ITHACA, N.Y. – Three Cortland wrestlers have advanced to the semifinals of their weight classes and three others are 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 Saturday, 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  J.C. Cardenas (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) at 133 pounds, Cahal Donovan (Marietta/Marcellus) at 141 pounds and Demitreus Henry (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) at 197 pounds. Also still alive are Cody Merwin (Walton) at 125 pounds, Angelo Centrone (Mahopac) at 149 pounds and Brian Torres (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) at 184 pounds.
 
Cortland is seventh out of 21 schools in the team standings after Day 1 with 49.5 points. The College of New Jersey leads the standings with 80 points, followed by Ithaca (78.5), RIT (70), Elizabethtown (59) and Centenary (57.5) in the top five. 
 
Cardenas, ranked 11th nationally and first in the Mideast Region, advanced to the semifinals with a 15-0 technical fall over Shkeb Nadir of Scranton and a 9-7 sudden victory versus Kyle Nase of The College of New Jersey. Against Nase, Cardenas fell behind, 6-2, after two periods before sending the bout to overtime with a takedown with 22 seconds remaining in regulation. He earned the win with a takedown 1:24 into the first sudden-victory period. Cardenas next faces Brent Lorin, ranked fourth in the Mideast Region, of Johns Hopkins

Donovan, ranked 11th nationally, moved onto the semifinals with a pair of major decisions. He opened with a 9-1 victory versus Elizabethtown's Zach Rupp and followed with a 10-0 win against Ryan Athey of McDaniel in the quarterfinals. Donovan next goes up against Domenic Difrancescanton of The College of New Jersey.

Henry, the number-two ranked wrestler in the Mideast Region and 13th nationally, advanced to the semifinals with a 12-0 major decision over Gabriel Kennedy-Citeroni of Penn College and a 10-4 decision versus Centenary's Keevon Berry in the quarterfinals. Henry next faces Brockport's Michael Sullivan, the third-ranked wrestler in the region. 
 
Merwin, Centrone and Torres each need three straight victories in the consolation bracket on Saturday in order to earn a national berth. 
 
Merwin, ranked sixth in the Mideast Region, earned a 12-3 major decision against Carl Santariello of St. John Fisher to open his day. In his next match in the quarterfinals, he was pinned by region third-ranked Joey Lamparelli of Muhlenberg at the very end of the bout. Merwin rebounded with an 11-3 major decision over Ithaca's Matt Haycock to extend his tournament stay.

Centrone, also ranked sixth in the Mideast Region, registered a 20-5 technical fall over Chris Sockler of Muhlenberg to open his tournament. After a 14-6 setback in the quarterfinals to Jeff Johnson of New Jersey City, ranked fourth in the region, Centrone responded with a 7-2 decision against Shane Strausser of Elizabethtown to advance to the third round of the consolation bracket.

Torres, ranked fourth in the Mideast Region, opened with a 7-1 decision over Oswego's Bryce Smith. He dropped a 6-4 decision to Isaac Cory of Penn College in the quarterfinals but came back with a 10-2 major decision versus Muhlenberg's Ryan Fairchild to advance to Saturday.  
 
Three Red Dragons were eliminated during Saturday's competition: 
 
Kyle Klein (Miller Place) posted a 2-2 record at 157 pounds. Klein opened with a 7-0 decision over New Jersey City's Zack Vera in a pigtail match. He then dropped a 10-2 major decision to the region's second-ranked wrestler, Wenchard Pierre-Louis of Ithaca, before recording a 16-6 major decision over Cullen van Rooyen of Penn College. His season came to a close with a 6-1 setback versus RIT's James Ost in the consolation second round. Klein finished the season with a 26-12 record.

Jaden Datz (Pittsburgh, PA/Southmoreland), in his first season with the Red Dragons, went 1-2 at 165 pounds, completing his season with an 8-6 record. He dropped a 4-1 decision to Nicholas Sacco of The College of New Jersey, ranked 13th nationally and first in the Mideast Region, in his first match. He rebounded with a 7-3 decision versus Scranton's Jeremiah Oakes before falling to Jarazell Bull of New Jersey City, 8-6.
 
Adam Barker (Holbrook/Sachem North) posted an 0-2 record at 174 pounds. Barker dropped his opening bout to Oneonta's Kenny Sauer, 4-1, and lost to Ben Dougherty of RIT, 9-0, to complete his season with a 12-4 record.
 
CORTLAND RESULTS

125 pounds

Cody Merwin
major dec. Carl Santariello (St. John Fisher), 12-3
Quarterfinals: lost to Joey Lamparelli (Muhlenberg), Pin, 7:00
major dec. Matt Haycock (Ithaca), 11-3

133 pounds

J.C. Cardenas
tech. fall Shkeb Nadir (Scranton), 5:56 (15-0)
Quarterfinals: dec. Kyle Nase (TCNJ), 9-7 (SV1)

141 pounds

Cahal Donovan
major dec. Zach Rupp (Elizabethtown), 9-1
Quarterfinals: major dec. Ryan Athey (McDaniel), 10-0

149 pounds

Angelo Centrone
tech. fall Chris Sockler (Muhlenberg), 3:38 (20-5)
Quarterfinals: lost to Jeff Johnson (New Jersey City), 14-6
dec. Shane Strausser (Eliabethtown), 7-2

157 pounds

Kyle Klein 
dec. Zack Vera (New Jersey City), 7-0
lost to Wenchard Pierre-Lewis (Ithaca), 10-2
major dec. Cullen van Rooyen (Penn College), 16-6
lost to James Ost (RIT), 6-1

165 pounds

Jaden Datz
lost to Nicholas Sacco (TCNJ), 4-1
dec. Jeremiah Oakes (Scranton), 7-3
lost to Jarazell Bull (New Jersey City), 8-6

174 pounds

Adam Barker
lost to Kenny Sauer (Oneonta), 4-1
lost to Ben Dougherty (RIT), 9-0

184 pounds

Brian Torres
dec. Bryce Smith (Oswego), 7-1
Quarterfinals: lost to Isaac Cory (Penn College), 6-4
major dec. Ryan Fairchild (Muhlenberg), 10-2

197 pounds

Demitreus Henry
major dec. Gabriel Kennedy-Citeroni (Penn College), 12-0
Quarterfinals: dec. Keevon Berry (Centenary), 10-4