The New York University wrestling team earned a first-place finish at the Racich Rumble, hosted by Ursinus College, on Saturday, November 8, in Collegeville, PA.
The Violets edged out Messiah University by 0.5 points in the team standings, as NYU finished with 159.5.
Of the Violets' 12 competing wrestlers, eight registered top-two finishes, including four first-place wins.
In the 125-pound bracket,
Alexander Diaz and
Xavier Diaz won three bouts each and met each other in the finals. In a no-contest,
Alexander Diaz was declared the winner.
The 133-pound competition also saw two NYU wrestlers make the finals, as both
Jacob Venezia and
Harrison Gordon won four bouts each to make it to the final round. Venezia pinned Gordon in just under two minutes to capture the win.
James Carlock starred for the Violets in the 141-pound class, as he recorded four wins en route the finals, including a 10-5 decision over the #2-seeded Shaun Quirk. In the championship bout, he clinched a 5-2 decision.
John Mairano was awarded a first round bye in the 149-pound class before posting a technical fall and back-to-back major decisions to get to the finals. He was, however, defeated 6-1 and finished in second place.
Ty Finn rounded out the first-place finishers for NYU with a championship in the 174-pound class. As the #8 seed, Finn pinned his first opponent before collecting a tech fall and two straight major decisions. His semi-final major decision was over the #1-seed Michael Blum. He then dominated #2-ranked Anthony Cerulli with a 16-0 tech fall to claim the championship.
"It was good to see
Ty Finn do well on the mat," said Associate Head Coach
Corey Luce. "His two wins over ranked opponents were incredible."
Cristian Gioia also finished in third place in the 174-pound bracket.
#6-seeded
Nathan Faxon made it to the finals of the heavyweight class with three wins, including a pin in the quarter-finals. He fell 3-1 in the championship bout and took home second place.
"This was a fun tournament in a close race with Messiah," added Luce. "Hats off to our guys for winning those big matches when we needed them to. We had a lot of great individual performances."
The Violets will next travel to Kings Point, NY for the Metropolitan Duals, hosted by the United States Merchant Marine Academy, on Sunday, November 16.
