HAMPSTEAD, NY – Wrestling in the 149 pound weight class, Frankie Garcia, Binghamton Bearcats and former Norwich state champion, placed second at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championship Tournament on Sunday, March 4 at Hofstra University.
With 10 Binghamton Bearcats making the EIWA tournament field, Gracia along with Tristan Rifanburg of Norwich and Joe Nelson of Oxford received pre-seeds on Thursday, March 1. Determined on Friday, Gracia was named a 10-seed, Rifanburg was unseeded and Nelson received a No. 7 seed.
Action started on the mats for the three wrestlers that hail from Chenango County on Saturday.
Garcia took his first match of the day with a 21-14 comeback win over the No. 7 Seed Trevor Elfvin of Drexel.
Trailing 10-2 through the first period, Gracia landed a takedown after a leg shot. Eight near fall points later, Gracia held a 13-12 lead. He went on to score another eight points to help his cause through the first match.
Facing Cornell’s Will Koll, Gracia scored first with an early takedown. Leading 2-1 after the first, Gracia tallied another point with an escaped in the third to take a 3-1 win in the quarterfinals and move into Sunday’s semifinals.
Lehigh’s Cortlandt Schuyler was Gracia’s next foe of the tournament. Getting out to an early lead, Gracia took the match win with a final of 7-4, landing in the finals.
With the NCAA’s taking the top two wrestlers from each of the 10 weight classes, Gracia – a redshirt sophomore – received an automatic bid to the championship tournament that will be held on March 16 and 17.
Gracia took on Princeton’s Matt Kolodzik, the No. 11 ranked wrestler in the nation at 149-pounds.
Able to tack on two takedowns and two escapes, Gracia scored six points in the match but the 141 pound EIWA champion beat the Norwich grad with a final of 13-6.
Gracia’s Long-time teammate from high school and now in college together, Rifanburg snagged a eighth-place podium finish, wrestling his way back through the 157 pound field after losing a tough, heartbreaking first match of the tournament.
Cornell’s Fredy Stroker topped Rifanburg with a 3-2 decision. But Rifanburg rebounded quickly when he defeated Bucknell’s Christian Bassolino with a 13-2 major decision.
Taking on the No. 6 seed, Brown’s Ian Brown, Rifanburg used the second period take down and four count back points to top Brown with his second major decision of the day. With a final score of 9-0, Rifanburg continued his journey through wrestleback rounds into Sunday’s championship day.
Rifanburg, once the 14th ranked 157 pound wrestler in the nation this season, faced a familiar opponent. Penn’s Joe Velliquette and Rifanburg faced each other in January. Rifanburg took the first meeting with an 8-4 win over the Quakers’ wrestler with five seconds left in the third period, capturing the dual match win over Penn, 19-18.
