EIWA Complete Results

PHILADELPHIA - Junior heavyweight Chris Birchler became East Stroudsburg University's first NCAA qualifier since 2000 and finished third in his weight class at the 2009 EIWA Championships on Sunday at the Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.

Birchler earned a pair of two-point decisions in the consolation bracket to claim his third place finish and trip to the NCAA Division I Championships, which will be held March 19-21 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

He was pinned by No. 1 seed Ryan Flores of Columbia with 16 seconds left in their semifinal bout after trailing Flores 3-0 at the time of the fall. The loss sent him to the consolation bracket, where he needed a victory to take one of the four automatic national qualifier spots awarded to the EIWA.

Birchler took the mat an hour later against No. 7 Zach Hammond of Cornell and was tied 1-1 with less than 15 seconds to go when he fought off a shot by Hammond and scored a takedown to earn the 3-1 decision.

In the consolation final match with No. 8 D.J. Russo of Rutgers, Birchler recorded four takedowns and was in control throughout to post an 8-6 decision. He improves to 24-5 this season with his 3-1 performance at the EIWA's, including his 10-3 decision of Harvard's Andrew Knapp in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Birchler was ranked 19th at heavyweight in the last ratings percentage index (RPI) that was released two weeks ago. He will be the final ESU wrestler to make an appearance at the NCAA Division I Championships, as the Warriors will reclassify to Division II for the 2009-10 season.

Jeremy Sluyter made four straight trips to the NCAA's from 1997 to 2000, the first two at 118 pounds and the final two at 125 pounds. ESU has had 13 national qualifiers in the last 26 years, including two-time NCAA champion Jack Cuvo in 1988 and 1989.

Redshirt freshman Thad Frick (165) and sophomore Ed Ebewo (184) both made it to the consolation round to wrestle on Sunday as well. Both battled the No. 5-seeded wrestlers in their weight classes and dropped close decisions. Frick pushed Matt DeMichiel of Navy in a 3-1 loss, while Ebewo fell 4-3 to David Thompson of Bucknell.

On Saturday, Frick faced top seed Mack Lewnes of Cornell and was pinned with 35 seconds left while trailing 5-0, then came back to post a 4-1 decision over Brian Rowan of Army.

Ebewo won twice on Saturday after a 10-0 setback against Harvard's Louis Caputo in his opening match. He majored Columbia's James Schulz 14-5 in his first bout in the wrestlebacks, and upset No. 8 Kurt Brendel of Princeton 6-5 before facing Thompson.

165 - Thad Frick
No. 1 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) pinned Frick, 6:25
Frick dec. Brian Rowan (Army), 4-1
No. 5 Matt DeMichiel (Navy) dec. Frick, 3-1

184 - Ed Ebewo
No. 2 Louis Caputo (Harvard) maj. dec. Ebewo, 10-0
Ebewo maj. dec. James Schulz (Columbia), 14-5
Ebewo dec. No. 8 Kurt Brendel (Princeton), 6-5
No. 5 David Thompson (Bucknell) dec. Ebewo, 4-3

285 - No. 4 Chris Birchler
Birchler dec. Andrew Knapp (Harvard), 10-3
No. 1 Ryan Flores (Columbia) pinned Birchler, 6:44
Birchler dec. No. 7 Zach Hammond (Columbia), 3-1
Birchler dec. No. 8 D.J. Russo (Rutgers), 8-6