ITHACA, N.Y. – Cortland finished sixth overall out of 19 schools and was the top Div. III finisher at the all-division New York State Collegiate Wrestling Championships, hosted by Cornell University. Nine Red Dragons earned all-state honors with top-eight showings. Cornell won the title with 183.5 points, followed by Columbia (152.5), Hofstra (135.5), Buffalo (130.5), Army (125.5), Cortland (113.5), Binghamton (84.5) and Ithaca (56) in the top eight.

Sophomore Tyler Beckwith (Greene) turned in Cortland's top individual finish with a second-place effort at 184 pounds. Freshman Bobby Dierna (Webster/Wayne) placed third at 149 pounds, senior Jared Myhrberg (Queensbury) finished fourth at 197 pounds and senior Corey James (Kingston) finished fourth at 285 pounds.

Senior Troy Sterling (Uniondale) placed fifth at 157 pounds and senior Jonathan Conroy (South Plainfield, NJ) was fifth at 165 pounds. Other Red Dragon all-state performers were junior Brian Bistis (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) at 141 pounds (sixth place), senior Will Parks (Shoreham/Longwood) at 184 pounds (seventh place) and sophomore Lou Puca (Huntington) at 174 pounds (eighth place).

Beckwith, seeded fifth, went 3-1 at 184 pounds. He beat the top seed from Army in the semifinals, 3-2, before losing to the second seed from Cornell in the finals, 9-3. Dierna finished 3-1 as the fourth seed at 149 pounds, with his lone loss to the top seed from Columbia in the semifinals. Myhrberg posted a 3-1 record as the second seed at 197 pounds. After losing to the sixth seed from Columbia in the semifinals, he won his next match over the fourth seed from Army before medically forfeiting the third-place match. James, the fourth seed at 285 pounds, lost his first match, but won his next four bouts and medically forfeited the third-place match.

Sterling entered as the second seed at 157 pounds. He won his first two matches, then lost to the third seed from Cornell and the sixth seed from Buffalo. He claimed fifth place by medical forfeit. Conroy, the fifth seed at 165 pounds, started 3-0 before losing in the semifinals to the top seed from Buffalo. He dropped a decision to Hofstra as well before earning fifth place by medical forfeit.

The fifth seed at 141 pounds, Bistis was 4-2 with losses only to the fourth and second seeds. He then medically forfeited the fifth-place match. Parks posted a 5-2 record as an unseeded entry at 184, capped by a 10-8 win in the seventh-place match. Puca, the sixth seed at 174 pounds, lost his first match and pinned his next two opponents. He finished with two losses, one of which came versus the fifth seed.

Myhrberg earned all-state recognition for the third time. He finished second at 197 as a sophomore and sixth at 184 pounds as a freshman. Bistis, Conroy, Sterling and Puca all repeat as all-state honorees from last season. Bistis was second at 141 pounds, Conroy third at 165 pounds, Sterling finished fourth at 157 pounds and Puca was sixth at 174 pounds.

The “B” bracket of the New York State Championships will be held on Sunday at 9 a.m. at Cornell.

Complete Championship Brackets (PDF)

UPDATE:
Link to "B" Bracket Results from Sunday (recap will be posted as a separate story on Monday)

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

1) Cornell (CORN) – 183.5
2) Columbia (COL) – 152.5
3) Hofstra (HOF) – 135.5
4) Univ. at Buffalo (BUFF) – 130.5
5) Army – 125.5
6) Cortland (CORT) – 113.5
7) Binghamton (BING) – 84.5
8) Ithaca (ITH) – 56
9) Oneonta (ONE) – 47.5
10) RIT – 44
11) Niagara County CC (NIAG) – 38.5
12) NYU – 32
13) Oswego (OSW) – 28.5
14) Brockport (BROCK) – 26
15) Hunter (HUNT) – 17.5
16) Jamestown CC (JAMES) – 12
17) Mt. St. Vincent (MSV) – 4
tie 18) Alfred St. (ALF) – 2
tie 18) Merchant Marine Acad. (MMA) - 2


