Six Penn wrestlers headed to nationals after placing at EIWA champs

Heavyweight Matt Feast will headline a group of six Penn wrestlers who placed in last weekend's Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships and will compete in the NCAA championships this weekend in Kansas City, Mo. Feast cruised to his first-ever EIWA title at 285 pounds with a 4-1 victory over Lehigh's Joe Sahl. Feast, a sophomore who will be participating in his second NCAA Championships, has now won 14 consecutive matches. Entering next weekend's action Feast will boast a 30-3 record on the season and hold the No. 6 ranking nationally. Accompanying Feast will be senior leader Jody Giuricich, junior Doug McGraw, sophomore Paul Velekei, and freshmen sensations Matt Herrington and Matt Valenti. Giuricich solidified his place in the season-ending tournament after finishing second in the EIWAs, a run which included a 7-6 victory over Cornell's Dustin Manotti at 149 pounds. Manotti had handed Giuricich two of his six losses on the season, including a key win in Cornell's dual meet win over Penn this season which helped the Big Red win the Ivy League. With his second place finish, Giuricich will enter the NCAA Championships with an improved national ranking of 12. Valenti also provided the Quakers with a second-place finish as he lost a heart-breaking 3-1 decision in the finals at 125 pounds. Valenti was in perfect position to pick up his first-ever EIWA championship as he was tied with No. 2 Travis Lee of Cornell with only seconds remaining in the match. Valenti was holding the advantage in riding time, which would have served as the tie-breaker and provided the freshman with a huge upset. However, Lee was able to stave off defeat as he scored a two point take-down with a mere five seconds remaining. Despite the tough loss, Valenti will head into NCAA's ranked No. 14. The freshman also became the first rookie wrestler to notch a 30-win season since Penn's all-time leader in wins Brett Matter accomplished the feat in 1996. McGraw earned his ticket to Kansas City with a 4-1 victory over Mark Smith of East Stroudsburg at 141 pounds in the consolation match. McGraw was beaten, 7-5, by Brown's Clint Frease in hard- fought semifinal before recovering and winning a third place finish. Also finishing in third place for the Quakers was sophomore 184 pound Paul Velekei. Velekei rebounded from an 11-2 semifinal loss, by defeating Harvard's P.J. Jones, 7-3, and Rutger's Ryan McGrath, 9-4. Herrington finished in fifth place at EIWA's with a 20-5 technical fall victory over East Stroudsburg's John Carr at 174 pounds. The victory came after Herrington was beaten in the semifinals by Andrew Roy of Rutgers, but his performance was enough to earn the freshman a wild-card entry into the NCAAs. Also placing for the Quakers was fellow freshman Matt Eveleth who finished fourth after a one point loss, 9-8, in the consolation match against Army's Bernard Gardner. Eveleth reached the consolation final after a dominating 7-1 victory over Princeton's Brian Kirshbaum. Despite the fourth-place finish, Eveleth did not receive a bid to participate in the season-ending NCAA Championships.

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