ITHACA, N.Y. – Three of Cortland's seven competitors at the Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference Championships placed in the top six as the Red Dragons finished seventh as a team with 36.5 points. Ithaca repeated as team champion with 151.5 points, edging out Brockport by eight points.

Senior Ben Klei (Victor) turned in Cortland's top performance, earning a fourth-place finish at 285 pounds after posting a 4-2 record. Juniors Vinnie Santilli (South Glens Falls) and Ryan Newman (Brooklyn/Wingate Campus) placed fifth at 141 pounds and 184 pounds, respectively.   

Klei opened with a 7-1 decision over Anthony Oca of Brockport before dropping into the consolation bracket with a 5-1 defeat against Jake Pine of Oneonta. He rebounded with a pin of Keaton Renfrow of Alfred St. in 1:32 and recorded a fall in 4:10 against Oneonta's Diego Orellana. After being awarded a medical forfeit victory, Klei again faced Pine in the third-place bout, dropping a tough 1-0 decision.

Santilli, who posted a 3-2 record, lost his first match, 5-2, to Eli Sims of Brockport, but came back with a pin of Fahrid Negahban of Pitt-Bradford in just 16 seconds and an 8-5 decision over Brockport's Francis Whitehouse. After a setback against Sean Peterson of Alfred St., Santilli was awarded a medical forfeit victory in the fifth-place bout.

Newman registered a 2-2 record at the championships. He opened with an 8-2 decision over Pitt-Bradford's Nathan Powley. He then faced eventual conference champion and nationally fourth-ranked Chibueze Chukwuezi of Ithaca, falling on a third-period pin. After dropping his next match by decision, Newman secured his fifth-place showing by pinning Powley in 53 seconds.  

EMPIRE COLLEGIATE WRESTLING CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS (Jan. 16, 2022)

Championship Page
Complete Results (TrackWrestling Page)

FINAL TEAM SCORES:
1) Ithaca - 151.5
2) Brockport - 143.5
3) Alfred State - 78.5
4) Oneonta - 77.5
5) RIT - 71
6) Oswego - 60.5
7) Cortland - 36.5
8) Pitt-Bradford - 34
9) Penn State Behrend - 3

WEIGHT-CLASS CHAMPIONS
125 - Matt Haycook (Ithaca)
133 - Zach Levey (Brockport)
141 - Travis Jones (Ithaca)
149 - Matthew Beyer (Ithaca)
157 - Adam Wagner (Ithaca)
165 - Tyler Brazinski (Oneonta)
174 - Charlie Grygas (Oswego)
184 - Chibueze Chukwuezi (Ithaca)
197 - Jordan Wallace (Ithaca)
285 - Richard Knapp (Brockport)

Cortland Match Results

125 pounds

no entries


133 pounds

no entries


141 pounds

Vinnie Santilli (3-2) (5th place)
lost to Eli Simms (Brockport), 5-2
pinned Farhid Negahban (Pitt-Bradford), :16
dec. Francis Whitehouse (Brockport), 8-5
lost to Sean Peterson (Alfred St.), major dec. 12-2
5th place: won by medical forfeit vs. C.J. Walz (Oswego)

Ryan Holt (1-2)
pinned Farhid Negahban (Pitt-Bradford), 1:58
lost to Travis Jones (Ithaca), Pin 1:33
lost to Michael Blando (Oneonta) tech. fall 15-0
 

149 pounds

no entries
 

157 pounds

James Udasco (0-2)
lost to Justin Smith (Alfred St.), Pin 5:14
lost to Max Yahre (Brockport), major dec. 11-2
 

165 pounds

no entries
 

174 pounds

no entries
 

184 pounds

Ryan Newman (2-2) (5th place)
dec. Nathan Powley (Pitt-Bradford), 8-2
lost to Chibueze Chukwuezi (Ithaca), Pin 5:52
lost to Nino Prisco (Oneonta), 6-0
5th place: pinned Nathan Powley (Pitt-Bradford), :53

Karam Saraireh (0-2)
lost to Chibueze Chukwuezi (Ithaca), Pin 2:44
lost to Nathan Powley (Pitt-bradford), Pin 3:52

Michael Rivera (0-2)
lost to Christophe Eames (Brockport), 8-1
lost to Nino Prisco (Oneonta), 4-2
 

197 pounds

no entries
 

285 pounds

Ben Klei (4-2) (4th place)
dec. Anthony Oca (Brockport), 7-1
lost to Jake Pine (Oneonta), 5-1
pinned Keaton Renfrow (Alfred St.), 1:32
pinned Diego Orellana (Oneonta), 4:10
won by medical forfeit vs. Calik Kennedy (RIT)
3rd place: lost to Jake Pine (Oneonta), 1-0