PHILADELPHIA - In just his second year as a collegiate wrestler, sophomore Jack Maida is headed to the NCAA Championships. In the 133-pound weight class at the 119th EIWA Championships, five spots were allotted for nationals and Maida took fifth after a gutsy day that saw him go 2-1 against wrestlers all seeded higher than him. Joining Maida as a placewinner was redshirt sophomore Jack Nies who finished sixth at 157 pounds.

Notable

• The NCAA qualification is the first for American since 2021, and the first for second-year head coach Jason Borrelli.
• It is the second-straight place-winning effort for Maida, who finished fourth a year ago when fewer spots were allocated at 133 pounds.
• Coming into the weekend as the No. 12 seed, Maida was the highest seed at 133 pounds on day two in a group that also included the No. 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7.
• Maida scored 15 points, his most as an Eagle, in a wild upset victory over #25 Kurtis Phipps of Bucknell, the No. 3 seed, to start day two.
• The points tallied up early and fast for Maida and Phipps, and Maida trailed 7-6 after the first period.
• It was 9-9 to start the third period, and remained that way for nearly the entire two minutes as Phipps erased well over a minute of riding time that Maida had accumulated, and challenges caused lengthy delays.
• With 12 seconds left and a start in the down position, Maida rolled into a reversal for two and immediately put Phipps on his back to close it out with four near fall points and a 15-9 victory as the horn sounded.
• In the consolation semis, Maida came up against #31 Brendan Ferretti of Navy, who pinned him in the first match of the weekend on Saturday.
• This result was far closer as Maida tied it up at 3-3 with 30 seconds left, but late heroics went the other way for him as it was Ferretti who earned a takedown in the closing seconds for a 5-3 win.
• For fifth place and a spot at the NCAA Championships, Maida came up against Drexel's Kyle Waterman who defeated him 6-4 on February 19. Maida turned that around and defeated Waterman 6-3 when it counted the most, getting two takedowns, an escape and riding time. He never trailed in the bout and finished his weekend at the EIWA Championships with a record of 4-2.
• Nies began his day in a tight match against Drexel's Tyler Williams that had them tied 3-3 after seven minutes of action. Nies didn't waste much time in the extra period, getting a takedown 13 seconds in for a 5-3 victory to advance to the consolation semis.
• Once there, Nies came up against Army's Nate Lukez and suffered an 8-1 defeat.
• In the fifth-place bout, Nies matched up with Nick Delp of Bucknell but fell short 4-0, finishing in sixth place overall with a 3-3 record.
• The team standings had American finishing 13th of 17 teams, up two spots from a year ago.

EIWA Championship Results

133 - Jack Maida (5th Place)
Rd. of 16 - #31 Brendan Ferretti (Navy) pinned Jack Maida (AU), 6:09
Cons. Rd. of 8 - Jack Maida (AU) dec. Chase Liardi (Hofstra), 3-1 SV
Cons. Rd. of 8 - Jack Maida (AU) dec. Rich Treanor (Army), 5-1
Cons. Rd. of 4 - Jack Maida (AU) dec. #25 Kurtis Phipps (Bucknell), 15-9
Cons. Semifinals - #31 Brendan Ferretti (Navy) dec. Jack Maida (AU), 5-3
5th Place - Jack Maida (AU) dec. Kyle Waterman (Drexel), 6-3

157 - Jack Nies (6th Place) 
Rd. of 16 - Cole Handlovic (Cornell) dec. Jack Nies (AU), 3-0
Cons. Rd. of 8 - Jack Nies (AU) dec. Samuel McMonagle (Brown), 8-2
Cons. Rd. of 8 - Jack Nies (AU) dec. Nicholas Palumbo (SHU), 5-4
Cons. Rd. of 4 - Jack Nies (AU) dec. Tyler Williams (Drexel), 5-3 SV
Cons. Semifinals - Nate Lukez (Army) dec. Jack Nies (AU), 8-1
5th Place - Nick Delp (Bucknell) dec. Jack Nies (AU), 4-0

Up Next

The NCAA Championships are set for Thursday-Saturday, March 16-18 in Tulsa, Okla. at the BOK Center. 

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