2026 EIWA Championships Day Two Recap

By Austin Sommer, EIWA Sports Information Director

The 122^nd EIWA Championships have concluded. After two long days, the dust has settled. All 26 automatic qualifiers are bolded in the results below. The atmosphere was fantastic, thanks to the American University staff, administration, and support system. Many programs had historical weekends, which will be discussed in the following recap.

Full brackets can be found HERE

Highlights

Lehigh wins 40^th EIWA team title – the most for any school in EIWA history

Drexel and Navy place wrestlers at all 10 weights

Leete and Campos earn American's first EIWA individual titles since 2012

American's eight place winners set a school record

Morgan State boasts two NCAA Qualifiers – the first since its 2023 program reinstatement

Eugene Harney becomes Morgan State's first EIWA Champion

Binghamton boasts two NCAA qualifiers under first year head coach Ryan LeBlanc

Franklin & Marshall's seven place finishers set a school record

Team Scores

125lbs – Two Allocations

Lehigh's Sheldon Seymour and Navy's Andrew Binni automatically qualified for Cleveland in two weeks. Seymour claimed his second EIWA title with three bonus point wins on the weekend. He will look to repeat as All-American while Binni makes his first trip to the NCAA Championships.

Desmond Pleasant of Drexel will look to receive an at-large bid after two close wins to earn third place. His coaches' ranking will hold some weight in the discussion.

Finals – #1 Sheldon Seymour (LEH) MD #3 Andrew Binni (NAVY) 17-6

3^rd – #2 Desmond Pleasant (DREX) DEC #6 Carson Wagner (BING) 10-7

5^th –#7 Charlie Farmer (AWP) MD #4 James Garcia (F&M) 10-0

7^th –#5 JJ Peace (AMER) FALL #8 Kade Davidheiser (BUCK) 4:23

133lbs – Two Allocations

The top two seeds hold for a finals showdown where American's Max Leete met Army West Point's Ethan Berginc. Leete made the crowd erupt with his huge overtime throw to win in dramatic fashion. He claimed American's first conference title since 2012. It was very fitting to make history in front of his home crowd.

Leete will make his second appearance at NCAAs, while Berginc will compete for the fourth time in his exceptional career. He is the fifth wrestler in Army West Point history to achieve this feat.

Drexel's Kyle Waterman just missed out on the automatic bid, so he will look for an at-large bid. With a few wins over wrestlers in the coaches' rankings, he will be in the conversation. Morgan State's Treshaun Tecson was a double-digit seed to place sevemth after a great tournament.

Finals – #1 Maximilian Leete (AMER) DEC #2 Ethan Berginc (AWP) 9-2OT

3^rd –#3 Kyle Waterman (DREX) DEC #7 Brendan Ferretti (NAVY) 4-1OT

5^th – #8 Dillon Arrick (BING) FF #5 Gauge Shipp (HOF)

7^th – #11 Treshaun Tecson (MSU) DEC #4 Mason Leiphart (F&M) 6-3

141lbs – Three Allocations

This was another weight class where the top two seeds met in the finals. Lehigh's Luke Stanich claimed his second EIWA title in two tries. He secured three major decisions in the process. He was an All-American in 2024 at 125lbs. He will try to improve upon his fifth place NCAA finish.

Caedyn Ricciardi made the finals as a freshman but was outmatched by Stanich. Earning the third automatic qualifying spot is Bucknell's Dylan Chappell. He will compete at NCAAs for the fourth time in his career. Last season, he was a top 12 finisher and looks to land on the podium in 2026.

Braden Basile is in the pool for at-large consideration. With his ranking of 19 in the coaches' panel and 11 in the RPI, one should like his odds of earning an at-large bid to NCAAs.

Finals – #1 Luke Stanich (LEH) MD #2 Caedyn Ricciardi (NAVY) 14-3

3^rd – #4 Dylan Chappell (BUCK) DEC #3 Braden Basile (AWP) 7-2

5^th – #5 Bryce Kresho (F&M) DEC #10 Chase Liardi (HOF) 5-1

7^th – #6 Jordan Soriano (DREX) FF #8 Jack Maida (AMER)

149lbs – One Allocation

Eugene Harney of Morgan State and Riley Bower of Bucknell met in the finals after claiming the top two seeds. Harney made history becoming the first Morgan State wrestler to win an EIWA Championship. He avenged his lone EIWA loss during the year. The redshirt freshman may be at the top of this weight class for years to come.  

