Four Cortland Wrestlers Earn NCAA Championship Berths https://t.co/GaWuaKCrnd
— Cortland Athletics (@RedDragonPride) February 26, 2023
ITHACA, N.Y. - Four Cortland wrestlers earned berths into the NCAA Division III Championships by virtue of top-three finishes, including one weight-class champion, at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional. The two-day event was hosted by Ithaca College.
J.C. Cardenas (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) won the regional title at 133 pounds and Demitreus Henry (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) finished second at 197 pounds. Cody Merwin (Walton) placed third at 125 pounds and Cahal Donovan (Marietta/Marcellus) finished third at 141 pounds. Cardenas and Henry will be making return trips to nationals. Henry was an All-American at 174 pounds last year, and he also earned a national berth in 2020 but the tournament was canceled. Donovan and Merwin will be both wrestling at nationals for the first time. Merwin barely missed a berth last year with a fourth-place regional finish.
This year's national championship meet is scheduled for March 10-11 in Roanoke, Va.
Cortland finished fifth out of 19 schools in the final regional team standings with 89 points. The College of New Jersey won the team title with 137.5 points, followed by Ithaca (121.5), RIT (112), Centenary of New Jersey (92.5) and Cortland in the top five.
Cardenas began Saturday's action with a win by injury default over Brent Lorin of Johns Hopkins in the semifinals. Cardenas then repeated as regional champion with a 5-4 decision over Isaias Torres of Ithaca in the finals. Cardenas went 4-0 at the regional to improve his season record to 30-2 and his career mark in two seasons to 47-7.
Henry finished 3-0 at the regional, including a 6-5 win in the semifinals Saturday versus Brockport's Michael Sullivan. Henry medically forfeited the championship match. He is now 18-2 on the season and will bring a 99-22 career mark into nationals.
Merwin entered Saturday's action needing three straight victories to earn a national berth after going 2-1 on Friday. He began the day with 4-1 win over Ryan Berstler of Penn College of Technology, followed by a 4-2 decision versus Centenary's Jack Thode. He completed his run to nationals with a 5-2 win in the third-place match against Oneonta's Danny Poggi. Merwin went 5-1 at the regional to improve to 20-9 for the season and 43-16 in his two years at Cortland.
Donovan, after going 2-0 on Friday, began action Saturday with a loss in the semifinals to TCNJ's Domenic Difrancescantonio. He bounced back to post a 7-4 win over Oneonta's Michael Blando, then he punched his ticket to nationals with a 6-3 win over Luis Hernandez of Ithaca in the third-place match. Donovan finished 4-1 at the regional to improve to 22-2 on the season and 41-10 in his career.
Two other Red Dragons came up short in their quests for national berths on Saturday. Angelo Centrone (Mahopac) placed fourth at 149 pounds with a 4-2 record. He won his first two bouts of the day with decisions over Mike Glynn of RIT and Michael Conklin of TCNJ, but he lost 3-1 in sudden victory overtime to Brockport's Eli Sims in the third-place match. Centrone wraps up his first collegiate season with a 29-8 record. Brian Torres (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) finished eighth at 184 pounds with a 2-3 mark. He opened the day with a loss to Alfred State's Sean Malenfant and dropped a 4-2 decision in the seventh-place match to Quinn Haddad of TCNJ. Torres finishes with a 22-11 season record and a 47-21 career mark.
FINAL TEAM SCORES:
1) TCNJ - 137.5
2) Ithaca - 121.5
3) RIT - 112
4) Centenary (NJ) - 92.5
5) Cortland - 89
6) Oneonta - 84
7) Elizabethtown - 81.5
8) McDaniel - 72
9) Muhlenberg - 67.5
10) Ursinus - 67
11) Penn College of Tech. - 55.5
12) Brockport - 54
13) Johns Hopkins - 46.5
14) Oswego - 37.5
15) New Jersey City - 29.5
16) Alfred State - 28.5
17) Elmira - 11
18) St. John Fisher - 10.5
19) Scranton - 4.5
FINAL CORTLAND RESULTS (Both Days)
125 pounds
Cody Merwin (5-1) (Third Place)
major dec. Carl Santariello (St. John Fisher), 12-3
Quarterfinals: lost to Joey Lamparelli (Muhlenberg), Pin, 7:00
major dec. Matt Haycock (Ithaca), 11-3
dec. Ryan Berstler (Penn College), 4-1
dec. Jack Thode (Centenary), 4-2
Third Place: dec. Danny Poggi (Oneonta), 5-2
133 pounds
J.C. Cardenas (4-0) (First Place)
tech. fall Shkeb Nadir (Scranton), 5:56 (15-0)
Quarterfinals: dec. Kyle Nase (TCNJ), 9-7 (SV1)
Semifinals: won by injury defeault vs. Brent Lorin (Johns Hopkins), 1:12
Finals: dec. Isaias Torres (Ithaca), 5-4
141 pounds
Cahal Donovan (4-1) (Third Place)
major dec. Zach Rupp (Elizabethtown), 9-1
Quarterfinals: major dec. Ryan Athey (McDaniel), 10-0
Semifinals: lost to Domenic Difrancescantonio (TCNJ), Pin 2:26
dec. Michael Blando (Oneonta), 7-4
Third Place: dec. Luis Hernandez (Ithaca), 6-3
149 pounds
Angelo Centrone (4-2) (Fourth Place)
tech. fall Chris Sockler (Muhlenberg), 3:38 (20-5)
Quarterfinals: lost to Jeff Johnson (New Jersey City), 14-6
dec. Shane Strausser (Eliabethtown), 7-2
dec. Mike Glynn (RIT), 10-4
dec. Michael Conklin (TCNJ), 10-7
Third Place: lost to Eli Sims (Brockport), 3-1 (SV1)
157 pounds
Kyle Klein (2-2)
dec. Zack Vera (New Jersey City), 7-0
lost to Wenchard Pierre-Lewis (Ithaca), 10-2
major dec. Cullen van Rooyen (Penn College), 16-6
lost to James Ost (RIT), 6-1
165 pounds
Jaden Datz (1-2)
lost to Nicholas Sacco (TCNJ), 4-1
dec. Jeremiah Oakes (Scranton), 7-3
lost to Jarazell Bull (New Jersey City), 8-6
174 pounds
Adam Barker (0-2)
lost to Kenny Sauer (Oneonta), 4-1
lost to Ben Dougherty (RIT), 9-0
184 pounds
Brian Torres (2-3) (Eighth Place)
dec. Bryce Smith (Oswego), 7-1
Quarterfinals: lost to Isaac Cory (Penn College), 6-4
major dec. Ryan Fairchild (Muhlenberg), 10-2
lost to Sean Malenfant (Alfred St.), Pin 4:42
Seventh Place: lost to Quinn Haddad (TCNJ), 4-2
197 pounds
Demitreus Henry (3-0) (Second Place)
major dec. Gabriel Kennedy-Citeroni (Penn College), 12-0
Quarterfinals: dec. Keevon Berry (Centenary), 10-4
Semifinals: dec. Michael Sullivan (Brockport), 6-5
(medically forfeited championship match)