ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Three wrestlers won conference titles and all 10 entries finished in the top four of their weight classes to lead Cortland to the team crown at the nine-team Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference (ECWC) Championships, hosted by RIT.

Cortland won its fourth league title overall and third in four years. The Red Dragons finished first previously in 1999 and 2007 and was co-champion in 2008. Cortland finished with 141.5 points, followed by Brockport (126), Ithaca (124.5) and Lycoming (117) in a tight top four.

Seniors Mike Ciaburri (Palmyra/Palmyra-Macedon), Martino Sottile (Brentwood) and Joe Murphy (St. James/Smithtown) won individual titles to automatically qualify for the NCAA Div. III Championships March 5-6 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Murphy also became the fifth wrestler in Cortland history to reach the 100-career win mark.

Junior Aljamain Sterling (Uniondale) finished second at 133 pounds and was one of five “wild card” selections to the NCAA Div. III Championships in a vote of the league's coaches. In addition, Cortland head coach Brad Bruhn was voted as the ECWC Coach of the Year for the third time. He also won the award in 2006 and 2008. Bruhn guided the Red Dragons to a 16-4 dual-match record in addition to their league title.

Ciaburri won as the third seed at 174 pounds with a 3-0 record. He defeated the second seed and defending champion David Priest of Ithaca in the semifinals, 3-2, and also won 3-2 in the finals against top-seeded Chris Wade fo Oneonta. He'll bring a 25-8 record into his first NCAA Championship appearance. Ciaburri was the ECWC second-place finisher at 174 pounds last year.

Sottile entered the 197-pound bracket as the top seed and won all three of his matches. He beat fourth-seeded Tom Voorhis of Brockport in the semifinals 6-1 in overtime and posted a 6-1 win in the finals over second-seeded David Sbriscia of Ithaca. Sottile, last year's 184-pound runner-up, is 21-8 on the season. He's making his first NCAA showing in his second year at Cortland after wrestling two seasons at Nassau Community College.

Murphy successfully defended his ECWC heavyweight title with three victories to earn a return trip to nationals. The top seed in the bracket, Murphy notched his 100th career victory with an opening 18-5 major decision versus Messiah's Zane Bachert. He won 2-0 in the semifinals over Brockport's Patrick Krenz and won 2-1 in the title bout versus Ithaca's Joe Goetz. Murphy is 32-5 this winter and 102-38 in his Red Dragon career.

Sterling finished second at 133 pounds with a 2-1 mark. The top seed, Sterling won by technical fall in the first round and was a 1-0 winner n the semifinals, but lost to Ithaca Chad Winowich in the finals, 3-1. Sterling is 23-6 entering his first NCAA appearance.

Five Red Dragons earned third-place finishes. Freshman Sean Kempf (Wantagh/MacArthur) was 3-2 at 125 pounds, sophomore Mark Arcara (Harrison) finished 3-1 at 141 pounds, junior Stephen Perez (Bronx/Francis Lewis) was 3-1 at 149 pounds, senior Kevin Sackett (Webster/Webster Thomas) went 3-1 at 157 pounds and senior Will Brodfuehrer (Canastota) was 4-2 at 165 pounds. Freshman Jared Myhrberg (Queensbury) finished fourth at 184 pounds with a 3-2 record, but just missed on a third-place showing. He lost 3-1 in overtime in the third-place match. Perez was named as the league's second alternate to the NCAA Championships and will compete if two of the qualifiers are unable to attend.

2010 Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference Championships
Feb. 20, 2010; Rochester, N.Y.

FINAL TEAM SCORES:
1) Cortland – 141.5
2) Brockport - 126
3) Ithaca – 124.5
4) Lycoming - 117
5) Oswego - 76
6) Oneonta – 72.5
7) Messiah - 41
8) Morrisville - 27
9) RIT - 5

NOTE: Cortland wins its fourth ECWC team title. The Red Dragons won in 1999 and 2007 and was co-champ in 2008.

