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AU Wrestling Heads to EIWA Championships
Eagles fight to earn spot at NCAAs in Kansas City

March 6, 2003 | Seedings

Jared Hyman is aiming towards a bid at the NCAA Championships.

WASHINGTON -- The American University wrestling team competes in the nation’s oldest and largest conference tournament, the 99th Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Tournament, this weekend at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

The EIWA will send 20 to the NCAAs with 16 wild cards to be chosen by the coaches for a total of 36. The NCAA Championships will be held March 19-21 at Kemper Arena and Kansas City, Mo.

American finished the regular season at 2-16 with back-to-back wins over Wagner and George Mason in the beginning of February. The Eagles opened the season at the Bearcat Open in Binghamton, N.Y. before competing at the Cornell Invitational.

Redshirt junior Jared Hyman (Norcross, Ga./Norcross) has a 16-7 record while competing at heavyweight this year. Hyman is expected to finish among the top six in this division. Other AU wrestlers who should fare will are redshirt juniors Aaron Baker (Amarillo, Texas/Tascosa) and Aviv Bercovicz (Ocean, N.J./Ocean Township), and freshman Tom Kniezewski (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown).

Baker, who has compiled a 12-11 record, will compete at 165-pounds. His last win came on Feb. 22 when he defeated Virginia’s Will Durfee with a 23-7 technical fall. Bercovicz is enjoying a two-match winning streak at 149-lbs. after clinching victories over Northern Iowa’s Steve Ertl in overtime, 7-5, and Virginia’s Reed Laundery, 20-4. Kniezewski has proved to be the strongest new face for the Eagles, compiling an 11-13 record at 141-lbs.

Sophomore Eric Fantegrossi (Needham, Mass./Needham) will wrestle for AU at 157-lbs. while freshmen Eric Levine (Newton, Mass./Newton South) and Daniel Lobsenz (Fairfield, Conn./Choate) will compete at 133-lbs. Sophomore Kyle Mason (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) is 5-15 at 184-lbs. and sophomore Adam Montgomery (Belmont, Calif./Juniperra Serra) will compete at 174-lbs. Junior Matt Pelligrino (Manalapan, N.J./Freehold) rounds out the American representatives at 125-lbs.

It has been a transitional year for the reinvigorated program. After near closure, the wrestling program received an outburst of support from alumni to keep it intact. AU hired first-time head coach and renowned trainer Mark Cody, and maintained third-year assistant coach Shawn Enright. The Eagles also added assistant coach John Hanrahan.

American University is in its first year of existance in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA). Members of the EIWA are Army, Harvard, Columbia, Lehigh, Cornell, Navy, Rutgers and American. AU completed its final year in the Colonal Athletic Association in 2001 and moved to the Patriot League while the wrestling team joined the EIWA.