PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Cortland junior Angelo Centrone (Mahopac) advanced to the 149-pound national championship match at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships with an 8-6 win over Wartburg's Kyler Romero. The tournament is being held at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence.

Centrone, seeded second, improved to 30-0 with the win and will face top-seeded Hayden Brown of Johnson & Wales, which is located in Providence, on Saturday night. Brown defeated fourth-seeded Matt Randolph of Augsburg, 8-1, in Saturday morning's other semifinal bout.

The finals are set to begin Saturday at 7 p.m.:

VIDEO (NCAA.com)

LIVE STATS (TrackWrestling)

Centrone is Cortland's first national finalist since Bobby Dierna won the 157-pound national title in 2017. Cortland wrestlers have won seven national titles, including two by Dierna (2016 and 2017) and one by Joe Giaramita (197 pounds in 2015) over the past 10 years.

Centrone took a 3-0 lead over sixth-seeded Romero on a takedown with 46 seconds left in the first period. Romero escaped 11 seconds later and Centrone led 3-1 entering the second period. Centrone began the second with a quick escape and he recorded a takedown with 40 seconds left to go up 7-1.

Romero escaped three seconds later, and when Centrone conceded an escape to start the third the lead was cut to 7-3. Romero then got a takedown with 1:19 left and quickly let Centrone escape to make it 8-6. Centrone held on the rest of the way for the victory.