Howland wins EOWL title; Cornicelli win critical

By Eric Hamilton

CANFIELD — While it takes a total team effort to win a wrestling dual meet, sometimes just one match can totally change the momentum.

Saturday when Howland and Canfield met to decide the EOWL Division I and All-American Conference championships, both coaches shuffled their lineups, hoping to secure the most favorable match-ups they could. It turned out the bout at 135 pounds proved to be the most critical.

After Howland won four of the first five matches to build a 19-6 advantage, Canfield rallied with three straight victories to close within 19-16.

Another Tiger win pushed the lead to 23-16 with five matches left.

Canfield entered the event with only a tentative lineup from 140 to 160 pounds, as coach Dean Conley wanted the flexibility to make changes depending on what the team score was.

As it turned out, he didn’t have many options left after the way things went at 135. Howland senior Andy Cornicelli delivered a big blow, winning by pin to pad the Tigers’ advantage to 29-16. But more than that, he limited Canfield’s options in the rest of the matches.

The Tigers went on to win three of the final four bouts – two by pin – to pull away for a 44-20 victory that sealed Howland’s first EOWL dual meet title since 2005-06.

“It’s incredible,” said Howland coach Brian Earich. “Canfield wrestled great and beat us in a few matches we weren’t sure about. But we got some pins that made a big difference and Cornicelli’s pin totally changed the match.”

In addition to giving Howland six team points for his pin, Cornicelli’s win forced Canfield to put Joel Amendolara against Tiger standout Kyle Leek at 140 pounds, instead of moving up to take on freshman Robby Klose at 145.

“The pins were the difference for sure,” said Conley. “And when we got down a little bit there, we had make some moves and take more chances than we would have liked. Not giving up pins — and getting pinned ourselves — has been our strength all year, so weren’t counting on that tonight.”

In all, Howland scored 30 of its 44 points via pin. Of Canfield’s five victories, just one came by pin and the others were by decision.

“It feels real good,” said Cornicelli, of winning the EOWL title. “Everyone is really excited about it and I am, too. I knew I needed to get a big win, because they were still right behind us.

“But I knew I still had Kyle [Leek] and Robby [Klose] behind me, so I just tried to get the win. I thought the score would be tighter, but we had some guys come through with big wins.”

Howland’s victory improves its EOWL Division I record to 4-0 and claims the team title. Fitch (3-1) is second, while Canfield (2-2) finished third.

Earich attributes a large part of his squad’s success to assistant coach Dan Libert’s emphasis on winning by pin, thereby earning the maximum amount of points per match.

“He’s really been a big part of it,” said Earich, who his stepping down as head coach after this season. “He’s all about pinning. He tells the kids that once you get your guy on his back, you don’t let him up. It’s really made a big difference for us.”