinals: defeated (1) Josh Humphreys, Lehigh / Fall / 2:52
• Finals: lost to (2) Quincy Monday, Princeton / Dec / 9-4

165 - (10) Val Park (2-3, 8th Place)
• Rd of 16: lost to (7) Evan Barczak, Drexel / Dec / 4-2 SV
• Cons. of 8 #1: defeated (15) Keegan Rothrock, Brown / Major / 14-1
• Cons. of 8 #2: defeated (5) Brian Meyer, Lehigh / Dec / 7-2
• Cons. of 4: lost to (8) Brevin Cassella, Binghamton / Dec / 3-1
• 7th/8th Place: lost to (7) Evan Barczak, Drexel / Dec / 5-0

174 - (9) Cael Crebs (1-2, Did Not Place)
• Rd of 16: lost to (8) Jacob Nolan, Binghamton / Dec / 6-2
• Cons. of 8 #1: defeated Drew Clearie, Brown / Dec / 5-0
• Cons. of 8 #2: lost to (6) Ben Pasiuk, Army / Dec / 9-4

184 - (4) #30 David Key (1-2, Did Not Place)
• Rd of 16: defeated (13) James Araneo, Brown / Dec / 10-9
• Quarterfinals: lost to (5) Neil Antrassian, Penn / Dec / 9-6
• Cons. of 8 #2: lost to (10) Bryan McLaughlin, Drexel / Dec / 12-10

197 - (4) #25 Jacob Koser (4-1, 3rd Place)
• Rd of 16: defeated (13) Santino Morina, Drexel / Tech Fall / 16-0 (2:21)
• Quarterfinals: defeated (5) JT Brown, Army / Dec / 4-2
• Semifinals: lost to (1) Lou DePrez, Binghamton / Dec / 6-5
• Consolation Semifinals: defeated (9) JT Davis, Lehigh / Major / 11-0
• 3rd/4th Place: defeated (8) Cole Urbas, Penn / Major / 9-0

285 - (6) Ryan Catka (1-2, Did Not Place)
• Rd of 16: lost to (11) Isaac Righter, American / Fall / 6:26
• Cons. of 8 #1: defeated (14) Lear Quinton, Brown / Dec / 3-1
• Cons. of 8 #2: lost to (9) Cenzo Pelusi, Franklin & Marshall / Dec / 3-2

### Go Navy ###