The New York University wrestling team will send a program-record six wrestlers to the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships, set for March 13–14 at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) recently announced that 11 members of NYU's wrestling team earned Scholar All-America honors. NYU also received Scholar All-America Team recognition with the eighth-highest cumulative GPA (3.706) among NCAA Division III programs.
The following Violets were named Scholar All-Americans: Xavier Diaz, Alexander Diaz, Jacob Venezia, Nicky Bell, Ty Finn, Nathan Faxon, Cristian Gioia, Justin Mayes, Dmitry Derbedyenyev, Vincenzo Napolitana, and Harrison Gordon.
NYU has also performed strongly on the mat this season, winning the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship and placing second out of 21 teams at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships, where the Violets qualified six wrestlers for nationals.
Alexander Diaz, Venezia, Finn, Mayes, Bell, and Mo Talebi will represent NYU at the NCAA Division III Championships beginning Friday in Cedar Rapids.
The national tournament will feature the top wrestlers from across Division III competing for individual national titles, while team points earned throughout the tournament will determine the final team standings.
Diaz enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed at 125 pounds and heads into the tournament undefeated at 29–0. He received a first-round bye and will face the winner of Trevor Middendorf of SUNY Brockport and Nikko Beato of Coast Guard in the second round Friday morning.
Venezia returns to the national championships for the second consecutive season at 133 pounds and will open the tournament against Ty Daugherty of John Carroll.
At 165 pounds, Bell will begin his championship run against Peyton Brooks of Albion.
Finn enters the national tournament as the No. 4 seed at 174 pounds and will face Toren Vandenbush of the Milwaukee School of Engineering in the first round.
Mayes will compete at 184 pounds as the No. 7 seed and will open against Easton Hull of Wisconsin–Stevens Point.
Talebi rounds out NYU's qualifiers at 197 pounds and will face Joseph Petrella of Baldwin Wallace in the opening round.
The NCAA Division III Championships begin Friday morning with the opening rounds, followed by quarterfinal matches Friday evening. Competition continues Saturday with semifinal and placement matches before the national championship bouts Saturday night.
