LEWISBURG, Pa. – Just three months after returning from an injury that ended his 2022-23 season, Lou DePrez continues to make his final season at Binghamton a memorable one. On Friday, he won both of his matches in the first two rounds of the EIWA Championships at Bucknell University's Sojka Pavilion to earn an automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Cory Day also earned his second career bid to nationals after winning two matches during the day.
 
This will be the fifth time that DePrez will compete at nationals, a program record for Division I. The graduate student previously made the national tournament four straight years from 2019-22. He earned All-American status in both 2020 and 2021, with the first honor being given to him by the NWCA after the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
 
DePrez, the No. 3 seed in this year's EIWA tournament, began the day by recording his eighth technical fall of the season when he defeated No. 14Liam Volk-Klos 16-1 at 3:42. In the quarterfinals against Franklin & Marshall's John Crawford, DePrez had a 3-0 lead over the No. 6 seed before surging ahead and pinning him for his fourth fall of the year. Not only did the win give DePrez his spot at nationals, but it helped him advance to the semifinals, as he pursues his fourth EIWA Championship.
 
DePrez is one of two Binghamton wrestlers remaining in the championship bracket. The other is Brevin Cassella. The No. 2 seed in the 165 lbs., bracket, Cassella started out by defeating Penn's Adam Thomson 4-2. Cassella then held another opponent to two points when he beat Columbia's Kyle Mosher 8-2. Cassella is aiming to win his first EIWA championship on Saturday after finishing on the podium three times in his career (8th in 2021, 5th in 2022, 4th in 2023).

Day won his opening match as the No. 2 seed in the heavyweight bracket against No. 15 Jeffrey Crooks of Harvard by pinning him 1:04 into the match. It is the 10th pin Day has had against a Division I opponent this season. Only nine other DI wrestlers across the country had at least 10 falls heading into this week. In the quarterfinals, Day was defeated by No. 7 seed Darion Crosby of Bucknell 8-2. Day would finish the session on a high note by defeating No. 12 seed Alex Semeneko of Brown 5-1 to guarantee a finish in the top eight of the tournament and earn his national bid.
 
Overall, Binghamton ended the first day of the tournament seventh as a team with 46.5 points. Of the 10 wrestlers that competed for the Bearcats during the day, seven remain in the competition. Two-time defending conference champion Cornell leads the event with 91.5 points.
 
Other Highlights

• Dimitri Gamkrelidze, Jacob Nolan and Nate Lucier each began the day with a win in the opening round. After each wrestler was defeated in the quarterfinals, all three of them bounced back with a win in the consolation round to advance to Saturday's portion of the competition.
• After being pinned in his opening match, Micah Roes won two straight matches to help him make it to Saturday. His final win came against No. 3 seed Michael Colaiocco of Penn 7-3.
• Roes' win over Colaiocco was one of six that Bearcats wrestlers had over opponents who were ranked higher than them in the tournament. Gamkrelidze and Lucier each had two. Gamkrelidze, the No. 11 seed at 174 lbs., defeated No. 6 Noah Fox of Franklin & Marshall 8-4 and No. 9 Jack Janda of Drexel 16-4. Lucier, who is the No. 11 at 141 lbs., beat No. 6 Devin Matthews of LIU 3-2 and No. 9 Jordan Soriano of Drexel 17-13.
• Another win the Bearcats had over a wrestler ranked higher came from Carson Wagner. In his first match ever at the EIWA Championships, the freshman, who was the No. 11 seed at 125 lbs., earned an 11-9 decision over No. 6 Nick Babin of Columbia.