Cortland Match Results


125 pounds

No Cortland entries


133 pounds

(#4 seed) Alec Dierna (1-2)
lost to Dan Riggi (BING), 4-1
dec. Marius Kola (MSV), 2-1
lost to #6 Omar Santiago (OSW), 6-3


141 pounds

(#5 seed) Brian Bistis (4-2) (6th place)
dec. Tyler Pendergrast (BING), 3-0
dec. Eliah Golding (BROCK), 4-1
lost to #4 Andrew Schutt (BUFF), 4-1
pinned Brian Latham (MSV), 3:26
major dec. Tyler Pendergrast (BING), 13-5
lost to #2 Luke Vaith (HOF), tech. fall 3:50 (20-4)
(medically forfeited 5th-place match)


149 pounds

(#4 seed) Bobby Dierna (3-1) (4th place)
pinned #5 Ryan Guynup (JAMES), 2:00
Semis: lost to #1 Steve Santos (COL), 2-1
dec. Matt Spataro (HOF), 3-1
3rd place: major dec. #6 Brad Mayville (RIT), 17-7


157 pounds

(#2 seed) Troy Sterling (3-2) (5th place)
major dec. Tyler White (ALF), 17-4
dec. Bernard Watson (MMA), 10-3
lost to #3 Christopher Dowdy (CORN), 6-4
lost to #6 Wally Martinez (BUFF), 7-1
5th place: won by medical forfeit vs. #5 Daniel Graff (ONE)


165 pounds

(#5 seed) Jonathan Conroy (4-2) (5th place)
major dec. Shaun Gillen (ONE), 15-6
dec. Tyler Bruce (NIAG), 8-4
dec. #4 Tory Cain (RIT), 7-5
Semis: lost to #1 Mark Lewandowski (BUFF), tech. fall 1:43 (16-0)
lost to Nick Terdick (HOF), 16-5
5th place: won by medical forfeit vs. #2 David Rice (NYU)


174 pounds

(#6 seed) Lou Puca (2-3) (8th place)
lost to John Paris (BING), 7-5
pinned Anthony Paratore (ONE), 0:48
pinned Chris Amro (NYU), 4:03
lost to #5 George Pickett (CORN), 13-3
7th place: lost to John Paris (BING), 11-7


184 pounds

(#5 seed) Tyler Beckwith (3-1) (2nd place)
major dec. Chad Obzud (ONE), 13-5
dec. #4 Musa DeReese (HUNT), 2-1 (ot, tb1)
Semis: dec. #1 Collin Wittmeyer (ARMY), 3-2
Finals: lost to #2 Craig Scot (CORN), 9-3

Will Parks (5-2) (7th place)
pinned Dennis Melendez (HUNT), 2:24
lost to #2 Craig Scott (CORN), 3-2
dec. Ryan Richter (JAMES), 7-0
dec. Gregory Potemken (MMA), 6-1
dec. #4 Musa DeReese (HUNT), 3-2
lost to Drew Rebling (COL), 5-2
7th place: dec. Chad Obzud (ONE), 10-8


197 pounds

(#2 seed) Jared Myhrberg (3-1) (4th place)
dec. Shane Bartrum (ITH), 3-1
pinned Tim Murphy (HOF), 2:14
Semis: lost to #6 Nicholas Mills (COL), 6-3
dec. #4 Bryce Barnes (ARMY), 9-6
(medically forfeited 3rd-place match)


285 pounds

(#4 seed) Corey James (4-1) (4th place)
lost to John Wilkinson (BROCK), 2-1
dec. Anthony Chu (NYU), 7-0
dec. #6 Kyle Sheridan (OSW), 3-1
dec. Nick Stewart (RIT), 3-0
dec. John Wilkinson (BROCK), 2-1
(medically forfeited 3rd-place match)