The New York University wrestling team completed competition at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships on Sunday, February 26, at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham, ME.
Sophomore Cooper Pantelandolfo, who earned All-America honors last season, will have the opportunity to achieve that status again as his second-place finish in the 165-pound bracket qualified him for a return trip. Pontelandolfo began his Sunday slate by posting a 7-3 victory over Kevin Lyskawa of Trinity College. However, he dropped a 5-2 decision to Nathan Lackman of Rhode Island College in the final.
Pontelandolfo will be joined at Nationals by freshman heavyweight
Evan Anderson, who finished third in his weight class. He began the day by dropping a 2-1 decision to Jack Peavey of host Southern Maine in the semifinals. The loss pushed Anderson into the consolation bracket where he needed to win two more matches......which is what he did!
First, Anderson posted a 3-1 decision victory over Liridon Leka of Johnson & Wales University. Then, he pulled out a 1-0 victory over Michael Filieri of Springfield College to punch his ticket to Nationals.
"I'm happy for Cooper and Evan," said Associate Head Coach
Corey Luce. "Both are outstanding young men and earned their trip to Nationals."
The top three individuals in each weight class earned automatic qualification for next month's national competition.
Another pair of Violets were denied qualification by the slimmest of margins. Both
Jason Geyer at 174 and
Scott DuPont at 184 reached third-place matches in their respective weight classes, but were beaten in bouts that went to overtime.
Taisei Kurachi (125) also advanced to the third-place match, but lost by decision.
"This was a tough tournament all-around," Luce added. "Expectations were high and it's tough to see a couple of our seniors (Geyer and Dupont) come up short. They have given so much to our program and have been so instrumental to our success."
As a team, the Violets finished fifth with 99.5 points. Johnson & Wales University won the 19-team competition with 175.6 points.
The NCAA National Championships will take place March 10-11 in Roanoke, VA.
