CORTLAND, N.Y. – Freshman Cody Merwin (Walton) and sophomore J.C. Cardenas (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) won weight-class titles, and four other Cortland wrestlers were runners-up at their weights, to lead the Red Dragons' performances at the New York State Collegiate Championships. Cortland hosted the tournament Saturday at Lusk Field House.
 
The Red Dragons finished in fourth place out of 19 schools in the final team standings with 98.5 points. RIT won the team title with 148.5 points, followed by Ithaca with 126.5 and Brockport with 109. 
 
Merwin was the champion at 125 pounds and Cardenas claimed the title at 133 pounds. Senior Richard Munoz (Centereach/Ward Melville) finished second to Merwin at 125 pounds, junior Chandler Merwin (Walton) was second at 157 pounds, senior Demitreus Henry (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) placed second at 174 pounds, and senior Brian Torres (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) finished second at 197 pounds. 
 
At 125, Merwin went 5-0 on the way to the title. He opened with a pin, a technical fall and another pin, followed by a 9-6 decision over RIT's Lee Rubin in the semifinals. In the finals, he defeated his teammate, Munoz, 6-2. Munoz was 3-1 at the weight class with two decisions and a technical fall in the semifinals before losing to Merwin in the title bout. 
 
Cardenas posted a 4-0 record to win the 133 title. He started with an 8-0 major decision, then won 12-6 and 7-1 to reach the finals. He won the championship match, 8-4, over Ithaca's Luis Hernandez. 
 
The 157-pound Merwin started his run to the finals with a pair of technical falls. He battled in the semifinals for a 3-1 sudden-victory overtime win over Ithaca's Adam Wagner before losing to RIT's Kaidon Winters by pin in the final. 
 
Henry went 3-1 at 174 pounds and Torres was 3-1 at 197 pounds for their runner-up showings. Henry had a decision, a major decision, and another decision before losing in sudden-victory overtime, 6-4, to Oswego's Charlie Grygas in the finals. Torres opened with a decision, followed by a 9-1 major and a 7-5 sudden-victory semifinal win, but lost, 7-4, to Chibueze Chukwuezi of Ithaca in the finals. 
 
One other Red Dragon registered multiple wins during the tournament - junior Steven Gazzillo (New Windsor/Cornwall) finished with a 2-2 mark with a technical fall at 165 pounds. 
 
Cortland returns to action Dec. 3-4 at the Messiah (Pa.) Petrofes Invitational.

NEW YORK STATE COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Nov. 20, 2021; Cortland, N.Y.

FINAL TEAM SCORES:
 
1) RIT - 148.5 
2) Ithaca - 126.5 
3) Brockport - 107 
4) Cortland - 98.5 
5) Merchant Marine Academy - 92.5 
6) Oswego - 51 
7) Oneonta - 48.5 
8) Alfred State - 46 
9) NYU - 39.5 
10) Jamestown CC - 35 
11) Elmira - 20 
tie 12) Mount Saint Vincent - 0 
tie 12) Hofstra - 0 
tie 12) Hunter - 0 
tie 12) LIU - 0
tie 12) Nassau CC - 0
tie 12) Niagara County CC - 0
tie 12) SUNY Sullivan - 0
tie 12) SUNY Ulster - 0
 
Cortland Results:
 
125 pounds
 
Cody Merwin (5-0) (First Place) 
pinned Giovanni Russo (Oneonta), 4:18 
tech. fall Brenden Dellinger (Alfred State), 3:27 (17-0) 
pinned DeAonte Hutchinson (Jamestown CC), 4:33 
Semis: dec. Lee Rubin (RIT), 9-6 
Finals: dec. Richard Munoz (Cortland), 6-2 
 
Richard Munoz (3-1) (Second Place) 
dec. John Freeman (RIT), 9-3 
dec. Matt Haycock (Ithaca), 7-6 
Semis: tech. fall Robbie Horan (RIT), 5:55 (18-2) 
Finals: lost to Cody Merwin (Cortland), 6-2 
 
133 pounds
  
J.C. Cardenas (4-0) (First Place) 
major dec. Alex Prunoske (RIT), 8-0 
dec. Dylan Earl (Ithaca), 12-6 
Semis: dec. Zach Levey (Brockport), 7-1 
Finals: dec. Luis Hernandez (Ithaca), 8-4 
 
