Demitreus Henry during his victory over Coe's Tristan Westphal during Day 1 of the NCAA Championships
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA – Cortland senior
Demitreus Henry (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) secured All-America honors at 174 pounds with a 3-1 record during the opening day of competition at the 2022 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse.
Henry is guaranteed an All-America top-eight finish at the national meet. Cortland's other three competitors –
J.C. Cardenas (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) at 133 pounds,
Chandler Merwin (Walton) at 149 pounds and
Brian Torres (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) at 184 pounds - each were eliminated with 0-2 records during the opening day.
Henry, seeded seventh at 174, started the day Friday with a 6-1 win in the preliminary round over Jared Stricker of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He then posted a 6-4 first-round decision over Tristin Westphal of Coe College. Henry trailed in that match 2-1 after two periods and 3-1 early in the third before rallying for two takedowns in the final 45 seconds, plus a late penalty point, for the win.
Henry lost in the quarterfinals to second-seeded Zane Mulder of Wartburg, 9-0, but bounced back in his final match to pin Daniel Devera of John Carroll in 2:48. Henry begins action Saturday against sixth-seeded Jacob Krakow of Loras and can finish as high as third place nationally.
Cardenas began his tournament at 133 with a 7-3 loss to third-seeded Joe Pins of Wartburg. He was then eliminated in a 5-4 nailbiter to Coe's Bryce Parke. Cardenas and Parke were tied 4-4 when time expired, but Parke earned a riding time point to notch the win. Cardenas finishes the season with a 17-5 record.
Merwin, seeded seventh at 149, lost 5-2 to Jake Drexler of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to start the tournament, and he was eliminated with an 8-0 setback to Alex Barr of Wabash. Merwin wraps up the season with a 30-7 record.
Torres opened action at 184 with a 7-6 loss to Ryan Schott of Coe. Torres led 5-4 after two period, but Schott tied the match with an escape and got a takedown to go ahead. Torres earned an escape with 32 seconds left but couldn't score after that. Torres then lost to Nick Rogge of Augsburg by a 16-0 technical fall in 3:26. Torres finishes the season with a 25-10 record.
