Jack Ryan and Carson LiCastri Finish Season at NCAA DIII Wrestling Championships, Ryan Becomes Two-Time All-American https://t.co/CB3XzgBaDR
— Oneonta Red Dragons (@RedDragonSports) March 17, 2025
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Oneonta wrestling's Jack Ryan (Trumbull, CT/) and Carson LiCastri (Easton, CT/Joel Barlow High School) wrapped up their season at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships in Providence, Rhode Island, on Friday and Saturday. Ryan became a two-time All-American at 184 pounds with a third-place finish as he went 5-1 with three majors and a sudden victory. LiCastri went 1-2 with a pin at 197 pounds in his first NCAA Championship appearance.
The two Red Dragons recorded 19.0 team points and finished tied for 21st with Southern Maine out of 75 institutions. The host team Johnson & Wales (RI) and Wartburg College (IA) were co-winners of the overall team event with 83.5 points. Oneonta placed third out of the Region 2 teams as Stevens Institute was 18th at 22.0 points with six participants and RIT was tied for 19th at 21.0 points with four qualifiers.
Jack Ryan (Trumbull, CT/), 184 pounds – Third Place
Ryan is now the sixth Red Dragon in program history to earn multiple All-American honors joining: Bryan Lambe (1967-68, 152 lbs.), Juan DeJesus (1980 & 1982, 167 lbs.), David Regina (1989 & 1991, 126 lbs.), Trevor Hiffa (2007-08, 285 lbs.), and James Bethel (2015, 2017-19, 285 lbs.).
The Trumbull, Connecticut native started the tournament with a 14-4 major against Baldwin Wallace's Remington Bauer. Ryan overpowered Bauer with four takedowns throughout the match, recorded an escape in the third and gained riding time bonus to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Ryan dropped a 7-2 decision to Elizabethtown's Ganon Smith. Smith went ahead 6-1 after the first period with a takedown and a three-point nearfall.
The three-time national qualifier became the two-time All-American with an 8-1 decision in the Blood Round against Stevens' Joel Martsinovsky. Ryan got a takedown within the first minute of action when he got behind Martsinovsky and wrapped around his hips for the three. The Red Dragon buried the Duck into the mat once more 30 seconds into the second period and went into the third up 6-0 with over 3:30 in riding time. Ryan chose to start the final period on the bottom to score an early escape and held off Martsinovsky's attacks for the win, he was called for stalling with under 40 seconds to go which awarded Martsinovsky his lone point.
Ryan started day two with an 8-0 major in the consolation quarterfinals against Ithaca's Xavier Pommells, a rematch of the Region 2 Qualifying Final. Neither wrestler wanted to give the other an opportunity to attack and they stayed tied up for most of the match. Ryan had the first choice and started the second period on the bottom. He scored the escape less than 10 seconds into the period for the 1-0 lead, then the two went back into the collar tie up. In the closing seconds of the match, Ryan got Pommells off balanced and landed him on his back for a takedown and a four-point near fall for the major. The win guaranteed Ryan a better finish than his last year national tournament appearance (7th place).
In the consolation semifinals, he defeated Merchant Marine's Tyler Withers in an 8-0 major and moved on to the third-place match. Ryan's dominance continued with a takedown in the first period, then he scored a reversal in the second to go up 5-0 while he brushed off Withers' takedown attempts. He started the third period on top and recorded a three-point nearfall to seal the win.
Ryan's third-place victory was a 4-1 sudden victory in a rematch against Elizabethtown's Smith. Similar to his match against Pommells, neither Ryan nor Smith gave the other many opportunities for a takedown. Ryan initially scored a takedown in the first period until the officials reviewed the replay and took away the points. The two both chose to start on the bottom for the second and third period, and they each scored an escape to end the third period tied at one. Roughly 40 seconds into the first sudden victory overtime period, Ryan got ahold of Smith's right ankle and brought him down with a single leg takedown. Ryan kept his arms wrapped around Smith's legs for an extended period of time until the refs awarded him the three for the win. Even though both officials agreed it was a takedown, they went to a third-party for the replay and confirmed it to make the third-place victory official.
