CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA - Junior Bobby Dierna (Wenster/Wayne) captured the NCAA Div. III national title at 157 pounds with a 7-5 victory over third-seeded Drew Wagenhoffer of Wartburg Saturday night at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Dierna's win made it back-to-back years with an individual national champion for the Red Dragons.

Senior Joe Giaramita (Elwood/John H. Glenn), the defending national champion at 197 pounds, earned a third-place finish for Cortland and eclipsed the Red Dragon career-win mark by posting a 4-1 record at the championships.

Cortland finished seventh as a team with 35.5 points. Wartburg won the team title with 129.5 points followed by Messiah (100), Luther (64), Wabash (55.5) and Augsburg (46.5). The top-10 showing was the Red Dragons' 12th overall and fourth in the last five years.

Dierna, the top seed, began the day with an 8-2 decision over unseeded Tristan Zurfluh of Luther in the semifinals to advance to the finals for the second time. Dierna finished as the runner-up at 149 pounds in 2014 and placed third in the weight class in 2013.

In the championship bout, Dierna took a 2-0 lead with a first-period takedown before a Wagenhoffer escape made it 2-1 heading into the second period. The only point scored in the second period was an escape by Wagenhoffer, sending the bout to the final period tied at 2-2. Dierna registered a quick reversal to start the third period, and Wagenhoffer's escape left Dierna with a 4-3 lead. Wagenhoffer then earned a takedown to go ahead, 5-4, but Dierna worked his second reversal of the match to regain the advantage at 6-5. Dierna rode out Wagenhoffer to add a riding-time point to secure the 7-5 decision and Cortland's sixth individual national title. Dierna concluded the season with a 24-2 record, including 10 pins. He raised his career record to 85-9.

Giaramita, the third seed, lost a 10-3 decision to second-seeded Gerard Roman of Wartburg in the semifinals, dropping him to the consolation bracket. In the consolation semifinals, he earned a 4-1 decision over Merchant Marine's Ricky Fisher, then knocked off fourth-seeded Angus Arthur of Adrian, 8-4, in the consolation finals to finish third. Giaramita, Cortland's second four-time All-American, previously placed eighth at 285 pounds in 2012, sixth at 197 pounds in 2013 and captured the national title at the same weight last year. He finished the season with a 36-6 record and posted a 129-26 career record, surpassing the 128 wins recorded by Paul LeBlanc from 2005-09.

On Friday, two Cortland wrestlers completed their seasons. Junior Andrew Roden (Kings Park) went 0-2 at 125 pounds at the championships to finish the season 15-15. Senior Lou Puca (Huntington) posted a 1-2 record and ended his season with a 31-4 record. He moved into third place in career wins and finished 118-30 overall and tied for fourth in career falls with 43.  

Tournament Web Page (By host Cornell College; includes links to brackets, live scoring, video, results and other info) but
Official NCAA Div. III Wrestling Page
Digital Championship Program

Live Video (Day 2)
Brackets