 
EIWA Championships Day One Results
Carson Wagner
125 (Round of 16) | No. 11 Carson Wagner (BU) def. No. 6 Nick Babin (Columbia) DEC 11-9
125 (Quarterfinals) | No. 3 Diego Sotelo (Harvard) def. No. 11 Carson Wagner (BU) MD 13-2
125 (Consi of 8 #2) | No. 13 Robbie Sagaris (LIU) def. No. 11 Carson Wagner (BU) MD 11-3
 
Micah Roes
133 (Round of 16) | No. 9 John Hildebrandt (Drexel) def. No. 8 Micah Roes (BU) FALL 3-0 2:52
133 (Consi of 8 #1) | No. 8 Micah Roes (BU) def. No. 17 Sulayman Bah (Columbia) MD 11-3
133 (Consi of 8 #2) | No. 8 Micah Roes (BU) def. No. 3 Michael Colaiocco (Penn) DEC 7-3
 
Nate Lucier
141 (Round of 16) | No. 11 Nate Lucier (BU) def. No. 6 Devin Matthews (LIU) DEC 3-2
141 (Quarterfinals) | No. 3 Malyke Hines (Lehigh) def. No. 11 Nate Lucier (BU) MD 11-2
141 (Consi of 8 #2) | No. 11 Nate Lucier (Binghamton) def. No. 9 Jordan Soriano (Drexel) DEC 17-13
 
Michael Zarif
149 (Round of 16 | No. 4 Jude Swisher (Penn) def. No. 13 Michael Zarif (BU) FALL 10-1 4:04
149 (Consi of 8 #1) | No. 12 Richard Fedalen (Columbia) def. No. 13 Michael Zarif (BU) MD 10-1
 
Carter Baer
157 (Round of 16) | No. 5 Blake Saito (Brown) def. No. 12 Carter Baer (BU) DEC 10-3
157 (Consi of 8 #1) | No. 13 Rhise Royster (LIU) def. No. 12 Carter Baer (BU) DEC 4-1
 
Brevin Cassella
165 (Round of 16) | No. 2 Brevin Cassella (BU) def. No. 15 Adam Thomson (Penn) DEC 4-2
165 (Quarterfinals) | No. 2 Brevin Cassella (BU) def. No. 10 Kyle Mosher (Columbia) DEC 8-2
 
Dimitri Gamkrelidze
174 (Round of 16) | No. 11 Dimitri Gamkrelidze (BU) def. No. 6 Noah Fox (Franklin & Marshall) DEC 8-4
174 (Quarterfinals) | No. 3 Lennox Wolak (Columbia) def. No. 11 Dimitri Gamkrelidze (BU) MD 20-8
174 (Consi of 8 #2) | No. 11 Dimitri Gamkrelidze (BU) def. No. 9 Jack Janda (Drexel) MD 16-4
 
Jacob Nolan
184 (Round of 16) | No. 6 Jacob Nolan (BU) def. No. 11 Leo Tarantino (Harvard) DEC 7-2
184 (Quarterfinals) | No. 3 Nate Dugan (Princeton) def. No. 6 Jacob Nolan (BU) DEC 4-2
184 (Consi of 8 #2) | No. 3 Jacob Nolan (BU) def. No. 16 Dalton Harkins (Army) DEC 5-1
 
Lou DePrez
197 (Round of 16) | No. 3 Lou DePrez (BU) def. No. 14 Liam Volk-Klos (American) TF 16-1 3:42
197 (Quarterfinals) | No. 3 Lou DePrez (BU) def. No. 6 John Crawford (Franklin & Marshall) FALL 3-0 1:27
 
Cory Day
285 (Round of 16) | No. 2 Cory Day (BU) def. No. 15 Jeffrey Crooks (Harvard) FALL 3-0 1:04
285 (Quarterfinals) No. 7 Dorian Crosby (Bucknell) def. No. 2 Cory Day (BU) DEC 8-2
285 (Consi of 8 #2) | No. 2 Cory Day (BU) def. No. 12 Alex Semenenko (Brown) DEC 5-1
 
Up Next
The final day of the EIWA Championships begins with Session III on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. That session will include the semifinals and consolation matches. DePrez's contest that round will be a highly anticipated rematch against No. 2 Jacob Cardenas of Cornell. In the last meeting between the two wrestlers on Feb. 25, DePrez defeated the reigning EIWA champion 7-3.
 
Cassella's semifinal match will be against No. 3 seed Andrew Cerniglia of Navy. Cerniglia defeated Cassella in their last matchup back on Jan. 21.
 
The final session will start at 4:45 p.m., and include the finals, third place and fifth place matches.

*Rankings are EIWA Championship Seeds