WEIGHT-CLASS CHAMPIONS

125 – Tyler Marlow (Brockport)
133 – Chad Winowich (Ithaca)
141 – Jeremy Stierly (Ithaca)
149 – Blaine Woszczak (Ithaca)
157 – William Horwath (Ithaca)
165 – Chris Dahlheimer (Lycoming)
174 – Mike Ciaburri (Cortland)
184 – Josh Wake (Oneonta)
197 – Martino Sottile (Cortland)
HWT - Joe Murphy (Cortland)

Most Outstanding Wrestler: Tyler Marlow (Brockport)
ECWC Coach of the Year: Brad Bruhn (Cortland)

The 10 champions above advance to the NCAA Div. III Championships March 5-6 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, along with the following five coaches' “wild card” selections:

125 – John Gregory (Ithaca)
133 – Aljamain Sterling (Cortland)
149 – Isaiah Britton (Lycoming)
165 – Trent Zempel (Messiah)
174 – Chris Wade (Oneonta)

NCAA Alternates:

1) Lukas Pariso (Brockport), 184 pounds
2) Stephen Perez (Cortland), 149 pounds
3) David Sbriscia (Ithaca), 197 pounds


CORTLAND RESULTS:

(#3 seed) SEAN KEMPF - 125 pounds (3-2, 3rd place)
major dec. #6 Jake Benedetto (ONE), 14-6
Semis: lost to #2 Tyler Marlow (BROCK), 9-5
dec. Stephen Hinton (LYC), 4-0
pinned #4 Justin Delamothe (MORR), 2:43
True 2nd: lost to #1 Jon Gregory (ITH), score n/a

(#1 seed) ALJAMAIN STERLING - 133 pounds (2-1, 2nd place)
tech. fall Joe Beaumont (RIT), 3:00 (16-0)
Semis: dec. #4 Eric Velez (BROCK), 1-0
Finals: lost to #2 Chad Winowich (ITH), 3-1
(no true 2nd place match required)

(#2 seed) MARK ARCARA – 141 pounds (3-1, 3rd place)
lost to Mike Maurer (LYC), 9-8
dec. #3 Zach Crain (ONE), 9-6
dec. #5 Ryan Fallot (BROCK), 4-2
major dec. Brandon Heffernan (OSW), 12-3
(no true 2nd place match required)

(#2 seed) STEPHEN PEREZ – 149 pounds (3-1, 3rd place)
pinned Griffin O'Connor (RIT), 1:43
lost to #6 Eliah Golding (BROCK), 9-3
dec. J.P. Sala (ONE), 6-4
dec. #4 Blake Fisher (OSW), 3-1
(no true 2nd place match required)

(#2 seed) KEVIN SACKETT – 157 pounds (3-1, 3rd place)
pinned #7 David Staulters (ONE), 4:45
lost to #3 Thomas Rispoli (BROCK), 3-2
pinned Cotton Eyer (LYC), 1:42
major dec. #7 David Staulters (ONE), 9-1
(no true 2nd place match required)

(#6 seed) WILL BRODFUEHRER – 165 pounds (4-2, 3rd place)
lost to #3 James Forsyth (BROCK), Pin 2:53
pinned Greg Morton (RIT), 0:33
pinned #7 Jimmy Neal (ONE), 2:31
dec. #5 John Dale (ITH), 3-1
dec. #4 Marc Collins (OSW), 6-2
True 2nd: lost to #2 Trent Zempel (MESS), score n/a

(#3 seed) MIKE CIABURRI – 174 pounds (3-0, 1st place)
pinned Anthony DeFranco (OSW), 5:58
Semis: dec. #2 David Priest (ITH), 3-2
Finals: dec. #1 Chris Wade (ONE), 3-2

(#5 seed) JARED MYHRBERG - 184 pounds (3-2, 4th place)
lost to #4 Troy Hayre (LYC), 7-3
dec. Josue Mendez (ITH), 3-1 (ot, sv)
dec. Ethan Phillips (OSW), 3-1
dec. #3 Timothy Stewart (MESS), 10-3
lost to #4 Troy Hayre (LYC), 3-1 (ot, sv)

(#1 seed) MARTINO SOTTILE - 197 pounds (3-0, 1st place)
dec. Kyle Sheridan (OSW), 5-2
Semis: dec. #4 Tom Voorhis (BROCK), 6-1 (ot, sv)
Finals: dec. #2 David Sbriscia (ITH), 6-1

(#1 seed) JOE MURPHY – Heavyweight (3-0, 1st place)
major dec. Zane Bachert (MESS), 18-5
Semis: dec. #4 Patrick Krenz (BROCK), 2-0
Finals: dec. #3 Joe Goetz (ITH), 2-1


Championship web site