O'Connor Wins EIWA Title: Three Wrestlers Qualify for NCAA Championships

Photo of J.P. O'Connor, a four-time EIWA placewinner and 2010 champion, courtesy of Gil Talbot.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Senior co-captain J.P. O’Connor won the EIWA title at 157 pounds to lead the Harvard wrestling team at the 106th EIWA Championships at Lehigh’s Stabler Arena. O’Connor, Louis Caputo and Steven Keith automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships later this month.

O’Connor cruised to the finals yesterday winning three matches including two by bonus points. In the 157 pound final, the No.1 ranked wrestler in the nation defeated No. 7 Bryce Saddaris of Navy, 3-1, for his first conference crown. The 2010 Co-Ivy League Wrestler of the Year made his fourth appearance in the championship match. With the win he improves to 30-0 on the season and has 127 career wins, five away from the program record.

Caputo, a unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selection, finished second at 184 pounds after falling to No. 4 Mike Cannon of American, 5-1, in the championship bout. Caputo, who is ranked sixth in the nation, earned a spot in the final after a sudden victory win over Lehigh’s David Craig last night. Caputo is 22-3 on the season and has 125 career victories. He is a four-time EIWA placewinner.

Keith, who was unseeded in the tournament, knocked off the three seeded wrestlers over the two-day tournament to punch a ticket to the NCAAs. He beat third-seed Jasen Borschoff, 9-3, this morning for a chance to wrestle for third place. In the third place match, the Harvard freshman dominated No. 19 Joseph Langel of Rutgers, who was also the No. 2 seed, with a 16-0 technical fall in 3:11.

Harvard finished 11th overall with 52.5 team points.

All three wrestlers will compete at the 2010 NCAA Championships in Omaha, Neb., March 18-20.

125 - Steven Keith
def. No. 8 seed Kyle Gilchrist (Columbia), D, 8-2
fell to No. 2/No. 1 seed Troy Nickerson (Cornell), F, 2:46
def. Lance Penhale (Army), D, 5-3
def. No. 20/No. 3 seed Jasen Borshoff (American), 9-3
def. No. 19/No. 2 seed Joseph Langel (Rutgers), TF, 16-0

157 – No. 1/No. 1 seed J.P. O’Connor
def. Daniel Young (Army), Md, 12-1
def. No. 8 seed Danny Scotton (Princeton), TF, 16-0 (3:41)
def. No. 4 seed Daryl Cocozzo (Rutgers) D, 6-3
def. No. 7/No. 3 seed Bryce Saddaris (Navy), D, 3-1

184- No. 4/No. 2 seed Louis Caputo
def. Kurt Brendel (Princeton), D, 8-0
def. Bran Crudden () Md, 10-2
def. No. 14/No. 3 seed David Craig (Lehigh), D, 3-1 sv
fell to No. 4/No. 1 seed Mike Cannon (American), D, 5-1