LEWISBURG, Pa. - Navy wrestling junior Josh Koderhandt (141) was crowned an Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) champion for the first time in his career during the second day of the 120th EIWA Championship at Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg, Pa. 

Koderhandt, who entered the tournament ranked 13th in the country and first in the league, claimed the 110th EIWA individual championship in team history. He is the third mid (Mark Conley - 2001, '02; Cody Trybus - 2019, '20) to win the 141-pound EIWA title.

With his placement in the tournament, Koderhandt earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship for the third-consecutive season. 

Also punching their ticket to nationals were No. 16 Andrew Cerniglia (165), David Key (184) and No. 18 Grady Griess, who placed second, third and seventh in their respective weight class. 

The Mids finished in sixth place as a team with 79.5 points and were one of only four programs with an individual champion. Cornell won the team title with 164.5 points. 

Koderhandt scored a takedown in the opening period in his semifinal match against No. 18 CJ Composto of Penn. Composto quickly scored an escape to make the score, 3-1. Composto later recorded an escape to make it a one-point match heading into the third. Koderhandt scored an escape three seconds into the final period and then recorded his second takedown a minute later to build a 7-2 lead. Koderhandt earned a spot in the finals after pinning Composto at the 6:39 mark to win by fall. 

In the championship bout, Bucknell's Dylan Chappell scored an escape in the second period to go up, 1-0. Koderhandt answered with a takedown midway through the period and then scored a four-point near fall to gain a 7-1 advantage. Koderhandt padded his lead with an escape and another takedown in the third period. He also secured the riding time point to win the title match by a 12-2 major decision. 

Cerniglia finished in second place in his respective weight class. The senior began the day by defeating Binghamton's No. 17 Brevin Cassella in the semifinals by a 7-0 decision. Cerniglia put three points on the scoreboard with a takedown in the opening period. Casella surrendered two free points from a penalty and stalling to help Cerniglia take a 5-0 lead. Cerniglia added an escape and the riding time point to claim the match and advance to the finals.

Cornell's No. 3 Julian Ramirez recorded a takedown in the first period of the championship bout. Cerniglia responded with an escape to make the score, 3-1. Ramirez took a 5-1 lead in the second period after scoring a reversal. Cerniglia scored his second escape eight seconds later. Cerniglia began the third period with another escape to put him in a position to take the lead with a takedown. Ramirez kept Cerniglia off the scoreboard for the remainder of the match to win by a 5-3 decision. 

Cerniglia will wrestle in the NCAA Championship for the third time in his career. He previously qualified for nationals during his freshman and sophomore campaigns. 

Key defeated three ranked opponents en route to his third-place finish. 

He started the day in the consolation quarterfinals against Penn's No. 21 Max Hale. Key was called for stalling for the second time in the first period, giving Hale an early one-point advantage. Hale took a 2-0 lead by recording an escape in the second period. Key scored his first point from an escape in the third period. Key didn't score the remainder of the match, but secured the riding time point to tie the match at 2-2. Key recorded the match-winning takedown in sudden victory to come out on top by a 5-2 decision. 

Key used a big first period to defeat No. 23 James Conway of Franklin & Marshall in the consolation semifinals. Key scored a takedown just eight seconds into the match and added his second later in the period to gain a 6-1 cushion. Conway scored two points in the final 12 seconds of the first period from an escape and the second stalling call against Key. Conway recorded another escape early in the second period to cut Key's lead to just two points. Key scored an escape to start the third period and held Conway scoreless for the remainder of the match. Key also earned the riding time point to win by an 8-4 decision. 

Key won the third-place bout over Cornell's No. 7 Chris Foca by injury default. 

The senior is headed to nationals for the second-straight year and third time overall. 

Griess earned his second trip to the NCAA Championship during the first day of the EIWA tournament. He began the second day with his third match of the season against Binghamton's No. 17 Cory Day. The match was tied, 3-3, in the third period and Day scored the match-winning takedown with 23 seconds remaining to win by a 6-4 decision.  

Griess then wrestled in the seventh-place match, where he defeated No. 20 Keaton Kluever of Hofstra by medical forfeit. 

Twenty-eighth-ranked Danny Wask (174) also finished in seventh place in his respective weight class. 

Wask took the mat against Harvard's No. 5 Phil Conigliaro in the consolation quarterfinals. After falling behind, 4-0, Wask recorded a takedown with 47 seconds left in the match to trim Conigliaro's lead to one point. Conigliaro countered with an escape to regain a two-point advantage. Conigliaro gave Wask a free point for stalling with two seconds left on the clock, but he still won the match by a 5-4 decision. 

Wask responded with a victory in the seventh-place bout by a 4-2 decision over Binghamton's Dimitri Gamkrelidze.

Wask will await to see if he qualifies for nationals as an at-large selection. The 47 at-large qualifiers will be selected by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee on March 12. 

The NCAA Championship will be held from March 21-23 at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas, City, Mo.

