WR3-4

Sluyter-EIWA Championships

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - For the second straight year, East Stroudsburg University's Jeremy Sluyter was upset in the 125-pound championship match at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships.

Sluyter, the top seed, fell to second-seeded Bruce Kelly of Lehigh, 6-4, Saturday night. He had beaten Kelly twice during the regular season, 4-1, in the finals of the Sheridan Invitational at Lehigh in December and, 9-6, in a dual match two weeks.

The ESU senior from Towanda advanced to the finals and gained a berth in the NCAA Wrestling Championships by trouncing Ryan Brennan of Rutgers, 15-0 on a technical fall in 3:30, in the semi-finals. Kelly beat third-seeded Aaron Taylor of Cornell, 5-2, in the semis.

The finalists at the ten weight classes plus nine wild cards qualified for the nationals. It will be Sluyter's fourth straight appearance in the NCAA tournament which is scheduled for St. Louis March 16-18.

In the finals, Kelly scored a takedown with 1:47 left in the first period and gave up an escape ten seconds later to make it, 2-1. Sluyter was down in the second period and escaped after only 20 seconds to tie the match at 2-2.

In the third period, the Warrior lightweight rode for more than a minute, but Kelly reversed with 41 seconds remaining to take a 4-2 lead. Sluyter escaped with 35 seconds left to tie it at 4-4, but Kelly reversed again with 20 seconds to go for the winning points.

"The key was that Jeremy usually takes his opponents down and he didn’t get a single takedown," said ESU Coach Angelo Borzio. "He just doesn't seem to wrestle in the finals the way he does in other matches."

Both wrestlers were ranked in the latest InterMat national rankings with Sluyter 16th and Kelly, a sophomore from Newark, De., 17th. Sluyter will take a 26-6 record into the nationals while Kelly will carry a 24-9 mark.

The Warriors had one other place-winner, Rich Koehler sixth at heavyweight. Koehler beat Eric Gust of Army, 9-2, in the consolation quarter-finals, but then was pinned by Bronson Lingamfelter of Brown in 4:32 and bowed to Seth Charles of Cornell, 7-3.

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How ESU Wrestlers did:

125 - Jeremy Sluyter def. Ryan Brennan (Rutgers), 15-0, 3:50; lost to Bruce Kelly (Lehigh), 6-4. Second Place

141 - Brad Kleckner lost to Greg Austin (Rutgers), 14-9. Eliminated

285 - Rich Koehler def. Eric Gust (Army), 9-2; was pinned by Bronson Lingamfelter (Brown), 4:32; lost to Seth Charles (Cornell), 7-3. Sixth Place

Championship Matches

125 - Bruce Kelly (Lehigh ) def. Jeremy Sluyter (ESU), 6-4

133 - Livio DiRubbo (Brown) def. Jason Nagle (Penn), 13-9

141 - Matt Goldstein (Lehigh) def. Ben New (Cornell), 4-2

149 - Dave Esposito (Lehigh) def. Jon Gough (Penn), 16-6

157 - Brett Matter (Penn) def. Leo Urbinelli (Cornell), 6-1

165 - Joey Killar (Harvard) dec. Travis Doto (Lehigh), 6-5

174 - Rick Springman (Penn) pinned Ed Mosley (Harvard), 6:40

184 - Rob Rohn (Lehigh) dec. Karl Rittger (Brown), 11-5

197 - Corey Anderson (Cornell) def. Justin Woodruff (Navy), 1-0

285 - Bandele Adeniyi-Bada (Penn) def. Dawid Rechul (Harvard), 3-2

Third-Place Matches

125 - Aaron Taylor (Cornell) pinned Ryan Brennan (Rutgers), 1:35

133 - Zane Stickel (Navy) def. Sean Doyle (Cornell), 4-2

141 - Jody Giuricich (Penn) def. Mark Conley (Navy), 4-2

149 - Max Odom (Harvard) pinned Alex Berman (Cornell), 2:39

157 - Chris Vitale (Lehigh) pinned Kevin Kurtz (Harvard), 4:35

165 - Troy Yegge (Army) def. Brad McDonald (Brown), 7-6

174 - Maurice Worthy (Army) def. Mark Dufresne (Lehigh), 3-2

184 - Tom Tanis (Rutgers) def. Gbeng Akinnabge (Bucknell), 12-4

197 - Mike Fickell (Penn) def. Matt Greenberg (Columbia), 5-4

285 - Shawn Laughlin (Lehigh) def. Bronson Lingamfelter (Brown)

Fifth-Place Matches

125 - Brett Gendron (Army) def. Marc Steyer (Princeton), 6-5

133 - Tristan Boyd (Lehigh) def. Matt Picarsic (Harvard), 8-6

141 - Greg Austin (Rutgers) def. David Dies (Brown), 8-4

149 - Jeffrey Bernd (Princeton) def. Jason Mercado (Brown), 11-5

157 - Don Waters (Navy) def. Craig Frost (Franklin and Marshall), 6-2

165 - Tim Ortman (Penn) def. Greg Parker (Princeton), 4-3

174 - Joe Tucceri (Cornell) def. Mark Newman (Army), 8-6

184 - Pat O'Donnell (Harvard) pinned Rost Aizenberg (Cornell), 5:57

197 - Paul Castellini (Rutgers) def. John Paxton (Army), 13-4

285 - Seth Charles (Cornell ) def. Rich Koehler (ESU), 7-3