SOURCE: gobrockport.com

January 06, 2022

Brockport Wrestling Begins the New year at Home Saturday against NJCU https://t.co/BXrkzur9rt

— Brockport Athletics (@BportAthletics) January 6, 2022

The SUNY Brockport wrestling team is set to host New Jersey City University at the Special Events and Recreation Center (SERC) on Brockport's campus Saturday at 1 p.m. The dual meet is the first home contest for the Golden Eagles since prior to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic back in February of 2020.

Follow Live Video: Brockport home duals will be streamed live online at www.gobrockport.com/watch.

In The National Spotlight: As a team, the Golden Eagles are ranked No. 15 nationally in the latest release of the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division III Collegiate Rankings as of November 19th. Junior 125-pounder Matt Caccamise is currently ranked No. 11 nationally in the latest NWCA rankings. He is also ranked No. 8 nationally in his weight class by InterMat.com and No. 8 nationally by D3wrestle.com. Heavyweight Richard Knapp is ranked No. 11 nationally in the latest NWCA rankings and No. 10 is the latest InterMat national ranking. He is also listed in the contender category just outside of the top 10 in the latest D3wrestle.com national rankings in the 285-pound weight class.

Anticipated Lineup: Brockport's current lineup for their dual against NJCU will be Matt Caccamise (125), Zach Levey (133), Eli Sims (141), Matthew Cestare (149), Pedro Cruz (149), Zack Brown (157), Max Ebanks (157), Matthew Kline (165), Jared Zenie (174), Chris Eames (184), Joe Benedict (197) and Richard Knapp (285). Weigh-in's will take place at noon on Saturday.

Top Records So Far: Matt Caccamise has an 8-2 record this season, while Zach Levey is 9-5 overall. Austin Reed and Marquis Larmond each have an 8-5 record. Max Yahre is 7-6 overall, while Chris Eames holds a 6-4 record. Michael Sullivan is 6-5 and Daryl Harris is 9-6. Joe Bendict has a 7-4 record this season, while Richard Knapp is the lone Golden Eagle with double digit victories (10-2).

First Semester Highlights: Brockport posted 106.5 points and placed fourth as the Golden Eagles opened their 2021-22 campaign at Mount Union on November 6th. Caccamise won the 125 weight class, while Knapp placed second in the heavyweight division at Mount Union. 11 Golden Eagles finished in the top eight in their weight class. Brockport then took home third placed at the New York State Collegiate Championships hosted by Cortland. Richard Knapp took home first place in the heavyweight division, while Chris Eames placed second in the 184 pound weight class at States. Austin Reed (149), Zach Levey (133), and Joe Benedict (197) each placed third to help lead the way for the Golden Eagles.

Last Time Out at York: Brockport scored 60 points and placed seventh out of 12 teams at the New Standard Invitational hosted by York College in Pennsylvania before the semester break. Richard Knapp was the top finisher for the Golden Eagles as he took home second place in his weight class. Nationally ranked Matt Caccamise placed fifth in the 125-pound weight class and Joe Benedict placed sixth at 197 to round out the podium qualifiers for the Golden Eagles. Knapp finished the weekend with a 3-1 record. He pinned TCNJ's Thomas Marretta in 1:56 to earn a spot in the finals. He lost a 5-1 decision against JWU's Liridon Leka in the first-place match. Caccamise was upset in his first match of the day as Ithaca's Matt Griffin earned the fall victory at the 6:04 marker to send the nationally ranked Golden Eagle into the consolation bracket. Caccamise then won three of his next four matches to place fifth at the tournament. Benedict finished the weekend with a 3-3 record. He won three of his first four matches of the weekend but lost in his final two matches to drop into the sixth place spot.

Thunderwolves Open Recap: Brockport dominated the Thunderwolves Open at Niagara County Community College, posting 149.5 points on its way to a first place finish out of seven teams. Nick Franco won all three of his matches to earn the 197-pound title for the Golden Eagles. He pinned his first two competitors and then won an 8-6 decision over Camden's Shane Whitney in the first-place matchup. Isaiah Jackson placed second in the 125-pound weight class and totaled 14 team points for Brockport. Brockport's Joe Yanis posted a second-place finish in the heavyweight division as he went 2-1 on the day in his first meet of the season.

Next Up: Brockport returns to the mat on January 16th when the Golden Eagles travel to Ithaca College for the Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference Championships at 10 a.m.