2024 EIWA Championship Team Standings
1. Cornell, 164.5 points
2. Lehigh, 159.5 points
3. Army, 95.5 points
T4. Penn, 90.5 points
T4. Columbia, 90.5 points
6. Navy, 79.5 points
7. Bucknell, 72 points
T8. Binghamton, 68.5 points
T8. Princeton, 68.5 points
10. Harvard, 52 points
11. Brown, 35 points
12. Drexel, 28.5 points
T13. Franklin & Marshall, 27 points
T13. American, 27points
15. Long Island, 25 points
16. Hofstra, 15 points
17. Sacred Heart, 9.5 points

Navy 2024 EIWA Championship Individual Results
125 - (14) Dayton DelViscio (0-2, Did Not Place)
• Rd of 16: lost to (3) #23 Diego Sotelo, Harvard / Major / 16-5
• Cons. of 8 #1: lost to (6) Nick Babin, Columbia / Fall / 1:55

133 - (7) Brendan Ferretti (0-2, Did Not Place)
• Rd of 16: lost to (10) Maximilian Leete, American / Dec / 7-2
• Cons. of 8 #1: lost to (15) Hunter Adrian, Brown / Major / 15-6

141 - (1) #13 Josh Koderhandt (4-0, Champion)
• Rd of 16: defeated (16) Vincent Milazzo, Sacred Heart / Fall / 2:13
• Quarterfinals: defeated (8) Pat Phillips, Franklin & Marshall / Dec / 5-0
• Semifinals: defeated (4) #18 CJ Composto, Penn / Fall / 6:39
• Finals: defeated (7) Dylan Chappell, Bucknell / Major / 12-2

149 - (7) Kaemen Smith (1-2, Did Not Place)
• Rd of 16: lost to (10) Drew Witham, Long Island / Major / 13-4
• Cons. of 8 #1: defeated (16) Samuel Mcmonagle, Brown / Tech Fall / 17-2 (5:00)
• Cons. of 8 #2: lost to (5) #29 Eligh Rivera, Princeton / Major / 13-5

157 - (8) Jonathan Ley (1-2, Did Not Place)
• Rd of 16: defeated (9) Riley Bower, Bucknell / Dec / 10-3
• Quarterfinals: lost to (1) #6 Meyer Shapiro, Cornell / Tech Fall / 18-2 (5:14)
• Cons. of 8 #2: lost to (6) Jurius Clark, Hofstra / Dec / 8-4

165 - (3) #16 Andrew Cerniglia (3-1, 2nd Place)
• Rd of 16: defeated (13) Keegan Rothrock, Brown / Fall / 2:30
• Quarterfinals: defeated (6) #28 Cody Walsh, Drexel / Major / 13-0
• Semifinals: defeated (2) #17 Brevin Cassella, Binghamton / Dec / 7-0
• Finals: lost to (1) #3 Julian Ramirez, Cornell / Dec / 5-3

174 - (5) #28 Danny Wask (3-2, 7th Place)
• Rd of 16: defeated (12) Jonathan Conrad, Brown / Major / 14-3
• Quarterfinals: lost to (4) #14 Benjamin Pasiuk, Army / Dec / 4-1 SV1
• Cons. of 8 #2: defeated (15) Connor Herceg, Lehigh / Dec / 7-4
• Cons. of 4: lost to (1) #5 Phil Conigliaro, Harvard / Dec / 5-4
• Seventh Place: defeated (11) Dimitri Gamkrelidze, Binghamton / Dec / 4-2

184 - (8) David Key (5-1, 3rd Place)
• Rd of 16: defeated (9) Jack Wilt, Lehigh / Dec / 5-4
• Quarterfinals: lost to (1) #7 Chris Foca, Cornell / Dec / 10-6
• Cons. of 8 #2: defeated (11) Leo Tarantino, Harvard / Tech Fall / 19-3 (6:26)
• Cons. of 4: defeated (4) #21 Max Hale, Penn / Dec / 5-2 SV1
• Cons. Semi: defeated (2) #23 James Conway, Franklin & Marshall / Dec / 8-4
• Third Place: defeated (1) #7 Chris Foca, Cornell / Injury Default

197 - (12) Cael Crebs (1-2, Did Not Place)
• Rd of 16: lost to (5) #25 Cole Urbas, Penn / Fall / 6:55
• Cons. of 8 #1: defeated (13) Nikolas Miller, Hofstra / Major / 8-0
• Cons. of 8 #2: lost to (7) #28 Jack Wehmeyer, Columbia / Dec / 12-6

285 - (3) #18 Grady Griess (3-2, 7th Place)
• Rd of 16: defeated (14) Santino Morina, Drexel / Major / 15-1
• Quarterfinals: lost to (6) #27 Lucas Stoddard, Army / Dec / 2-2 TB2 *
• Cons. of 8 #2: defeated (9) John Stout, Penn / Fall / 6:23
• Cons. of 4: lost to (2) #17 Cory Day, Binghamton / Dec / 6-4
• Seventh Place: defeated (4) #20 Keaton Kluever, Hofstra / Med Forfeit
*Stoddard was awarded the win for accumulating more riding time in TB2

2024 EIWA Championship Notes
• Navy has placed 478 wrestlers and won 110 individual titles in its 85 appearances in the EIWA Championship. Both rank third in EIWA history
• Koderhandt owns a 12-2 record in the EIWA Championship. He has placed second (2022), third (2023) and first (2024) in his three appearances 
• Koderhandt won two matches by fall and outscored his additional two opponents, 17-2
• The junior tied his career high with his eighth win by fall this season 
• Koderhandt has won 11 of his last 12 matches dating back to the regular season. He now leads the team with 76 victories in his career
• The Belleville, Ill., native matched his career high by defeating a ranked wrestler for the seventh time this season
• Koderhandt is the third mid to be crowned an EIWA champion under head coach Cary Kolat
• Cerniglia has placed in three of his four appearances in the EIWA Championship (3rd - 2021; 2nd - 2022; 2nd - 2024)
• Key has also placed in three of his four EIWA tournaments (2nd - 2021; 3rd - 2023; 3rd - 2024)
• Griess' victory over Kluever is the 75th in his career. He leads the Mids with 24 victories this season