Head Coach
Pat Pecora, the Regional Coach of the Year, and the Pitt-Johnstown wrestling team captured their second straight and 25
th overall NCAA Division II Regional crown with four champions and a total of eight national qualifiers, Saturday evening in East Stroudsburg.
Pitt-Johnstown won the team title with 148.0 points, 14.5 points better that second-place Gannon. Mercyhurst (109.5 pts.), Kutztown (77.5 pts.) and Millersville (71 pts.) rounded out the top-5 in the 11-team field.
The Mountain Cats came away with four champions, one runner-up, and three third-place finishers to account for their eight national qualifiers, who advance to the NCAA Division II National Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 10 and 11.
All 10 Pitt-Johnstown wrestlers earned pre-tournament seeds, including
Trevon Gray (125 lbs.),
Caleb Morris (133 lbs.),
Jacob Ealy (149 lbs.),
Nate Smith (157 lbs.), and
Alex Weber (174 lbs.), who were all seeded first in their respective weight classes.
Gray, Ealy, Smith, and Biddle all won titles, while Vance was the runner-up at 285 lbs. Daubert, Morris, and Rodgers all finished third to round of the eight national qualifiers.
Gray won an 11-3 major decision over Gannon's Jose Diaz to win the title at 125 lbs., before Ealy, the top-ranked wrestler in the country at 149 lbs. who is 26-0 on the year, held off second-ranked Nick Young (Gannon), 5-4, in the finals at 149 lbs.
At 157 lbs., Smith dealt Shippensburg's Avery Shay a 4-3 loss with riding time in the finals at 157 lbs. Biddle, who entered the tournament with 97 career wins, went 3-0 to become Pitt-Johnstown's 26
th wrestler to accumulate 100 career victories. Biddle will be making his fifth trip to the national tournament after pinning Kutztown Matt Weinberg at 2:04 in the championship bout at 184 lbs.
Vance advanced to the finals at 285 lbs., before suffering a 3-1 loss that gave him a runner-up finish, while Daubert (133 lbs.), Morris (141 lbs.), and Rodgers (197 lbs.) all wrestled back and won third-place matches to punch their tickets to nationals.
In addition,
Dillon Keane (165 lbs.) placed fifth and
Alex Weber (174 lbs.) placed sixth for the Mountain Cats.
125 lbs. - #1 seed Trevon Gray
--First Round – BYE
--Quarterfinals Won by Decision over Noah Hodges (Alderson Broaddus), 9-6
--Semifinals – Won by Major Decision over Kyle Buckholder (Seton Hill), 8-0
--Finals – Won by Major Decision over Jose Diaz (Gannon), 11-3
133 lbs. - #5 seed Byron Daubert
--First Round – BYE
--Quarterfinals – Lost by Major Decision to William Burgess (Seton Hill), 11-2
--2
nd RD Consolation – BYE
--Consy Quarterfinals – Won by Decision over KJ Fenstermacher (Kutztown), 9-3
--Consy Semifinals – Won by Decision over Chase Mclaughlin (Gannon), 7-2
--3
rd-Place Match – Won by Decision over William Burgess (Seton Hill), 4-2
141 lbs. - #1 seed Caleb Morris
--First Round – Won by Technical Fall over Jack Dardia (East Stroudsburg), 16-0 (4:37)
--Quarterfinals – Won by Technical Fall over Caleb Everhart (Fairmont State), 16-0 (3:57)
--Semifinals - Lost by Decision to Jake Niffenegger (Mercyhurst), 7-3
--Consy Semifinals – Won by Decision over
Al Miscovich (Shippensburg), 10-4
--3
rd-Place Match – Won by Decision over Collin Wickramatatna (Kutztown), 7-3
149 lbs. - #1 seed Jacob Ealy
--First Round – BYE
--Quarterfinals – Won by Fall over Reese Polulak (Shippensburg), :39
--Semifinals – Won by Decision over Tommy Nichols (American International), 4-2
--Finals – Won by decision over Nick Young (Gannon), 5-4
157 lbs. - #1 seed Nate Smith
--First Round – BYE
--Quarterfinals – Won by Technical Fall over Kolton Parsons (Fairmont State), 19-2 (5:39)
--Semifinals – Won by Decision over Bailey Gimbor (Kutztown), 4-3
--Finals – Won by Decision over Avery Shay (Shippensburg), 4-3
165 lbs. - #2 seed Dillon Keane
--First Round – BYE
--Quarterfinals – Won by Fall over Kane Kettering (Seton Hill) at 1:32
--Semifinals – Lost by Decision to Brandon Connor (Millersville), 7-5
--Consy Semifinals – Lost by Decision to Luke Ciampa (East Stroudsburg), 9-3
--5
th-Place Match – Won by Fall over Mike Clark (Mercyhurst) at :31
174 lbs. - #1 seed Alex Weber
--First Round – Won by Fall over Jude Childers (Fairmont State) at 4:16
--Quarterfinals – Won by Fall over Ashton Miller (Alderson Broaddus) at 2:17
--Semifinals – Lost by Decision to Cole Casilio (Gannon), 5-3 SV1
--Consy Semifinals – Lost by Decision to Jack Mackierman (American International), 5-3 SV1
--5
th-Place Match – Lost by Medical Forfeit to Brandon Matthews (Seton Hill)
184 lbs. - #2 seed Brock Biddle
--First Round – BYE
--Quarterfinals – Won by Technical Fall over Josh Leidig (East Stroudsburg), 16-0 (4:02)
--Semifinals – won by Injury Default over Cole Hivnor (Gannon) at 2:04
--Finals – Won by Fall over Matt Weinberg (Kutztown) at 2:04
197 lbs. - #3 seed Dakoda Rodgers
--First Round – BYE
--Quarterfinals – Won by Decision over Dwayne Johnson (Alderson Broaddus), 8-2
--Semifinals – Lost by Decision to Joel Leise (Gannon), 2-0
Consy Semifinals – Won by Decision over Trey Shoemaker (Shippensburg), 10-5
--3
rd-Place Match – Won by Decision over Ajay Hiller (East Stroudsburg), 5-0
285 lbs. - #2 seed Isaiah Vance
--First Round – Won by Fall over Bishop McCoy (Millersville) at 5:48
--Quarterfinals – Won by Fall over Demetrius Daniels (Alderson Broaddus) at 5:55
--Semifinals – Won by Fall over Ely Reese (Gannon) at 1:48
--Finals – Lost by Decision to Josh Meyers (Seton Hill), 3-1