LiCastri came up short in a 5-2 sudden victory in his opening match against TCNJ's DJ Henry. He took a 2-1 lead in third period with a penalty point and an escape with 50 seconds remaining, however Henry tied it with riding time bonus and scored a takedown at the start of the overtime period.
Carson LiCastri
The Easton, Connecticut native bounced back and dismantled Messiah's Sawyer Dereszynski with a 6:04 fall for his first NCAA Championship win. LiCastri built up a 10-1 lead after the first period with a pair of explosive takedowns and a four point nearfall. He had another takedown in the second period then capitalized on his fourth takedown in the third for the pin.
LiCastri dropped his second match on day one against Elizabethtown's Will Davis in an 11-6 decision. Davis scored a couple takedowns in the first two periods, however LiCastri answered with three escapes then a takedown to trail 7-6 entering the third. Davis fought off LiCastri in the final period and recorded one more takedown with 30 seconds remaining.
End of Season Records and Leaders
Ryan finished the season 35-2 with 17 falls, two tech falls, six majors and a sudden victory. He was crowned the New York State Collegiate Champion, the SUNYAC Champion, and the Region 2 Qualifier Champion at 184 pounds.
LiCastri finished the season 40-7 overall with 22 pins, six tech falls, and four majors. He was the New York State Collegiate Champion at 197, received All-SUNYAC honors with a second-place finish at SUNYAC Championships, and placed third at the Region 2 Qualifier for his first NCAA Championship appearance. LiCastri also finished tied for second in NCAA with 22 falls, Merchant Marine's Withers scored two falls in the tournament to finish with 23.
Junior Avery Leonard (Milford, N.Y./Milford Central) finished the season as the NCAA leader in tech falls with 23, one ahead of Johnson and Wales' 125-pounder Joziah Fry. Fry entered the tournament needing three tech falls to surpass Leonard, since Leonard owned the tie breaker, which is least combined time, and Fry showed his mind was set on being the NCAA leader.
He gained a tech fall in his first match to get within two. During his second match, Fry was ahead 21-7 and needed one more point for another tech fall. He thought he got a takedown in the closing seconds for the tech, however the officials did not give it to him, and he won the match via major. Despite the victory that moved him into the championship semifinals, Fry told his coach to throw the challenge brick to review the play to get the extra points. The coach agreed to challenge the call, but the refs upheld their decision, Johnson and Wales lost their challenge for the remainder of the tournament and Leonard remained the NCAA tech fall leader.
Season Recap
The NCAA Championships cap off the 2024-25 season for the Oneonta wrestling team. The Red Dragons had a historic year as they earned the program's first New York State Collegiate Championship team title, the first Conference Championship team title, tied the program record for most dual victories in a single season (16), and finished the season nationally ranked No. 8 in tournament play.
Individually, the Red Dragons had one All-American, two national qualifiers with one region champion, two finished the regular season nationally ranked in the top 5 of their respective weights (Ryan – 184, Leonard – 149), and had all 10 wrestlers ranked regionally competing in the Region 2 Qualifier. The team had 14 All-State honorees at the New York State Championships with six individual winners, seven placed top-three at the SUNYAC Championships, four earned All-SUNYAC honors with one being named a conference champion, and a SUNYAC Elite 20 winner (sophomore Gabriel Camillieri (Croton-On-Hudson, NY/Croton-Harmon-High School)).
NCAA Championship Results – Jack Ryan (Trumbull, CT/)
First Round: Ryan def. Remington Bauer (14-4 major)
Championship Quarterfinals: Ganon Smith def. Ryan (7-2 dec)
Blood Round: Ryan def. Joel Martsinovsky (8-1 dec)
Consolation Quarterfinals: Ryan def. Xavier Pommells (8-0 major)
Consolation Semifinals: Ryan def. Tyler Withers (8-0 major)
Third-Place Match: Ryan def. Ganon Smith (4-1, SV-1)
NCAA Championship Results – Carson LiCastri (Easton, CT/Joel Barlow High School)
First Round: DJ Henry def. LiCastri (5-2, SV-1)
Consolation First Round: LiCastri def. Sawyer Dereszynski (6:04 fall)
Consolation Second Round: Will Davis def. LiCastri (11-6 dec.)