BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Bryce Kresho is still fighting for one of the three allocations at 141 lbs. to earn his ticket to the NCAA Division I National Championships after day one of the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships. Kresho advanced to the semifinals and finished his day at 2-1 overall. In doing so, he put himself in a position where two more wins on Saturday would qualify him to the national tournament in Philadelphia.
In addition to Kresho having already secured a top six individual finish, Josh Hillard (149 lbs.) and RJ Moore (197 lbs.) have both earned spots on the podium where they will each wrestle in seventh place bouts on Saturday morning.
Kresho started his tournament with back-to-back falls against to Morgan State and Lehigh. The fifth-seeded Diplomat started his championship with a second period fall against the newcomers to the conference before he was locked in a 6-6 bout with the 33rd-ranked wrestler in the country. The junior captain earned his nationally-ranked win to add to his Division I leading victory total by turning his opponent and clamping him to the mat at the 6:17 mark. Kresho's only defeat came to top-seeded and seventh-ranked Josh Koderhandt of Navy by an 11-5 decision. Kresho will return to mats on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. against sixth-seeded Rich Treanor of Army, needing two consecutive wins to secure a third-place finish and spot in the national tournament.
Hillard and Moore will also return to the mats at 10 a.m. on Saturday after winning consolation matches to earn their spot on the podium. Hillard entered the tournament as the No. 9 seed, but defeated seventh-seeded Drew Witham of LIU by an 8-3 decision during his first consolation match. After a narrow to 2-0 defeat to Bucknell, Hillard will have a chance to avenge his opening round loss to Drexel's Dominic Findora in his seventh-place match.
Moore earned his way onto the podium in his first EIWA Championship after his day got off to a thrilling start. Tied at five-all late in the third period, American's Carsten Rawls got a takedown with 21 seconds to go in regulation, but Moore would not give up and got a reversal for the pin with just two seconds to spare to advance to the quarterfinals. Dropping a bout to the top seed from Lehigh, Moore secured three takedowns against his opponent from Morgan State to officially book his ticket to Saturday where he will face Hofstra's Nikolas Miller in the seventh place match.
Jack Parker (125 lbs.) and Mason Leiphart (133 lbs.) both entered the tournaments as No. 8 seeds at their weight classes and won their opening bouts. Leiphart won his first match by an 12-1 major decision and had top-seeded Ethan Bergnic of Army down 7-0 in the first period in what looked to be one of the major upsets on day one of the EIWA Championships. However, Bergnic was able to force sudden victory before getting the takedown during the extra time in an 11-8 final. Parker won his opening bout by a 6-3 score before running into the top seed. He was winning his consolation round match and looking for a spot on the podium before his opponent came away with the fall.
Saturday will conclude the two-day EIWA Championship with consolation semifinals and seventh place matches set to begin at 10 a.m. The first, third, and fifth place matches will follow at approximately 12 p.m. noon.
#8 Jack Parker (125 lbs.)
Round of 16: Won vs. #9 Dylan Acevedo-Switzer (Hofstra); 6-3
Quarterfinals: Lost vs. #1 Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh); TF: 5:35 (21-5)
Consolation of 8 #2: Lost vs. #10 Julian Dawson (Morgan State); F: 3:44
#8 Mason Leiphart (133 lbs.)
Round of 16: Won vs. #9 Chase Liardi (Hofstra); 12-1
Quarterfinals: Lost vs. #1 Ethan Berginc (Army); 11-8 (SV)
Consolation of 8 #2: Lost vs. #10 Brendan Ferretti (Navy); 8-4
#5 Bryce Kresho (141 lbs.)
Round of 16: Won vs. #12 Myrin Nixon (Morgan State); F: 4:10
Quarterfinals: Won vs. #4 Carter Bailey (Lehigh); F: 6:17
Semifinals: Lost vs. #1 Josh Koderhandt (Navy); 11-5
Consolation Semifinals: vs. #6 Rich Treanor (Army) (Saturday; 10 a.m.)
#9 Josh Hillard (149 lbs.)
Round of 16: Lost vs. #8 Dominic Findora (Drexel); 9-0
Consolation of 8 #2: Won vs. #7 Drew Witham (LIU); 8-3
Consolation of 4: Lost vs. #11 Braden Bower (Bucknell); 2-0
Seventh Place: vs. #8 Dominic Findora (Drexel) (Saturday; 10 a.m.)
#10 Luke Bender (157 lbs.)
Round of 16: Lost vs. #7 Fin Nadeau (Binghamton); 8-1
Consolation of 8 #2: Lost vs. #10 Felix Lettini (Sacred Heart); Def: 2:22
#9 Josh Palmucci (165 lbs.)
Round of 16: Lost vs. #8 Cody Walsh (Drexel); 1-0
Consolation of 8 #2: Lost vs. #11 Kaden Milheim (American); 11-6
#11 Nick Alvarez (174 lbs.)
Round of 16: Lost vs. #6 Caleb Campos (American); TF: 7:00 (17-2)
Consolation of 8 #2: Lost vs. #4 Jasiah Queen (Drexel); TF: 5:49 (19-4
#12 Noah Bash (184 lbs.)
Round of 16: Lost vs. #5 Logan Deacetis (Bucknell); TF: 4:41 (16-1)
Consolation of 8 #2: Lost vs. #11 Hunter Perez (Sacred Heart); 19-5
#8 RJ Moore (197 lbs.)
Round of 16: Won vs. #9 Carsten Rawls (American); F: 6:58
Quarterfinals: Lost vs. #1 Michael Beard (Lehigh); TF: 2:44 (21-6)
Consolation of 8 #2: Won vs. #10 Eric Washington, Jr. (Morgan State); 11-2
Consolation of 4: Lost vs. #4 Wolfgang Frable (Army); TF: 3:37 (17-0)
Seventh Place: vs. #7 Nikolas Miller (Hofstra) (Saturday; 10 a.m.)
#10 Brody Kline (285 lbs.)
Round of 16: Lost vs. Brendan Gilchrist (Sacred Heart); F: 4:44
Consolation of 8 #2: Lost vs. #8 Logan Shephard (Bucknell); 15-4
