Four New York University Wrestlers are competing at the NCAA Division III Championships, and one has already achieved All-America status.

Cooper Pontelandolfo (165) lost his first match on Friday at the NCAA Division III Championships in Cedar Rapids, IA, but he stormed back to win the next two and has guaranteed himself All-America honors. After falling in a close 5-4 opening bout to #7-seed Chase Schmidt of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, the NYU freshman blanked his next two opponents, earning a 16-0 technical fall over second-seeded Dominick Reyes of Johns Hopkins University and a 10-0 major decision over #8-seeded Patrick McGraw of John Carroll University.

"Cooper is only the second freshman to earn All-America honors for us," said senior Assistant Coach Corey Luce. "It's amazing what he's done so far here at the tournament and throughout the season as well."

Pontelandolfo, already having secured at least an eighth-place, All-American finish, continues his quest to move as high as third when he faces Austin Lamb of RIT on Saturday morning.  

After dropping his first bout, Trent Furman (157) rallied to defeat both Jeff Johnson of New Jersey City University and Zarik Anderson of the University of Dubuque by decisions. Then, competing in the "All-America Round," the junior fell short of that status via a 6-2 loss to #4-seed Ryan Ruth of Washington and Lee University.   

Sophomore Matt Kelly, competing at 197, produced an 8-4 victory over Dylan Wellbaum of Adrian College, but dropped two bouts, one of them to sixth-seed Jordan Wallace of Ithaca College. 

At 184, junior Jason Geyer lost both of his matches and was eliminated from the competition. 

"Even though three of our wrestlers are done and we'll have only one All-American, there is a silver lining," Luce explained. "They are all underclassmen, will be back and are already looking forward to next season. We had opportunities to win some more matches, but just fell short." 

The Championships continue on Saturday.