Cody Merwin and J.C. Cardenas Win Titles at New York State Collegiate Tourney https://t.co/sFPoZPDBaT
— Cortland Athletics (@RedDragonPride) November 21, 2021
CORTLAND, N.Y. - Freshman Cody Merwin (Walton) and sophomore J.C. Cardenas (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) won weight-class titles, and four other Cortland wrestlers, were runners-up at their weights, to lead the Red Dragons' performances at the New York State Collegiate Championships. Cortland hosted the tournament Saturday at Lusk Field House.
The Red Dragons finished in fourth place out of 15 schools in the final team standings with 98.5 points. RIT won the team title with 148.5 points, followed by Ithaca with 126.5 and Brockport with 107.
Merwin was the champion at 125 pounds and Cardenas claimed the title at 133 pounds. Senior Richard Munoz (Centereach/Ward Melville) finished second to Merwin at 125 pounds, junior Chandler Merwin (Walton) was second at 157 pounds, senior Demitreus Henry (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) placed second at 174 pounds, and senior Brian Torres (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) finished second at 197 pounds.
At 125, Merwin went 5-0 on the way to the title. He opened with a pin, a technical fall and another pin, followed by a 9-6 decision over RIT's Lee Rubin in the semifinals. In the finals, he defeated his teammate, Munoz, 6-2. Munoz was 3-1 at the weight class with two decisions and a technical fall in the semifinals before losing to Merwin in the title bout.
Cardenas posted a 4-0 record to win the 133 title. He started with an 8-0 major decision, then won 12-6 and 7-1 to reach the finals. He won the championship match, 8-4, over Ithaca's Luis Hernandez.
The 157-pound Merwin started his run to the finals with a pair of technical falls. He battled in the semifinals for a 3-1 sudden-victory overtime win over Ithaca's Adam Wagner before losing to RIT's Kaidon Winters by pin in the final.
Henry went 3-1 at 174 pounds and Torres was 3-1 at 197 pounds for their runner-up showings. Henry had a decision, a major decision, and another decision before losing in sudden-victory overtime, 6-4, to Oswego's Charlie Grygas in the finals. Torres opened with a decision, followed by a 9-1 major and a 7-5 sudden-victory semifinal win, but lost, 7-4, to Chibueze Chukwuezi of Ithaca in the finals.
One other Red Dragon registered multiple wins during the tournament - junior Steven Gazzillo (New Windsor/Cornwall) finished with a 2-2 mark with a technical fall at 165 pounds.
Cortland returns to action Dec. 3-4 at the Messiah (Pa.) Petrofes Invitational.