Cooper Pontelandolfo and Jacob Venezia of New York University's wrestling team competed on day one of the 2024 NCAA Division III Championships on Friday, March 14, at the Amica Mutual Pavillion in Providence, RI.

Pontelandolfo, seeded #3 in his weight class (157), kept his magical, undefeated (33-0) season alive as he won both of his bouts and advanced to Saturday's semifinals.

His performance today clinched his fourth All-America honor.

After a first-round bye, Pontelandolfo defeated Rhenzo Augusto of Elmherst University in an 11-2 major decision. He then moved on to the 157 quarterfinals to face Ryan Smith of the Stevens Institute of Technology. The NYU senior continued his winning streak with a grueling 2-0 shutout decision.

Two wins away from the national championship, Pontelandolfo next faces #7-seed Tyler Goebel of the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse in Saturday's semifinal.  

"Watching Cooper become NYU's first-ever four-time All-American is really, really special," said Associate Head Coach Corey Luce. "He works so hard and has deserved every moment. But, I know he's not satisfied and will be ready to bring it tomorrow in the semifinals."

Venezia struggled in his first-ever NCAA Championships appearance.

In his first-round bout (133), Venezia was pinned in 0:49 by #2-seed Peyton Ellis of Johnson & Wales University. After dropping to the consolation bracket and getting a first- round bye, Venezia's was eliminated from competition following a 16-2, major decision defeat to Jacob Blair of Delaware Valley University. 

"I'm proud of the season Jake had," Luce explained. "I know it didn't end the way he would like, so that will provide him with the motivation to be standing on the podium next season."

Day two of the Championships begins at 10:00am on Saturday.