Tyler Bisono (0-2) 
lost to Dawsen Yates (Alfred St.), Pin 3:11 
lost to Chris Dean (RIT), Pin 0:55 
 
141 pounds
 
Ryan Holt (1-2) 
dec. Blake O'Brien (Elmira), 1-0 
lost to Trenton Donahue (Jamestown CC), tech. fall 1:48 (16-0) 
lost to Sean Peterson (Alfred St.), Pin 2:01 
 
Michael Barker (1-2) 
dec. Sean Peterson (Alfred St.), 4-0 
lost to Joey Pilliteri (Jamestown CC), 5-3 
lost to Cameron Pieninger (Merchant Marine), 7-0 

149 pounds

Kyle Klein (1-2) 
pinned Willy Kraus (RIT), 4:41 
lost to Connor Brown (Merchant Marine), 15-1 
lost to Mike Glynn (RIT), Pin 1:44 
 
Dylan Howell (0-2) 
lost to Austin Reed (Brockport), 16-2 
lost to Pedro Cruz (Brockport, tech. fall 5:55 (17-2) 
 
Markel Browne (0-2) 
lost to Matthew Beyer (Ithaca), Pin 2:32 
lost to Jacob Bryan (Merchant Marine), Pin 1:36 
 
157 pounds

Chandler Merwin (3-1) (Second Place) 
tech. fall Greg Schlett (NYU), 4:44 (16-0) 
tech. fall Holt Reed (Brockport), 5:28 (15-0) 
Semis: dec. Adam Wagner (Ithaca), 3-1 (ot, sv-1) 
Finals: lost to Kaidon Winters (RIT), Pin 6:10 
 
James Udasco (0-2) 
lost to Anthony Giovagnoli (Ithaca), 6-3 
lost to Ryan Nugent (Alfred St.), 5-3 
 
165 pounds
 
Steven Gazzillo (2-2) 
tech. fall Sam Grey (Brockport), 1:52 (16-0) 
lost to Austin Lamb (RIT), Pin 0:33 
dec. Tristen Schiafo (Ithaca), 12-7 
lost to Liam Drury (NYU), 16-4 
 
174 pounds
 
Demitreus Henry (3-1) (Second Place) 
dec. Draygan Colonese (Merchant Marine), 11-4 
major dec. Justin Leonard (NYU), 11-0 
Semis: dec. Mike Galton (Alfred St.), 3-2 
Finals: lost to Charlie Grygas (Oswego), 6-4 (ot, sv-1) 
 
184 pounds 
 
Karam Saraireh (1-2) 
pinned Ethan Hunt (Merchant Marine), Pin 1:26 
lost to Christopher Earnes (Brockport), Pin 1:11 
lost to Daryl Harris (Brockport), Pin 1:08 
 
Ryan Newman (0-2) 
lost to William Sims (Merchant Marine), Pin 3:54 
lost to Preston Hass (Merchant Marine), 4-2 (ot, sv-1) 
 
197 pounds 
 
Brian Torres (3-1) (Second Place) 
dec. Max Sims (Merchant Marine), 6-3 
major dec. Nick Franco (Brockport), 9-1 
Semis: dec. Josh Harkless (RIT), 7-5 (ot, sv-1) 
Finals: lost to Chibueze Chukwuezi (Ithaca), 7-4 
 
Chris Bold (0-2) 
lost to Josh Harkless (RIT), Pin 1:43 
lost to Anthony Cascen (Oswego), 10-4 
 
Roman Jellick (0-2) 
lost to Joe Benedict (Brockport), tech. fall 2:24 (18-0) 
lost to Nate DeGroff (RIT), Pin 2:20 
 
285 pounds 
 
Ben Klei (1-2) 
pinned Diego Orellana (Oneonta), 2:32 
lost to Richard Knapp (Brockport), Pin 2:02 
lost to James Dunagan (Merchant Marine), 5-3 
 
Leo Burke (0-2) 
lost to Nick Barrett (Alfred St.), 5-1 
lost to Diego Orellana (Oneonta), Pin 4:51