ITHACA, N.Y. — No. 27
Matt Kazimir held his No. 1 seed all the way to the top, winning the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championship at 141 pounds to qualify for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships as Columbia Wrestling put eight Lions on the podium in the final day of action at Newman Arena.
In the team standings, the Lions finished fifth, scoring 84.5 points, the most in program history. And the fifth-place finish is the sixth top five finish in school history and best since 2014.
"I am incredibly proud of the team and effort they put forth," said Andrew F. Barth Head Coach of Wrestling
Zach Tanelli. "They were dealt a lot of adversity and they overcame that to wrestle as an entire unit. And when they look back, they can say that this might be the best team that Columbia has produced over the past few decades.
"I really feel like we came to this tournament and made a statement."
Kazimir, who joins No. 18
Joshua Ogunsanya in earning automatic qualification for s became the first Lion to win an EIWA title since 2018 and brought home the 24th individual EIWA title in program history, becoming the 23rd to win at least one title. While the eight podium finishers ties for the most in school history and only the second time that many Lions have finished on the podium.
CHAMPION KAZ: Kazimir, who entered the weekend seeded at No. 1, began his journey to the top with a technical fall win, 18-1, over American's Ethan Szerencsits. He then took care of Navy's Tyler Hunt with a 6-0 decision to wrap up the first day and head into the semifinals.
"Matt is one of the best wrestlers in the country and he is capable of becoming an All-American," said Tanelli. "Matt is a perfect example of what we have been talking to the team about. At the end of the day is this tournament is everything leading into the weekend and then tomorrow it's behind us.
"The goal is to qualify, and Matt came here and qualified. It's a nice feather in his cap to win the tournament and it's an honor he deserves. He has high standards for himself, and I hold him to those same standards in return.
"He is one of the hardest workers we have and the leader of this team. I feel good about where Matt is and I feel as though he is in position to make a deep run at nationals."
The second day begun with a matchup against Bucknell's No. 28 Darren Miller. It was a close bout, but Kazimir showed his resolve and experience to work a 4-2 decision to punch his spot in the finals. The win over Miller put Kazimir in nationals, but there was still work to be done and he knew it.
The finals would be a matchup of the No. 1 and No. 2 seed as Kazimir took the mat against No. 14 CJ Composto of Penn. It was a true battle of the top seeds, and Kazimir took the lead early, but Composto showed his own resolve, consistently taking neutral to work a takedown.
But Kazimir's defense was exactly where it needed to be, actively fighting off any Composto attack and when the final whistle blew, Kazimir was crowned an EIWA Champion.
OGIE RUNS UP: Ogunsanya entered the second day already punching his ticket to nationals, but still had his eyes on a top finish. But first he had to get past the No. 1 seed in No. 12 Julian Ramirez of Cornell. The Lion 165-pounder was up to the task, battling to a 6-4 decision to put himself in position to wrestle for a championship.
"Joshua continues to make adjustments from week-to-week and he is one of the most coachable guys I have ever worked with," said Tanelli. "I'm not surprised that he did some of things he did this weekend as well as he did.
"He keeps making improvements and the results show that. He is super consistent and I'm excited to see what he can do in his first national tournament. He has proven that he can handle the pressure and I'm just really proud of him."
He faced an equally tough No 13. Philip Conigliaro of Penn in the finals, and an early takedown and backpoints for the Penn 165-pounder created a hole that Ogunsanya could not work his way out of, falling via decision, 8-3, to place second at 165 pounds.
PODIUM LIONS: Columbia finished the day tying the program history for most podium finishes at the EIWA Championships, and after the top two Lions the next best finish came from No. 32
Joe Manchio who placed fourth at 125 pounds. He was joined inside the top five by
Danny Fongaro who placed fifth at 149 pounds.
Two Columbia grapplers placed themselves on the podium in seventh, with
Nick Fine (174) and
Brian Bonino (184) battling their way to a win in their seventh-place matches to earn the honor. The final two Lions to get on the podium was
Sam Wustefeld (197) and
Danny Conley (285).
SPORTSMAN LIONS: For the third time in program history and first time since 2013 the Lions were awarded The Good Sportsmanship Award. The Good Sportsmanship Award is voted on annually by the working officials of the EIWA Championships in order to recognize good sportsmanship.
COLUMBIA RESULTS
EIWA Championships (Day Two)
Ithaca, N.Y. (Newman Arena)
125 | No. 32
Joe Manchio: L, TF 2-17 v. No. 2 Patrick Glory; W, dec. 3-2 v. Sheldon Seymour (LEH); L, maj. 2-10 v. No. 3 Ryan Miller
141 | No. 27
Matt Kazimir: W, dec. 4-2 v. No. 28 Darren Miller (BUCK); W, dec. 6-4 v. No. 14 CJ Composto
149 | Danny Fongaro: W, dec. 10-4 v. Nick Lombard (BING); L, dec. 4-5 v. No. 26 Max Brignola (LEH); W, M FOR v. No. 20 PJ Ogunsanya (ARMY)
165 | No. 18
Joshua Ogunsanya: W, dec. 6-4 v. No. 12 Julian Ramirez (COR); L, dec. 3-8 v. No. 13 Philip Conigliaro
174 | Nick Fine: L, dec. 0-5 Jacob Nolan (BING); W, F (6:24) v. Nate Dugan (PRIN)
184 | Brian Bonino: L, v. Bryan Mclaughlin (DREX); W, dec. 3-2 v. Cory Day (BING)
197 | Sam Wustefeld: W, dec. 2-1 v. JT Davis (LEH); L, dec. 1-4 v. No. 26 JT Brown (ARMY)
285 | Danny Conley: L, maj. 0-8 v. Matt Cover (PRIN); L, SV-1 1-3 v. Cenzo Pelusi (F&M)
NEXT UP: Columbia will find out on Tuesday, Mar. 8 if they have received any at-large qualifying bids for the National Championships and on Wednesday, Mar. 9 the brackets will be released ahead of nationals. The Division I Wrestling National Championships are set to get going on Mar. 17 and run until Mar. 19 and are held at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
FOLLOWING THE LIONS: Stay up to date on all things Columbia Wrestling by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsWR), Instagram (@culionswr) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).
