Senior Cooper Pontelandolfo completed his outstanding collegiate career by finishing as the national runner-up at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships on Saturday, March 15, in Providence, RI.

"What a career Coop has had. Our staff can't be more proud of him," said Associate Head Coach Corey Luce. "When you talk about the Mount Rushmore of wrestling at NYU,  Cooper is among the best to have ever put on an NYU singlet. It was an honor to be in his corner for these four seasons."

Now a four-time All-American, the #3-seeded Pontelandolfo faced #7 Tyler Goebel of the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse in Saturday's semifinal and breezed into the 157-pound finals with an 8-1 decision.  

in the finals against top-seeded Michael Petrella of Baldwin Wallace University, a two-time national champion at 149, it was a battle of undefeated's as Pontelandolfo came into the bout at 34-0 while Petrella entered 39-0.

Petrella stayed in control most of the way and posted a 4-2 victory.

"It should come to no surprise that Cooper's a four-time All American, the first in NYU history," said Head Coach Bruce Haberli. "You don't find too many student-athletes who put in the effort and work like Cooper. He's as consistent as they come. He's always upbeat and always positive. He's a coach's dream, the reason why coaches get into coaching in the first place."

Pontelandolfo's performance at the championship meet was worth 17.0 total points for NYU, pushing the Violets into 29th place of 75 teams.