Lehigh's Carter Bailey entered as the #11 seed and outperformed it with a fourth place finish. He has placed at EIWAs three times in his career at three different weights.

Kaemen Smith of Navy ends his career with back-to-back third place finishes.

Finals – #1 Eugene Harney (MSU) DEC #2 Riley Bower (BUCK) 6-5

3^rd – #4 Kaemen Smith (NAVY) MD #11 Carter Bailey (LEH) 14-6

5^th – #3 Deon Pleasant (DREX) DEC #5 Gage Owen (AMER) 6-2

7^th – #9 Alex Turley (HOF) DEC #8 Pat Phillips (F&M) 9-6OT

157lbs – Two Allocations

Lehigh's Logan Rozynski earned EIWA gold again after claiming the crown last season. Rozynski is two for two in EIWA appearnces as a Sophomore!

Yannis Charles, of Morgan State, may have had one the most impressive runs in EIWA history. As the twelfth seed, he knocked off the #5, #4, and #1 seeds en route to the finals. With his semi-final win, he became the first Morgan State NCAA qualifier since its reinstatement in 2023.

Jonathan Ley of Navy will have to be considered for an at-large bid. His season resumé is likely impressive enough to earn one. He is ranked #22 in the coaches' panel, and has an RPI of 18.

Luke Nichter earned his fourth EIWA podium finish of his career with a seventh place finish.

Finals – #2 Logan Rozynski (LEH) MFF #12 Yannis Charles (MSU)

3^rd – #1 Jonathan Ley (NAVY) DEC #4 Fin Nadeau (BING) 4-2

5^th – #7 Cade Wirnsberger (BUCK) DEC #3 Joe Antonio (AWP) 4-3

7^th – #5 Luke Nichter (DREX) DEC #10 Josh Hillard (F&M) 7-6

165lbs – Four Allocations

Lehigh's Max Brignola took home EIWA gold, while Noah Mulvaney of Bucknell earnedl the silver comping from the #3 seeded position. Both wrestlers will compete at NCAAs for the third time. Brignola is a senior looking to end his career as an All-American.

The third and fourth qualifying spots were earned by Gunner Filipowicz of Army West Point and Cody Walsh of Drexel. Filipowicz will make his third trip to NCAAs, while Walsh makes his first appearance as a senior. Walsh's win over Elmore in the quarterfinals came after three losses in as many matches against the Midshipman.

Navy's Dylan Elmore had a great season to earn an allocation for the conference. This, along with his 25^th coaches' ranking, should make him a great candidate to receive an at-large bid.

Morgan State's Greenwood and American's Craft were double-digit seeds who finished on the podium.

Finals – #1 Max Brignola (LEH) DEC #3 Noah Mulvaney (BUCK) 4-2

3^rd – #2 Gunner Filipowicz (AWP) MD #5 Cody Walsh (DREX) 18-9

5^th – #4 Dylan Elmore (NAVY) DEC #7 Jordan Brown (BING) 5-2

7^th – #10 Joshua Greenwood (MSU) DEC #11 Austin Craft (AMER)

174lbs – Three Allocations

Top-seeded Myles Takats of Bucknell takes home gold at this deep weight class. He defeated Binghamton's Carter Baer in the finals.

Baer of Binghamton upset Danny of Wask of Navy, who was an All-American a year ago.

Wask wrestled back for third to claim the final automatic bid.

Looking for an at-large bid will be Andrew Christie of Army West Point and Drexel's Jasiah Queen. Queen's resumé may have a slight advantage, as he appears in the coaches' rankings at #29. Plus, he has numerous wins over ranked opponents, including Takats. Christie earned a win over Queen, which will be used to his advantage in the discussion amongst the selection committing when awarding at-large bids.

