The NYS Cadet Freestyle team is looking for interested wrestlers to wrestle on the National Duals Team in Daytona, Florida June 15-16. There are weight classes that need to be filled (88, 84, 113, 120, 182, 195 & 220)

Please contact Coaches asap:

Anthony Servidone (aservidone@yahoo.com)
Dean Zenie (rdzenie@aol.com)
Larry Cantor (LCantor2@schools.nyc.gov)

Hempstead, NY – Hofstra junior wrestler Steve Bonanno has been voted to the 2012 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)-Capital One Academic All-District 1 Men’s At-Large first team, CoSIDA announced Friday afternoon. 

Bonanno (Wantagh, NY), who was also named to the 2011-12 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Individual All-Academic Team on May 8, will now advance to the men’s at-large national ballot along with the first team honorees from the seven other districts. The 2012 CoSIDA-Capital One Academic All-America Division I Men’s At-Large Team will be announced on Thursday, June 7. 

The CoSIDA-Capital One Academic All-America men’s at-large district nominations can include student-athletes from fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling. 

Bonanno, the 2012 Colonial Athletic Association Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year, earned his second NWCA All-Academic Team honor recently after being selected in 2011. A junior majoring in accounting, Bonnano has also been a three-time CAA Commissioner’s Academic Award recipient and a member of the Hofstra Athletics Academic Honor Roll his entire career. 

Bonanno earned NCAA All-America honors after placing eighth in the 125-pound weight class at the 2012 NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis. He posted a 31-9 record this season, including a 14-1 mark in dual matches. Bonanno was the 2012 CAA champion at 125 pounds and finished the year ranked #12 in the nation in his weight class. A three-time NCAA qualifier, he also posted a second-place finish at the Binghamton Open, was third at the Cliff Keen-Las Vegas Invitational and placed sixth at the Southern Scuffle in 2011-12. 

Courtesy of gohofstra.com

ITHACA, N.Y.—Cornell wrestling’s Frank Perrelli and Kyle Dake have been awarded wildcard positions for the 2012 Olympic Team Trials in men’s freestyle. The trials will be held April 21-22 in Iowa City, Iowa. USA Wrestling gave out eight of its 10 spots it was announced on Monday night. Perrelli and Dake will be joined at the event by Mack Lewnes ’11 who qualified for the trials in Las Vegas on Dec. 3.

Dake earns his wildcard spot after winning his third NCAA championship in St. Louis, Mo. March 17. The Big Red junior became the first wrestler to ever win titles at three different weight classes. He finished his third season with a perfect 35-0 record. Dake notched his 100^th career victory with his 4-1 win over Derek St. John of Iowa in the NCAA finals.

Dake earns his spot at 74 kg (163 pounds) and joins NCAA champion David Taylor of Penn State in the weight class. Dake was a 2008 Junior World Team member in Greco-Roman. Last year, Dake took second at the 2011 University Nationals. He lost in the finals in three periods (3-1, 1-2, 1-0) to Andrew Howe, who is No. 2 on the freestyle team.

Perrelli placed fourth at the NCAA tournament this year to become an All-American. The Big Red senior wrapped up his Big Red career with a 110-41 overall record and is 12^th in the Cornell career record books in victories.

Perrelli will wrestle at 55 kg (121 pounds) and joins 2012 NCAA champion Matt McDonough of Iowa in the weight class as wildcard recipients. The Big Red senior took fifth at the 2011 US Open in freestyle and was the 2010 University Nationals champion. Last season, Perrelli placed second at the 2011 University Nationals after dropping a 1-0, 2-1 decision to Brandon Precin in the finals. With his fifth place finish at the US Open, Perrelli qualified for the 2011 World Team Trials.

Lewnes ’11 qualified after placing second at 84 kg at the Men’s Freestyle Olympic Trials Qualifier on Dec. 3 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Lewnes is the all-time winningest wrestler in Cornell history with 150 victories. He also tops the charts with 55 career falls. Lewnes is a three-time All-American, and was the NCAA runner up at 174 pounds in 2010. He is a four-time EIWA champion.

According to USA Wrestling, athletes can still qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials by competing in the Final U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifying Tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa, March 31-April 1. The top two in each of the Olympic weight classes will earn a spot in the field in Iowa City.

Troy Nickerson ’10 will compete at the Final US Olympic Qualifying Tournament at 55 kg this weekend looking to earn a spot at the trials. Nickerson is the 2009 NCAA champion at 125 pounds and is a four-time All-American.

Men’s Freestyle 2012 Olympic Trials Wildcards
55 kg/121 lbs. – Matt McDonough, Marion, Iowa (Hawkeye WC)
55 kg/121 lbs. – Frank Perrelli, Hackettstown, N.J. (New York AC)
60 kg/132 lbs. – Logan Stieber, Monroeville, Ohio (New York AC)
60 kg/132 lbs. – Jordan Oliver, Easton, Pa. (Gator WC)
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Phillip Simpson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
74 kg/163 lbs. – David Taylor, St. Paris, Ohio (Nittany Lion WC)
74 kg/163 lbs. – Kyle Dake, Ithaca, N.Y. (New York AC)
84 kg/185 lbs. – Quentin Wright, Wingate, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC)

–Courtesy of cornellbigred.com

LaCrosse, Wis. – Senior Seth Ecker (Pottstown, Pa./Pottstown) and graduate student Jeremy Stierly (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) of the Ithaca College both won individual titles in Saturday’s final session at the NCAA Championships. Ecker won his second straight NCAA title at 133 pounds and Stierly claimed the crown at 149 pounds to highlight for the weekend for the Bombers, who finished in fifth place in the team standings. Ecker and Stierly’s titles bring the program’s total to individual national champions; they were two of Ithaca’s five all-Americans.

