ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A conference championship is on the line this Saturday and Sunday for the Navy wrestling team (5-6, 4-1), as 10 Mids travel to Philadelphia, Pa., to compete in the 119th annual Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championship. Along with the team title, 10 EIWA individual crowns and 45 automatic berths to the NCAA Championship are on the line.

Championship Schedule
Saturday, March 4
10:30 a.m. - Round of 32
10:50 a.m. - Round of 16 & Consolation First Rd
4:40 p.m. - Quarterfinals & Consolation Second Rd
7:30 p.m. - Consolation Third Rd

Sunday, March 5
10:30 a.m. - Semi-finals & Quarterfinal Consolations
12:30 p.m. - Semi-final Consolations & 7th Place
4:30 p.m. - EIWA Hall of Fame Presentations
4:30 p.m. - Finals, 3rd & 5th Place Matches
7:15 p.m. - Team & Special Awards

Streaming Info
• Fans with a FloWrestling subscription can watch all the action at the EIWA Championship. Fans can also stay up to date with free live results on FloArena.

Notes For Traveling Fans
• Fans can gain additional information about parking and ticket purchasing by visiting the EIWA Championship info page at pennathletics.com.

Projected Navy Lineup (2022-23 Record / Career Record)
• 125: Dayton DelViscio (5-6 // 11-14)
• 133: Brendan Ferretti (19-7 // 19-7)
• 141: Josh Koderhandt (23-9 // 49-18)
• 149: Kaemen Smith (8-15 // 8-15)
• 157 Andrew Cerniglia (7-5 // 43-16)
• 165: Val Park (19-12 // 52-38)
• 174: Sammy Starr (17-14 // 30-22)
• 184: David Key (14-8 // 41-21)
• 197: Jacob Koser (22-8 // 76-31)
• 285: Grady Griess (27-5 // 46-11)

Mids In The Rankings (InterMat // Coaches // RPI)
• 133: Brendan Ferretti - 30 // 31 // 19
• 141: Josh Koderhandt - 24 // 28 // 19
• 157: Andrew Cerniglia - NR // 30 // NR
• 165: Val Park - NR // NR // 33
• 184: David Key - 29 // 29 // NR
• 197: Jacob Koser - 27 // 27 // 23
• 285: Grady Griess - 22 // 22 // 14

Navy Notes
• The Mids ended the regular season with a 5-6 dual record while going 4-1 against EIWA opponents. 
• Navy earned victories over Kent State (27-21), Hofstra (21-12), Binghamton (19-18), Bucknell (25-9) and Army (18-13). 
• Andrew Cerniglia (157) was the hero for Navy in its Star Match win over Army back on Feb. 19. Despite not competing since Jan. 21, the junior rallied to score seven points in the final period to defeat Nathan Lukez in the final match by a 7-2 decision. Cerniglia has now sealed the Star Match for Navy twice in his career. 
• Along with his first career individual championship, Jacob Koser (197) has his eyes set on reaching 80 career wins during the weekend. Navy's team captain has 76 in his career and can become the first Navy wrestler to reach 80 career victories since Nicholas Gill ('19) won his 80th match back in 2018.
• Grady Griess (285) looks to reach 30 wins this season in Philadelphia. The junior leads Navy with 27 victories and needs three more to become the 50th Mid to finish with at least 30 wins in a season. Michael Coleman ('18) and Nicholas Gil were the last Mids to win at least 30 matches in a season. Coleman won 34 matches and Gil won 32 during the 2017-18 season.
• Brendan Ferretti (133) is a win away from his 20th overall during his freshman campaign. After an injury at the Bearcat Open kept him off the mat until late December, he came back to win 16 of his final 20 matches, which included a stretch of eight straight victories. He also won seven of his 10 dual matches and won the 133-pound title at the Franklin & Marshall Open. 
• Despite only being a sophomore, Josh Koderhandt (141) can win his 50th career match this weekend. He owns a 49-18 career record and is currently riding a five-match win streak. 
• Along with Cerniglia, David Key (184) stayed undefeated in the Star Match with a 3-2 decision win over Sahm Abdulrazzaq. Both Cerniglia and Key are 3-0 in the Star Match in their careers.
• Dayton DelViscio (125), Ferretti, Kaemen Smith (149), Sammy Starr (174) and Griess will be making their first appearances at the EIWA Championship. Val Park (165) and Koderhandt will make their second, while Cerniglia and Key will make their third. Koser will appear in his fourth and final conference championship. 
• The EIWA Championship pre-seeds were released on Tuesday and six Navy wrestlers were seeded in the top five of their respective weight class. Griess earned the highest seed on Navy's roster, earning the two seed in the heavyweight class, while Koderhandt (#3), Koser (#4), Cerniglia (#4), Ferretti (#5) and Key (#5) also earned a top five seed. 

Qualifying For NCAA Championship
• The EIWA will have 45 automatic bids to the 2023 NCAA Championship.
• 10 individual champions along with 35 pre-allocated spots - 6 at 125 / 5 at 133 / 5 at 141 / 2 at 149 / 3 at 157 / 5 at 165 / 4 at 174 / 4 at 184 / 5 at 197 and 6 at 285 will determine the automatic qualifiers from the EIWA. 
• Each qualifying tournament was awarded pre-allocations to the national tournament based on regular season performance by conference wrestlers through Feb. 19. 
• The pre-allocations were determined by using a sliding scale of the three standards while never going below the base of a .700 winning percentage, top 30 coaches' ranking and top 30 RPI ranking until reaching the maximum of 29 wrestlers per weight class.
• After all the conference tournaments have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in person to select the remaining 46 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 7, while brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 8 p.m. on March 8. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.

