ITHACA, N.Y. – Five Cortland wrestlers have advanced to the semifinals of their weight classes, and one other is still alive in the consolation bracket, after the first day of competition at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Wrestling Championships, hosted by Ithaca College. The regional concludes on Sunday, and the top-three placewinners in each weight class will advance to the NCAA Division III Championships.

The Red Dragons who advanced to the semifinals of the championship bracket are: freshman Chandler Merwin (Walton) at 141 pounds; freshman Cahal Donovan (Marietta/Marcellus) at 149 pounds; sophomore Demitreus Henry (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) at 174 pounds; junior Dylan Dubuque (East Greenbush/Columbia) at 197 pounds; and freshman Trentyn Rupert (Newark Valley) at 285 pounds. Freshman Ben Bivar (Noblesville, IN/Bainbridge-Guilford (NY)) is still alive in the consolation bracket at 157 pounds.

Cortland is sixth out of 18 schools in the team standings after Day 1 with 60 points. Ithaca and TCNJ are tied for first with 85 points each, followed by Centenary (N.J.) (69.5), Brockport (68), RIT (67), Cortland (60) and Muhlenberg (56) in the top seven.

Merwin pinned Colton Davis of Pitt Bradford in the opening round. In the quarterfinals, Merwin edged Oneonta's Ahken Chu, who entered the match with a 35-4 record, by a 2-0 decision after a takedown late in the first period. Merwin will face Robert Dinger of TCNJ in the semifinals.

Donovan began the day with a pin versus Dante Simeti of Scranton. He then won 3-1 in sudden-victory overtime against Muhlenberg's Austin Sherman, tying the match on an escape with 1:43 left in the third and winning on a takedown with 11 seconds left in overtime. Donovan will match up with Ithaca's Ben Brisman in the semifinals.

Henry won his first match by a 10-4 decision over Gary Nagle of Ursinus, followed by a 7-6 decision against Alec Donovan of Centenary. Henry led 4-2 after two periods versus Donovan and was up 6-4 before two late penalty points tied the match. Henry, however, earned a riding time point to pull out the win. Henry is scheduled to face nationally eighth-ranked Dan Kilroy of TCNJ in the semifinals.

Dubuque started the day with a pin late in the first period versus Oneonta's Matthew Burge. In his next match, Dubuque was in a battle with Oswego's Aidan Mathews as the wrestlers were tied 3-3 entering the third. Dubuque took the lead with an escape, then registered a takedown with 52 seconds left, and he turned that advantage into a pin with 45 seconds left. Dubuque will meet TCNJ's Quinn Haddad in the semifinals.

Rupert, like Dubuque, won both of his matches Saturday by pin. He registered a fall in 4:54 versus Tom Marretta of TCNJ, dominating the match with a 10-0 lead before securing the fall, and he pinned Muhlenberg's Scott Schaeffer 2:15 into the first period. Rupert will go up against Keegan Connelly of Scranton in the semifinals.

Bivar won 6-0 versus Eric Brach of Oneonta to begin the day before losing in the quarterfinals, 10-5, to Oswego's Christian Gramuglia. Bivar stayed alive with an 11-7 decision versus TCNJ's Mathew Sacco that included two reversals in the third period. Bivar will face Zack Brown of Brockport to start Sunday's action and needs three straight wins to earn third place and a national berth.

Four Red Dragons were eliminated during Saturday's competition:

* Kevin Morgans (Liberty) finished 1-2 at 184 pounds. He won his opening match with a 9-5 decision over Keystone's Brendan Hamilton, but lost by pin to Brockport's Joe Yanis and by an 11-2 major decision to Aidan McNally of Scranton. Morgans closes the year with a 10-15 record and completes his Red Dragon career with a 35-45 mark.

* Ben Lloyd (Woodbridge, VA/Forest Park) went 1-2 at 125 pounds. After falling by a 12-4 major decision to nationally eighth-ranked Daniel Ortega of TCNJ, Lloyd won by forfeit versus Alfred State's Zachary Kowalewski in his first consolation match. Lloyd's season came to a close with an 8-3 loss to Austin Jones of Elizabethtown. Lloyd finishes the season 14-22 and concludes his Cortland career with a 31-59 mark.

* Matt Maquet (Long Beach) finished with a 1-2 record at 133 pounds. He lost by technical fall to Ithaca's Travis Jones, but came back to earn an 11-4 decision over Oneonta's Andrew Desousa. Maquet was nipped, 8-6, in sudden-victory overtime versus Austin Sergeant of Brockport to finish the season with a 6-7 record.

* Gianno Silba (Newark Valley) lost both of his matches at 165 pounds. He fell in an 18-5 major decision to John Garda of TCNJ, and in the consolation round came up just short in a 5-4 loss to Brockport's Matthew Kline. Silba finished the year with a 25-14 record.

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