5 Former PA Wrestlers earn EIWA Championships

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The 2013 EIWA Championships were full of Pennsylvania flavor as 5 of the 10 Champions crowned hail from PA. In total 12 former Keystone State wrestlers earned EIWA Medals including…

Champions:

133 lbs. Randy Cruz – Lehigh (Bethlehem Catholic)

141 lbs. Richard Durso – Franklin & Marshall (Malvern Prep)

157 lbs. Joey Napoli – Lehigh (Cumberland Valley)

174 lbs. Nathaniel Brown – Lehigh (Lewisburg Area)

184 lbs. Steve Bosak – Cornell (State College Area)

 

Runner-ups:

125 lbs. Mark Rappo – University of Pennsylvania (Council Rock South)

157 lbs. Walter Peppelman – Harvard (Central Dauphin)

 

In a re-match of the 2008 PIAA Class AAA State Finals at 145 lbs., former District 3 stars Joey Napoli (Cumberland Valley) and Walter Peppelman (Central Dauphin) faced off in the 157 lbs. EIWA Championship Finals. In 2008 Napoli, a junior, defeated the returning State Champion Peppelman in the State Finals score (7-6). It would be Napoli’s only career State Championship having lost to Dylan Alton (Central Mountain) in the 2009 PIAA State Finals at 152 lbs. Fast forward to March of 2013 and Napoli is a redshirt-junior at Lehigh while Peppelman in a redshirt-senor at Harvard.

In the two previous years Peppelman has earned All-American Status twice, placing eighth in 2011 at 157 lbs., and again placed eighth in 2012 at 157 lbs. In his final season at Harvard Peppelman will be in search of his third straight All-American finish. Napoli was a NCAA National Qualifier in 2011 at 149 lbs. going (1-2) in his first trip to Nationals, falling (6-4 in OT) to Boise State’s Jason Chamberlain who ended up placing third. In the 2011-2012 season Napoli deferred his eligibility and took a redshirt season while making the move to 157 lbs. The Mountain Hawk redshirt junior has settled in just fine at 157 lbs. in 2012-2013 ranking as high as #3 in the Nation by Intermat.

In the finals of the 2013 EIWA Championship the former District 3 State Champions met and like the 2008 PIAA State Finals Joey Napoli was able to upend Peppelman by a score of (5-0) to earn his first career EIWA Championship Title.

Another Lehigh Mountain Hawk from Pennsylvania who earned his first career EIWA Championship title was true-freshman Randy Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic) a 2012 PIAA Class AA State Champion. Cruz rolled through the 133 lbs. bracket as the second seed winning by fall twice and picking up two regular decisions winning by a 5 point margin twice.

Returning NCAA National Champion Steve Bosak of Cornell had no troubles repeating as an EIWA Champion in 2013 finishing the Tournament with a (21-1) point ratio.

Final Brackets can be found here

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