Navy EIWA Championship History
• Navy will make its 83rd appearance at the EIWA Championship.
• Navy has won the team title 13 times (1943, '44, '45, '46, '68, '69, '70, '72, '74, '82, '84, '86 and '90) and placed 466 wrestlers in past EIWA competitions, including 108 champions and 98 runners-up. Navy is one of four teams to win the team title at least 10 times.
• Cody Trybus ('21) was the last Midshipmen to win an individual championship when he won the 141-pound title in 2021. 

Navy Individual All-Time Performances At EIWA Championship
Andrew Cerniglia
2021: 3-1, Placed 3rd
• Lost to (5) Jaden Fisher (Bucknell), Dec / 9-4
• Defeated (9) Matt Swanson (Binghamton), Fall / 4:51
• Defeated (3) Parker Kropman (Drexel), Tech Fall / 15-0 (5:22)
• Defeated (6) Luca Frinzi (Lehigh), Major / 10-1

2022: 3-1, Placed 2nd
• Defeated (4) Bryan McLaughlin (Brown), Tech Fall / 22-7 (3:56)
• Defeated (5) Markus Hartman (Army), Dec / 4-2
• Defeated (1) Josh Humphreys (Lehigh), Fall / 2:52
• Lost to (2) Quincy Monday (Princeton), Dec / 9-4

David Key
2021: 2-1, Placed 2nd
• Defeated (7) James Langan (Long Island), Dec / 4-3
• Defeated (3) Taylor Brown (Army), Dec / 7-2
• Lost to (1) Lou DePrez (Binghamton), Dec / 8-3

2022: 1-2, Did Not Place
• Defeated (13) James Araneo (Brown), Dec / 10-9
• Lost to (5) Neil Antrassian (Penn), Dec / 9-6
• Lost to (10) Bryan McLaughlin (Drexel), 12-10

Josh Koderhandt
2022: 3-1, Placed 2nd
• Defeated Matt Templeton (Hofstra), Tech Fall / 19-4 (5:19)
• Defeated (8) Jaxon Maroney (Drexel), Dec / 2-0
• Defeated (4) Dom LaJoie (Cornell), Fall / 7:46 SV
• Lost to (2) Michael Colaciocco (Penn), Dec / 8-4

Jacob Koser
2020: 2-3, Placed 8th
• Defeated (13) Ethan Seeley (Franklin & Marshall), Tech Fall / 16-0 
• Lost to (5) Drew Phipps (Bucknell), Dec / 9-3
• Defeated (15) Sam DePrez (Binghamton), Fall / 3:46
• Lost to (8) Bryan McLaughlin (Drexel), Dec / 3-2
• Lost to (7) Cole Urbas (Penn), Dec / 6-1

2021: 3-1, Placed 3rd
• Defeated (6) Robert Hetherman (Sacred Heart), Fall / 2:00
• Lost to (2) JT Brown (Army), Dec / 3-2 TB1
• Defeated (5) Trey Rogers (Hofstra), Dec / 4-2
• Defeated (4) Bryan McLaughlin (Drexel), Medical Forfeit

2022: 4-1, Placed 3rd
• Defeated (13) Santino Morina (Drexel), Tech Fall / 16-0 (2:21)
• Defeated (5) JT Brown (Army), Dec / 4-2
• Lost to (1) Lou DePrez (Binghamton), Dec / 6-5
• Defeated (9) JT Davis (Lehigh), Major / 11-0
• Defeated (8) Cole Urbas (Penn), Major / 9-0

Val Park
2022: 2-3, Placed 8th
• Lost to (7) Evan Barczak (Drexel), Dec / 4-2 SV
• Defeated (15) Keegan Rothrock (Brown), Major / 14-1
• Defeated (5) Brian Meyer (Lehigh), Dec / 7-2
• Lost to (8) Brevin Cassella (Binghamton), Dec / 3-1
• Lost to (7) Evan Barczak (Drexel), Dec / 5-0

2022 EIWA Championship Recap
• Four of Navy's 10 entrants placed among the top eight in their respective weight classes, including 2022 finalists Koderhandt and Cerniglia, who helped lead the Navy wrestling team to a seventh-place finish at the 118th EIWA Championship with a team score of 63.5 points. 
• Additionally, Koser joined Koderhandt and Cerniglia as automatic qualifiers for the 2022 NCAA Championship with a third-place finish in the 197-pound weight class.
• Park fell just short of becoming an automatic qualifier after placing eighth in his respective weight class.
• Koderhandt earned the top seed in the 133-pound weight class a year ago and made his way to the finals with a 19-4 tech fall (5:19) over Hofstra's Matt Templeton, a 2-0 decision over Drexel's Jaxon Maroney and a fall (7:46 SV) over Cornell's Dom LaJoie. Koderhandt ended in second place after two-seed Michael Colaiocco of Penn defeated Koderhandt by an 8-4 decision in the finals. 
• Cerniglia advanced to the semifinals with a 22-7 (3:56) tech fall over Brown's Jack Bokina and a 4-2 decision over Army's Markus Hartman. He pulled off a major upset in the semifinals, taking down top-seeded Josh Humphreys of Lehigh by fall (2:52). In the finals, he came up short of his first career EIWA title, falling to Princeton's Quincy Monday by a 9-4 decision.
• Koser lost in the semifinals to #1 Lou DePrez of Binghamton by a 6-5 decision but responded with two dominant major decision victories to qualify for the NCAA Championship. He took down JT Davis of Lehigh by an 11-0 major decision in the consolation semifinals and defeated Cole Urbas of Penn by a 9-0 major decision in the third-place match. 

Up Next
Wrestlers who qualify will head to Tulsa, Okla., for the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championship. The three-day event is scheduled from Thursday, March 16 through Saturday, March 18 at the BOK Center.