SOURCE: www.cortlandreddragons.com

November 17, 2012

Jonathan Conroy was one of four Red Dragons who repeated as all-state wrestlers from last season

ITHACA, N.Y. - Cortland finished sixth overall out of 19 schools and was the top Div. III finisher at the all-division New York State Collegiate Wrestling Championships, hosted by Cornell University. Nine Red Dragons earned all-state honors with top-eight showings. Cornell won the title with 183.5 points, followed by Columbia (152.5), Hofstra (135.5), Buffalo (130.5), Army (125.5), Cortland (113.5), Binghamton (84.5) and Ithaca (56) in the top eight.

Sophomore Tyler Beckwith (Greene) turned in Cortland's top individual finish with a second-place effort at 184 pounds. Freshman Bobby Dierna (Webster/Wayne) placed third at 149 pounds, senior Jared Myhrberg (Queensbury) finished fourth at 197 pounds and senior Corey James (Kingston) finished fourth at 285 pounds.

Senior Troy Sterling (Uniondale) placed fifth at 157 pounds and senior Jonathan Conroy (South Plainfield, NJ) was fifth at 165 pounds. Other Red Dragon all-state performers were junior Brian Bistis (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) at 141 pounds (sixth place), senior Will Parks (Shoreham/Longwood) at 184 pounds (seventh place) and sophomore Lou Puca (Huntington) at 174 pounds (eighth place).

Beckwith, seeded fifth, went 3-1 at 184 pounds. He beat the top seed from Army in the semifinals, 3-2, before losing to the second seed from Cornell in the finals, 9-3. Dierna finished 3-1 as the fourth seed at 149 pounds, with his lone loss to the top seed from Columbia in the semifinals. Myhrberg posted a 3-1 record as the second seed at 197 pounds. After losing to the sixth seed from Columbia in the semifinals, he won his next match over the fourth seed from Army before medically forfeiting the third-place match. James, the fourth seed at 285 pounds, lost his first match, but won his next four bouts and medically forfeited the third-place match.

Sterling entered as the second seed at 157 pounds. He won his first two matches, then lost to the third seed from Cornell and the sixth seed from Buffalo. He claimed fifth place by medical forfeit. Conroy, the fifth seed at 165 pounds, started 3-0 before losing in the semifinals to the top seed from Buffalo. He dropped a decision to Hofstra as well before earning fifth place by medical forfeit.

The fifth seed at 141 pounds, Bistis was 4-2 with losses only to the fourth and second seeds. He then medically forfeited the fifth-place match. Parks posted a 5-2 record as an unseeded entry at 184, capped by a 10-8 win in the seventh-place match. Puca, the sixth seed at 174 pounds, lost his first match and pinned his next two opponents. He finished with two losses, one of which came versus the fifth seed.

Myhrberg earned all-state recognition for the third time. He finished second at 197 as a sophomore and sixth at 184 pounds as a freshman. Bistis, Conroy, Sterling and Puca all repeat as all-state honorees from last season. Bistis was second at 141 pounds, Conroy third at 165 pounds, Sterling finished fourth at 157 pounds and Puca was sixth at 174 pounds.

The "B" bracket of the New York State Championships will be held on Sunday at 9 a.m. at Cornell.

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

1) Cornell (CORN) - 183.5
2) Columbia (COL) - 152.5
3) Hofstra (HOF) - 135.5
4) Univ. at Buffalo (BUFF) - 130.5
5) Army - 125.5
6) Cortland (CORT) - 113.5
7) Binghamton (BING) - 84.5
8) Ithaca (ITH) - 56
9) Oneonta (ONE) - 47.5
10) RIT - 44
11) Niagara County CC (NIAG) - 38.5
12) NYU - 32
13) Oswego (OSW) - 28.5
14) Brockport (BROCK) - 26
15) Hunter (HUNT) - 17.5
16) Jamestown CC (JAMES) - 12
17) Mt. St. Vincent (MSV) - 4
tie 18) Alfred St. (ALF) - 2
tie 18) Merchant Marine Acad. (MMA) - 2