The Binghamton men’s wrestling team competed last weekend at its penultimate event of the year in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championship, as BU finished sixth overall with 105.5 points. Graduate student Cory Day and fifth-year Brevin Cassella led the way for the Bearcats, earning first and second-place finishes, respectively.

“I was really proud of Brevin and Cory,” said Binghamton head coach Kyle Borshoff. “I thought they did a great job, obviously punching their ticket through to the NCAA championship … I thought overall we had a good effort, putting nine guys on the podium, and I thought we had a lot of bright spots throughout the weekend.”

After four years of appearances in the EIWA championships, wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals propelled Cassella into the 174-pound bracket final, where a late stall call in the third period forced the dual into overtime. After two overtime periods in which the foes remained deadlocked in a 1-1 tie, a takedown in the sixth period won Cassella his first-ever EIWA title and Binghamton’s first individual title since 2022. Cassella’s final victory also marked his 100th career victory as a Bearcat.

For his efforts, Cassella was one of two wrestlers awarded the Coaches’ Trophy, which is given to the most outstanding wrestler of the EIWA Championships.

“It’s a great way to cap off his career,” Borshoff said of Cassella. “Winning the EIWA is a hard thing to do. Brevin continues to prove that he is one of the best guys in the country. He’s certainly one of the most outstanding wrestlers our program has ever had, and I’m just really happy for him.”

Day also secured his best EIWA placement, finishing second in the 285-pound bracket. After a 1-0 victory by decision in the quarterfinals, thanks to a successful escape in the final period, and a 6-1 decision win in the semifinals, he advanced to the finals. Taking on the No. 1 seed in the bracket, he allowed two three-point takedowns in the final en route to a 7-1 decision loss. The tournament results helped Cassella and Day clinch spots in the NCAA championships: Cassella earned the No. 6 seed in the 174-pound bracket and Day the No. 19 seed in the 285-pound pound bracket.

“Cory did a great job,” Borshoff said. “He had a tricky first round matchup and then he had a tough competitor in the semifinal round, and he was able to wrestle a really nice game plan in that match. And then going into the finals I thought we had a much better effort against the wrestler from Lehigh than we had earlier in the season.”

The highest podium placer of five Bearcats to secure the honor for the first time in their careers was sophomore Carson Wagner with a third-place finish. After falling in the semifinals to the eventual 125-pound bracket champion, wins in the consolation semifinals and finals secured his third-place finish. Despite Wagner’s efforts at the tournament and a strong 2025 campaign, he was not awarded an at-large bid to the NCAA championships. Also earning his first podium finish was junior Carter Baer, who won three duals overall before falling in the consolation finals as he finished fourth in the 165-pound bracket.

“I think Carson had a great year,” Borshoff said. “Obviously improving immensely since last season … I also think that [redshirt senior] Ivan Garcia had an outstanding season this year … having wins over multiple guys that will be competing next weekend at the national championships … He did his best to try to fight through that injury.”

The remaining first-time podium place finishers included junior Will Ebert in the 184-pound bracket, redshirt sophomore Cayden Bevis in the 197-pound and Garcia in the 149-pound bracket. All three wrestlers finished in sixth place after losing their respective fifth-place bouts. Garcia — who entered the weekend as the No. 3 seed — competed despite undergoing open knee surgery one week before the event.

“So we’ll be back in practice just with everyone,” Borshoff said. “We’ll have the whole team around tomorrow. We’ll be practicing, we’ll be lifting, we’ll be conditioning this week, just making sure that we’re working on a couple of the areas that those individuals need to focus on.”

The Bearcats’ 2024-25 campaign will come to a close at the NCAA Championships, which run from Thursday, March 20 to Saturday, March 22. Cassella and Day’s final quests to bring home a title will take place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.