Live Blog Replay

Blake Herrin became the American University wrestling team's first NCAA qualifier when he advanced to the heavyweight title bout at the 2013 EIWA Championships at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, N.J. on Friday.

No. 2 seeded Herrin led five guaranteed placewinners on the first day of competition and advanced to the championship bout with an 8-4 decision over Pennsylvania's Steven Graziano, the No. 6 seed, in the semifinals. Two other Eagles, No. 4 seed David Terao at 125 lbs. and No. 5 seed Kevin Tao at 149 lbs. can finish as high as third with a chance to join Herrin at the NCAA Tournament. Terao and Tao need to finish in the top-four to guarantee themselves a spot in Des Moines.

Mark Cirello at 157 lbs. and No. 8 seed Phillip Barreiro at 165 lbs. are wrestling in the seventh place matches tomorrow afternoon.

As a team, American sits in ninth place with 49.5 points. Cornell leads the team standings with 109.5 points followed by Navy (94.0), Pennsylvania (91.5), Lehigh (82.5) and Rutgers (74.5) rounding out the top-five.

AUeagles.com will continue the live blog on Saturday at 9:45 a.m., and it can be accessed by clicking here.

125 – 4th-seed David Terao
After drawing a bye into the quarterfinals, Terao picked up his ninth pin of the season over Harvard's Jeffrey Ott after trailing 1-0 in the second period. In the semifinals, Terao faced top-seeded Nahshon Garrett of Cornell. After a scoreless first period, Garrett got on the board with an escape and held on for the 3-0 decision over Terao.

Round of 16: Bye
Quarterfinals: Terao pins 5th-seed Ott (Harvard), 5:22
Semifinals: 1st-seed Garrett (Cornell) dec. Terao, 3-0 

133 – Esteban Gomez-Rivera
Gomez-Rivera ended up on the short end of a 3-2 decision to seventh-seeded Jeff Canfora of Pennsylvania in his first match. He was then pinned in 2:09 by Brown's Anthony Finocchiaro.

Round of 16: 7th-seed Canfora (Pennsylvania) dec. Gomez-Rivera, 3-2
Consolation 1st Round: Finocchiaro (Brown) pins Gomez-Rivera, 2:09

141 – John Boyle
Boyle was edged in a 6-0 decision to top-seeded Michael Nevinger of Cornell in his first match, but bounced back with a 9-8 decision over Princeton's Kevin Boylan. Boyle trailed through the first two periods in that match before an escape brought him within one and a late takedown secured the 9-8 decision. Boyle and Lehigh's Anthony Salupo, the tournament's seventh seed, battled back and forth before Salupo got an escape for the 6-5 advantage in the final period. He was able to add a takedown and with the riding time advantage defeated Boyle in a 9-5 decision.

Round of 16: 1st-seed Nevinger (Cornell) dec. Boyle, 6-0
Consolation 1st Round: Boyle dec. Boylan (Princeton), 9-8
Consolation 2nd Round: 7th-seed Salupo (Lehigh) dec. Boyle, 9-5

149 – 5th-seed Kevin Tao
Tao earned a first round bye as the fifth-seed, and faced fourth-seeded Christopher Villalonga of Cornell in the quarterfinals. Tao struck first with an early takedown but Villalonga knotted it up on a reversal, 2-2. Villalonga took a 5-3 lead into the third, with a Tao escape bringing him within one. Villalonga posted a takedown with three points for a near fall for the lead. Tao added a reversal in the final 20 seconds and was looking for the fall but Villalonga held on for the 11-6 decision.

Tao led through his entire match against Bucknell's Adam Healey on his way to an 8-3 decision. He came one step closer to his second straight NCAA bid, earning a 6-3 decision over eighth-seeded Adam Lenzi of Pennsylvania in the consolation quarterfinals. 

Round of 16: Bye
Quarterfinals: 4th-seed Villalonga (Cornell) dec. Tao, 11-6
Consolation 2nd Round: Tao dec. Healey (Bucknell), 8-3
Consolation Quarterfinals: Tao dec. 8th-seed Lenzi (Pennsylvania), 6-3

157 – Mark Cirello
After two scoreless periods, Cirello posted the first takedown of the bout in his match against seventh-seeded Vincent Favia of Bucknell. The match went back and forth, but Cirello had built up a riding time advantage in the second period. The clock wound down as Favia tried to erase the advantage and at the end of the third period one minute of riding time remained to give Cirello the 5-4 decision.