Finals – #1 Myles Takats (BUCK) DEC #3 Carter Baer (BING) 5-2

3^rd – #2 Danny Wask (NAVY) MD #5 Andrew Christie (AWP) 12-0

5^th – #4 Jasiah Queen (DREX) DEC #7 Cort Vann (MSU) 2-1

7^th – #8 Richie Grungo (LEH) DEC #11 Hunter Hohman (AMER) 10-3

184lbs – Three Allocations

Caleb Campos upset No. 5 James Conway, of Franklin & Marshall, in the finals. Campos earned Outstanding Wrestler for his efforts. He was American's second champion of the day, electrifying the home crowd in the process.

Lehigh's Rylan Rogers punched his ticket to Cleveland with a win for third place over Army's Cooper Haase. Haase came in as the 12^th seed. His 4th place finish vastly outperformed his seed. Haase joins Bucknell's Tyler Bienus and Navy's Daniel Williams in the at-large selection discussion. Bienus carries a #33 ranking in the coaches' ranking with a #27 ranking in the RPI – which gives him a slight advantage over his fellow EIWA competitors. Williams and Bienus split matches on the weekend. Haase and Williams also split matches on the weekend so it really shows how competitive this weight class was.

Finals – #3 Caleb Campos (AMER) DEC #1 James Conway (F&M) 8-5

3^rd – #2 Rylan Rogers (LEH) DEC #12 Cooper Haase (AWP) 5-0

5^th –#4 Tyler Bienus (BUCK) DEC #5 Daniel Williams (NAVY) 1-0

7^th – #7 Ethan Wilson (DREX) FF #9 Bryce Phillips (MSU)

197lbs – Two Allocations

Dillon Bechtold of Bucknell returned to the EIWA finals, this time winning gold after a runner-up finish last season. He will make his second NCAA appearance. Binghamton's Mikey Squires, now a graduate student, will make his NCAA debut after four years at Princeton.

There are three wrestlers who have strong cases to earn an at-large bid. Hall and Frable have RPI rankings of #27 and #28, respectively. Frable has a coaches' rank of 33. Davis may be on the outside looking in due to not having a ranking in either category.

Finals – #1 Dillon Bechtold (BUCK) DEC #2 Mikey Squires (BING) 4-0

3^rd – #4 Zyan Hall (NAVY) DEC #5 JT Davis (LEH) 6-5

5^th – #3 Wolfgang Frable (AWP) TF #7 Will Conlon (HOF) 17-2

7^th – #6 Ibrahim Ameer (DREX) TF #8 RJ Moore (F&M) 18-3

285lbs – Four Allocations

Nathan Taylor claims his second EIWA title after one pin and two decisions. This is his third trip to the national tournament, where he was a top 12 finisher during his last visit in 2024. Navy's Spencer Lanosga avenged a regular season loss to Brady Colbert of Army West Point to claim third.

American's Ulrich was one win away from an automatic bid, so he will need an at-large bid. His RPI of #28 will help his case. Brendan Gilchrist was Sacred Heart's lone place winner with a 4-1 win over Chris Powell from LIU.

Finals – #2 Nathan Taylor (LEH) DEC #4 Nate Schon (DREX) 4-1

3^rd – #3 Spencer Lanosga (NAVY) DEC #1 Brady Colbert (AWP) 2-1

5^th – #5 Emmanuel Ulrich (AMER) MFF #7 Logan Shephard (BUCK)

7^th – #11 Brendan Gilchrist (SHU) DEC #8 Chris Powell (LIU) 4-1

Awards

Coach of the Year – Pat Santoro, Lehigh

John Fletcher Memorial Award (most career EIWA tournament team points) – Nathan Taylor, Lehigh

Billy Sheridan Memorial Award (most falls in least amount of time) – Nathan Taylor, Lehigh

Most Outstanding Wrestler Award – Caleb Campos, American

The at-large selections for the to complete each 33-man bracket are scheduled to be released on Tuesday, March 10. The brackets will be released shortly thereafter. Last season, the EIWA ended the NCAA Tournament with four All-Americans. Good luck to all of this year's wrestlers competing in Cleveland!