Joining Ecker and Stierly as all-Americans were junior Jules Doliscar (Trinity/Dix Hills), who placed seventh at 174; graduate student Nick Sanko (Lenhartsville, Pa./Hamburg Area), who finished seventh at 165; and senior Derek Brenon (Watertown/Immaculate Heart Central), who took eighth at 157. Ithaca’s sixth entrant, senior heavyweight Matt Mahon (Rochester/Brighton)went 1-2 Friday and was eliminated.

As a team the Bombers placed fifth in the standings; following a fourth-place showing last year and sixth-place efforts in 2009 and 2010, Ithaca’s four straight top-1o finishes match the school record set from 1992-95. Ithaca’s five all-Americans are one short of the school record set by the 1988 team. Brenon, Doliscar and Sanko all earned all-America honor for the first time; Ecker andStierly are three-time all-Americans.

Ecker, the top seed, became the first Ithaca wrestler to win more than one individual NCAA championship. He recorded an 8-0 major decision over seventh-seeded Jordan Westfall of Coe in the title bout (Coe upset the second and third seeds in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds). He beat Wartburg’s Thomas Mirocha 4-0 then beat eighth-seeded Timothy Wunnicke of Wisconsin-Platteville 5-2 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Ecker recorded his ninth fall of the season, planting unseeded Joe Mileski of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (who had upset the fourth and fifth seeds) in 4:25. The pin in the semifinals was the 34th of Ecker’s career; he went 30-4 this season with a career record of 108-20. He’s ninth all-time in wins as a Bomber.

Stierly finished the 2010 and 2011 season as NCAA runner-up at 141 pounds; he moved up a class for his final season and ended the year with his hand raised as the national champion.Stierly, who was seeded fourth, edged second-seeded Anthony Dattolo of Wilkes 3-1 to win the title. Stierly earned two points with a first-period takedown and the two wrestlers each picked up an escape (Dattolo in the second and Stierly in the third). He posted a 10-2 major decision over Wartburg’s Drew Wagenhoffer to open competition Friday, then defeated fifth-seeded James Locke of Coe 7-4 in the next round. Stierly’s semifinal win came by a 6-4 count on a takedown in the second overtime period against eighth-seeded Joe Wood of Coe (who was coming off an overtime win against the top seed). Stierly joined John Gemmell as the only Bombers to reach the finals three times (Gemmell also finished second twice, then moved up a weight class and won the title in his final season) and posted a record of 12-1 this season. Stierly’s career mark is 91-18.

Ecker and Stierly are the 11th and 12th Bomber wrestlers to earn all-America honors three times (joining Bart Morrow, 1983-84-85; Bob Panariello, 1983-84-87; Mike Fusilli, 1988-89-90; Bomber head coach Marty Nichols, 1988-89-90; Mike Murtha, 1992-93-94; Kent Maslin, 1992-93-94; Chris Matteotti, 1992-93-95; John Gemmell, 1996-97-98; Ryan Ciotoli, 2000-01-02; and Blaine Woszczak (Manasquan, N.J./Wall), 2009-10-11;

Doliscar was a 7-1 winner over Augustana’s Jordan Richardson in the seventh/eighth-place match. Seeded first, Doliscar opened competition Friday by defeating Josh Kohler of Augsburg, 9-4 before being upset by eighth-seeded Matthew Pfarr of St. John’s in the quarterfinal round.Doliscar outscored his consolation quarterfinal opponent 14-10, beating seventh-seeded Trevor Tyler of Olivet, then lost 8-6 to fifth-seeded Scott King of Coe in the next round. Doliscar finishes the season with a record of 36-4 (only four Bombers have ever won more bouts in a season).

Sanko won his seventh/eighth-place bout 11-4 over Quint Eno of Elizabethtown. He was seeded third and dropped a 3-2 decision to Kevin O’Brien of Wisconsin-LaCrosse in his first match. Sankodefeated Colin Crowell of Roger Williams (4-3) and Matt Burns of Augustana (8-2) in elimination matches. Sanko lost to eighth-seeded James Myers of Olivet in the consolation semifinal round. He posted a record of 19-5 on the year and finishes his career with mark of 55-24.

Brenon, the eighth seed, was a 7-3 winner over John Carroll’s Terner Gott before losing to the top seed, Augsburg’s Orlando Ponce. Brenon pinned Michael Letcher of Ohio Northern in 1:24 in the consolation quarterfinals to clinch all-America honors for the first time in his career, then lost 13-2 to fifth-seeded Dale Handley of Coe and was pinned by sixth-seeded Isaac Dukes of Case Western Reserve in the seventh/eighth-place match. Brenon went 15-7 this year and is 60-16 as a Bomber.

Mahon lost 9-3 to fourth-seeded Corey Anderson of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the opening round.  He picked up a late takedown to beat Gettysburg’s Kevin Poplaski 11-9 in the consolation bracket before being eliminated. Mahon finishes his career 91-35 (he was 26-9 this winter) with a school-record 55 pins.

Ecker and Stierly were the second and third Bombers to win an NCAA title this weekend; senior Emma Dewart successfully defended her pentathlon title Friday at the NCAA Women’s Indoor Track & Field Championships.

–Ithaca College Sports Information