WHEATON, ILL. – The Cortland wrestling team tied for 14th place out of 32 schools at the two-day Pete Willson Wheaton Invitational.
 
Cortland scored 53 team points, tied with Roanoke College. Wisconsin-La Crosse was the team champion with 144.5 points, followed by Wisconsin-Eau Claire with 143.5.
 
Two Cortland wrestlers placed in their weight classes. J.C. Cardenas (Brooklyn/Grand Street Campus) finished fourth at 125 pounds with a 4-2 record and Culley Bellino (Canastota) was sixth at 141 pounds with a 4-3 mark. Cardenas earned two major decisions and a technical fall among his four wins, while Bellino registered two pins and a technical fall.
 
Kyle Klein (Miller Place) and Dan Cassera (Setauket/Ward Melville) each finished the tournament with two victories. Klein went 2-2 with a pin at 157 pounds and Cassera was 2-2 with a pin and major decision at 174 pounds.
 
Cortland will host a quad meet on Saturday, Feb. 3, with Delaware Valley, Oswego and The College of New Jersey.
 

Pete Willson Wheaton Invitational - Jan. 26-27, 2024
 
Final Team Scores:
1) Wisconsin-La Crosse - 144.5
2) Wisconsin-Eau Claire - 143.5
3) Wisconsin-Whitewater - 110
4) Cornell (IA) - 109
5) Messiah - 95.5
6) Concordia College (Moorhead) - 87.5
7) Ohio Northern - 84
8) Ferrum - 74.5
9) Olivet - 66.5
10) North Central (IL) - 63
11) Augustana (IL) - 62.5
12) Chicago - 60.5
13) Ozarks - 55.5
T14) Cortland - 53
T14) Roanoke - 53
16) Rhode Island College - 47.5
17) Mount Union - 45
18) Case Western Reserve - 43
20) Millikin - 39
21) Elmhurst - 33
22) Wheaton (IL) - 30.5
23) Milwaukee School of Engineering - 29
24) Buena Vista - 24.5
25) Concordia (WI) - 22
26) Mount St. Joseph - 17.5
27) John Carroll - 16
28) Heidelberg - 14
29) Alma - 12
30) Wisconsin-Platteville - 11.5
31) Nebraska Wesleyan - 6
32) Muskingum - 1.5
 
Cortland Match Results
 
J.C. Cardenas - 125 pounds (4-2) (Fourth Place)
 
dec. Jase Van Pelt (Cornell College), 4-2
major dec. Shelton Chastain (Ozarks), 15-3
major dec. Colin Mellott (Ohio Northern), 8-0
Semis: lost to Adrian Samano (Ferrum), 11-5
tech. fall Fred Luchs (RIC), 5:46 (17-2)
Third Place: lost to Quintin Wolbert (Wisconsin-La Crosse), Pin 6:11
 
Rocco Futia - 133 pounds (1-2)
lost to Julian Valtierrez (North Central), 17-6
major dec. Eli Sneed (Cornell College), 14-4
lost to Anthony Zamora (Wheaton), Pin 6:54
 
Culley Bellino - 141 pounds (4-3) (Sixth Place)
pinned Aiden Johnson (Muskingum), 1:13
pinned Art Martinez (Case Western Reserve), 3:49
lost to Jacob Reed (Ohio Northern), Pin 4:48
tech. fall Max Sanderfoot (MSOE), 1:46 (18-1)
won by medical forfeit vs. Joshua Robinson (North Central)
lost to Jacob Dado (Ozarks), 8-2
Fifth Place: lost to Sean Conway (Chicago), Pin 5:58
 
Noah Orser - 149 pounds (1-2)
lost to Tyler Herrema (Olivet), tech. fall 4:45 (18-1)
tech. fall Reece Chagman (Mount St. Joseph), 5:00 (24-3)
lost to Riese Thornberry (Wisconsin-Stevens Point), Pin 1:37
 
Kyle Klein - 157 pounds (2-2)
pinned Cole Hansen (Wisconsin-La Crosse), 3:52
dec. Jayden Jones (Ohio Northern), 11-8
lost to Drew Vlasnik (Chicago), 6-4
lost to Michael Smith (MSOE), 9-4
 
Hunter Hughes - 165 pounds (1-2)
lost to Kyan Larson (Olivet), 8-6
pinned Jack Patting (Augustana), 1:49
lost to Mitchell Arch (Case Western Reserve), Pin 3:41
 
Dan Cassera - 174 pounds (2-2)
major dec. Alexander Rapelje (Concordia-Moorhead), 10-2
lost to Leo Draveling (Wisconsin-La Crosse), Pin 1:47
pinned Devin Top (Millikin), 1:32
(medically forfeited next match to David Reinhart (Mount Union))
 
Robby Cunningham - 184 pounds (1-2)
pinned Benicio Martinez (Millikin), 1:47
lost to Gavin Layman (Ohio Northern), tech. fall 6:33 (18-0)
lost to Emilio Chavez (Nebraska Wesleyan), 7-2
 
Roman Jellick - 197 pounds (0-2)
lost to Jackson Punzel (Wheaton), tech. fall 2:44 (17-2)
lost to Nick Chaddock (Mount Union), 5-1
 
Dylan Houseknecht - 285 pounds (1-2)
lost to Ka'Ron Lewis (Ozarks), Pin 2:25
pinned Kail Shannon (Buena Vista), 4:50
lost to Jadon Brownlee (Ohio Northern), 4-0