National No. 1-ranked Cody Law won an individual championship at 157 lbs. to lead a group of seven Pitt-Johnstown wrestlers who qualified for the National Tournament at Saturday's 2018 NCAA Division II Super Region I Wrestling Tournament in the Sports Center.  Joining Law at nationals in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 9 and 10 are regional runner-ups Chris Eddins (141 lbs.), Devin Austin (165 lbs.), Steve Edwards (174 lbs.), Levi Niebauer (197 lbs.), and D.J. Sims (285 lbs.), and fourth-place finisher Corey Falleroni (149 lbs.).
 
As a team, the Mountain Cats finished second in the 15-team field behind Regional Champion Notre Dame College (OH).  Notre Dame collected 133.5 points, compared to the Mountain Cats' 111.5 points.  Wheeling Jesuit (WV) (102 pts.), Gannon (85.0 pts.), and Mercyhurst (83.5 pts.) rounded out the Top-5.
 
Law (157 lbs.) erased a 6-0 deficit to fourth-seeded Eric Lewandowski (Gannon) to reach the finals, before securing a dominating win in the championship bout.  Law ran out to a lead and never looked back in a 16-4 major decision over second-seeded Fernie Silva from Notre Dame (OH).  Law won by technical fall, 22-7 at 3:29, over Millersville's Seth Decker to start the tournament, and won a 16-5 major decision over Mercyhurst's Owen Watkins in the quarterfinals.
 
In the semifinals at 141 lbs., top-seeded Eddins used a third period escape to defeat fourth-seeded Tyler Warner (Wheeling Jesuit), 1-0.  However, Notre Dame's second-seeded Drew Walker jumped out to an early lead in the finals and went on to an 11-6 win giving Eddins a runner-up finish.  Eddins had a bye in the first round then won a 3-0 decision over eighth-seeded Luke Landefeld (Seton Hill) in the quarterfinals.
 
At 165 lbs., second-seeded Austin held on for a 12-8 semifinal victory over Millersville's No. 3 seeded Shane Rhunke to reach the finals.  In the title bout against Gannon's fifth-seeded Nate Ross, Austin appeared to get a takedown as time expired, but after video review, it was determined not to be a takedown and Ross held on for a 6-4 win making Austin Pitt-Johnstown second runner-up.  Austin received a first round bye, then beat LIU-Post's Jackson Mordente, 8-3, in the quarterfinals.
 
Edwards, seeded sixth at 174 lbs. won his first two matches to reach the semifinals, where he shut out second-seeded Roberto Rivera (Notre Dame), 9-0.  In the finals, Edwards and Seton Hill's Damon Greenwald went to overtime, but Greenwald secured a takedown 43 seconds into the extra period to claim the championship over Edwards.  Edwards opened with a 6-0 decision over Shippensburg's Ryan Narber, before pinning LIU-Post's Dan Arkow at 3:44.
 
Second-seeded Niebauer pinned Ohio Valley's Tyler Koreski at 6:09 in the opening round, then won by decision, 6-2, over No. 7 seeded Dominic Mainiero (Kutztown) to set up a match-up against third-seeded Logan Kemp (West Liberty) in Saturday's semis.  Niebauer scored a 3-2 win over Kemp in the semis, but was pinned by Shippensburg's Evan Ramos at 6:56 in the championhip match in a battled of top-five nationally-ranked wrestlers.
 
Sims, seeded third at 285 lbs., became Pitt-Johnstown's sixth finalist when he took down second-seeded Ryan Appleby as time expired.  Sims after video review, Sims was awarded the takedown.  However, Sims was forced to injury default and finished second.  Sims started the tournament by pinning West Liberty's Ronnie D'Amico at 2:10, then held off sixth-seeded Terrance Fanning (Wheeling Jesuit), 5-3.
 
Falleroni, seeded second at 149 lbs., reached the semifinals, but was dealt a 15-4 major decision loss by third-seeded George McGuire (Gannon).  After rebounding to defeat eighth-seeded Daniel Romero (Wheeling Jesuit), 2-0, in the consolation semifinals, Falleroni dropped a 12-0 major decision to Mercyhurst's Logan Grass to place fourth and earn his spot in the national tournament.  Falleroni pinned Levi Congleton (Ohio Valley) at 3:51, before defeating No. 7 Tanner Sutton (West Liberty), 9-5, in the quarterfinals.
 
At 125 lbs., Brendan Howard reached the semis but suffered a 7-5 loss to Seton Hill's No. 6-seeded Corey Vincent Distefanis and a narrow 4-3 lost to Kutztown's Austin Petril in the fifth-place match.  second-seeded Howard got a bye in the opening round and advanced to the semifinals with a 14-4 major decision over West Liberty's Corey Secrist.
 
In addition, the Mountain Cats also got a 10-8 win from Alex Delp at 184 lbs. in the second round of the consolations to keep him alive in the tournament.  Delp won a 12-4 major decision over eighth-seeded Alexi Castro (Shippensburg) to start, before suffering a narrow 8-6 loss to Notre Dame's (OH) Tony Vezetti in the quarterfinals.  Delp was then eliminated by Wheeling Jesuit's Aidan Pasiuk in Saturday's Consolation Quarterfinals.
 
Pitt-Johnstown's Sam Holandez (133 lbs.) (0-2) wrestled but was eliminated on Friday.