In his quarterfinal match against Joseph Napoli of Lehigh, Napoli jumped out to a 4-1 advantage at the end of the first period and held on for the 7-2 decision. Cirello ended up on the short end of a 4-0 decision to sixth-seeded Jesse Shanaman of Cornell in his final bout of the day. 

Round of 16: Cirello dec. 7th-seed Favia (Bucknell), 5-4
Quarterfinals: Napoli (Lehigh) dec. Cirello, 7-2
Consolation 2nd Round: 6th-seed Shanaman (Cornell) dec. Cirello, 4-0 

165 – 8th-seed Phillip Barreiro
Barreiro opened the tournament with a 12-1 major decision over Franklin & Marshall's Colin Lahiff. He drew top-ranked wrestler Kyle Dake of Cornell in the quarterfinals, with Dake pinning Barreiro in 1:43. Barreiro rebounded with a 17-8 major decision in the consolation bracket, jumping out to an 11-4 lead to close out the first period. Barreiro dropped his final match of the day to fourth-seeded Paul Hancock of Army in an 8-0 major decision.

Round of 16: Barreiro major dec. Lahiff (Frankling & Marshall), 12-1
Quarterfinals: 1st-seed Dake (Cornell) pins Barreiro, 1:43
Consolation 2nd Round: Barreiro major dec. Haas (Lehigh), 17-8
Consolation Quarterfinals: 4th-seed Hancock (Army) major dec. Barreiro, 8-0

174 – Keithen Cast
Cast faced a 7-1 deficit heading into the third period of his match against Cornell's Marshall Peppelman, but earned his first takedown of the bout for the 9-4 score in the closing minutes. Peppelman added another takedown to close out the match for the 11-4 decision with the riding time advantage.  Cast bounced back with a 7-5 decision over Brown's Richard McDonald, maintaining the advantage through the entire match. Cast dropped a 12-4 major decision to Harvard's Cameron Croy, the tournament's seventh seed, in his final match.

Round of 16: 8th-seed Peppelman (Cornell) dec. Cast, 11-4
Consolation 1st Round: Cast dec. McDonald (Brown), 7-5
Consolation 2nd Round: 7th-seed Croy (Harvard) major dec. Cast, 12-4 

184 – Thomas Barreiro
Barreiro dropped a 14-4 major decision to top-seeded Robert Hamlin of Lehigh in his opening match. In his consolation bout, Barreiro faced Columbia's Drew Rebling. Barreiro held a 4-2 advantage heading into the second and used back-to-back takedowns for the 8-2 lead going into the final period. Barreiro continued to dominate on his way to a 14-5 major decision. In his final match of the day, Barreiro fell to seventh seeded Ophir Bernstein of Brown by a 16-1 technical fall.

Round of 16: 1st-seed Hamlin (Lehigh) major dec. Barreiro, 14-4
Consolation 1st Round: Barreiro major dec. Rebling (Columbia), 14-5
Consolation 2nd Round: 7th-seed Bernstein (Brown) tech. fall Barreiro, 16-1 

197 – Devon Bradley
Bradley trailed 5-3 at the end of the second period before seventh-seeded Tyler Lyster of Bucknell was able to come up with the 8-3 decision in his first match of the day. In his second bout, Bradley trailed Princeton's Daniel Santoro, 4-3, heading into the third before Santoro was able to take the lead with a takedown to open the final period. Bradley ended up on the short end of an 11-4 decision to end his tournament run.

Round of 16: 7th-seed Lyster (Bucknell) dec. Bradley, 8-3
Consolation 1st Round: Santoro (Princeton) dec. Bradley, 11-4

HWT – 2nd-seed Blake Herrin
Herrin posted his first fall of the season in the opening round of the championships, pinning Franklin & Marshall's Alexander Henry in 4:46. He then picked up a 5-1 decision over seventh-seeded Maximilian Wessell of Lehigh in the quarterfinals after jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the second period.

Herrin advanced to the championship after an 8-4 decision over sixth-seeded Steven Graziano of Pennsylvania. The match was tied at 3 in the second period before a near fall by Herrin gave him the 5-3 advantage. Graziano posted an escape to make it a one-point match but Herrin secured his spot in the title bout with a takedown at the end of regulation. 

Round of 16: Herrin pins Henry (Franklin & Marshall), 4:46
Quarterfinals: Herrin dec. 7th-seed Wessell (Lehigh), 5-1
Semifinals: Herrin dec. 6th-seed Graziano (Pennsylvania), 8-4