EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Army freshman Matt Kyler of Clearfield goes into the 103rd Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Tournament at East Stroudsburg University today as the fourth seed at 141 pounds.
Coaches determined the seeding at a meeting Thursday evening.
Kyler, who was PIAA champion at 103 for Clearfield Area High School in 2005, started the season as Army\’s 133-pounder before moving up a weight after the holidays. His 28-9 record leads the Cadets in wins. He has six pins and a team-best 10 major decisions for a total of 16 bonus-point wins, also tops on the team.
Kyler, who won titles at the New York State Championships and Academy Championships and was runner-up in the Oklahoma Gold Tournament, is 5-2 against EIWA opponents this season
Seeded ahead of Kyler at 141 are Harvard\’s Max Meltzer, Lehigh\’s Matt Ciasulli and Navy\’s Brad Canterbury. Kyler lost 6-1 in overtime to Meltzer, who is ranked 16th in the country, 10-4 to 19th-ranked Ciasulli and 3-1 to Canterbury. Kyler had defeated Canterbury 8-6 in the Academy Championships finals.
Kyler was 0-5 against wrestlers who were nationally ranked at the time, but they were by scores of 2-1, 2-1, 3-1 and 5-3 in addition to the OT loss to Meltzer. The 5-3 decision was to fifth-ranked Nathan Morgan of Oklahoma State in the Lone Star Duals.
Kyler\’s first bout in the 11 a.m. session will be against Sean Carr of East Stroudsburg. The winner will meet fifth seed Sal Tirico of Columbia in the second session, which starts at 5:30 p.m. Kyler defeated Tirico 8-3 on Jan. 31.
Saturday\’s starting times are 11 a.m. for the consolation semifinals and place matches and 4 p.m. for the championship bouts.
The top three finishers will earn automatic berths to the NCAA Championships set for March 15-17 in the Palace of Auburn Hills at Auburn Hills, Mich. After the finals, EIWA coaches will select 17 more wrestlers as wild cards for the nationals. The EIWA\’s 47 qualifiers are second only to the Big 10 Conference\’s 72.