WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – No. 4-ranked Notre Dame (Ohio) held off No. 6-ranked Mercyhurst here Saturday to successfully defend its NCAA Division II Super Region One wrestling championship at the ASRC on the campus of West Liberty University.
The defending national champion Falcons figure to make their presence felt again at the national level as 5 Notre Dame grapplers claimed regional titles and a total of 8 Falcons punched their tickets for this year’s national championships, which will be held March 13-14 at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Mo.
Notre Dame finished with 133 team points and needed nearly every one of them to hold off a Mercyhurst squad that finished with 126 points. The Lakers had 3 individual champions and qualified 7 wrestlers for nationals.
No. 18-ranked Kutztown moved up to third place with 92 points, followed by Wheeling Jesuit (74.5), Pitt-Johnstown (68), Shippensburg (64) and LIU-Post (57.5) with Seton Hill (51) and East Stroudsburg (38) rounding out the top 10 in the 15-team regional.
The champion Falcons got championships at 133 pounds from Sam White and Maurice Miller followed up with a win at 141. Notre Dame’s three returning national champions – Jonatan Rivera (157), Joey Davis (174) and Garrett Lineberger (184) – all won their weight classes to wrap up the repeat regional championship for the Falcons.
Mercyhurst’s Willie Bohince won the day’s first title at 125 pounds. The Lakers’ Jeremy Landowski defended his 149-pound championship from a year ago and Angelo Bortoluzzi prevailed at 165.
Chris Di Lorio of LIU-Post won the 197 pound championship while defending national champion Ziad Haddad of Kutztown earned another regional crown.
Notre Dame and Mercyhurst accounted for 15 of the 40 qualifying spots for nationals. Pitt-Johnstown, Kutztown and Shippensburg were next with 4 qualifiers while Gannon and Wheeling Jesuit had 3 each. LIU-Post, Seton Hill and East Stroudsburg each had a pair while Ohio Valley picked up the last remaining spot.
Host West Liberty just missed having a national qualifier as 125-pounder Zach Brown came up one win shy of qualifying, settling for a 5th-place finish with a 7-3 victory against Pitt-Johnstown’s Evan Link in their 5th-6th Place Match.
Complete team scoring and results from all place matches follow:
WRESTLING
NCAA Division I
Super Region One Tournament
Team Scoring
1. Notre Dame (OH) 133; 2. Mercyhurst 126; 3. Kutztown 92.5; 4. Wheeling Jesuit 74.5; 5. Gannon 69; 6. Pitt-Johnstown 68; 7. Shippensburg 64.5; 8. LIU-Post 57.5; 9. Seton Hill 51; 10. East Stroudsburg 38.5; 11. Ohio Valley 28; 12. WEST LIBERTY 21; 13. Millersville 16.5; 14. Alderson-Broaddus 12; 15. American International 6
Place Matches
125
Championship
Willie Bohince (Mercyhurst) 31-4, RS So. over Matthew Turek (Gannon) 17-2, RS Sr. (Dec 10-8).
3rd Place
Dustin Warner (Wheeling Jesuit) 31-10, Fr. over Ivan McClay (Notre Dame) 25-11, RS Fr. (Fall 6:54).
5th Place
Zach Brown (West Liberty) 19-16, RS So. over Evan Link (Pitt-Johnstown) 20-7, RS Jr. (Dec 7-3).
133
Championship
Sam White (Notre Dame) 11-1, RS Jr. over Nolan Whitely (Wheeling Jesuit) 25-9, Fr. (Dec 13-6).
3rd Place
Karl Lightner (Shippensburg) 16-8, RS So. over Joseph Calderone (LIU-Post) 26-8, Fr. (Dec 8-2).
5th Place
Travis Roper (Kutztown) 16-8, Fr. over Ryan Bohince (Mercyhurst) 13-12, RS Sr. (MD 14-4).
141
Championship
Maurice Miller (Notre Dame) 26-5, RS Sr. over Preston Bowshier (Wheeling Jesuit) 28-9, Fr. (Dec 3-2).
3rd Place
Sam Hanau (Pitt-Johnstown) 23-3, RS Jr. over Pat Owens (Seton Hill) 24-8, RS Sr. (MD 10-2).
True 4th Place
Pat Owens (Seton Hill) 24-8, RS Sr. over Dalton George (Ohio Valley) 14-10, Fr. (Dec 10-3).
5th Place
Dalton George (Ohio Valley) 14-10, Fr. over Kody Young (Mercyhurst) 15-13, RS Jr. (Dec 6-4).
149
Championship
Jeremy Landowski (Mercyhurst) 28-4, RS Jr. over Cameron Throckmorton (Shippensburg) 21-2, RS Jr. (M. For.).
3rd Place
Ty Lydic (Seton Hill) 12-3, RS So. over Andrew Bannister (Notre Dame) 27-12, RS So. (Dec 4-2).
5th Place
Eric Lewandowski (Gannon) 15-7, So. over Jackson Stabile (Kutztown) 11-8, Sr. (TF-1.5 3:30 (16-0)).
157
Championship
Jonatan Rivera (Notre Dame) 29-4, RS Jr. over Francis Mizia (Mercyhurst) 28-4, RS So. (Dec 7-2).
3rd Place
Matt Martoccio (Kutztown) 24-8, RS Jr. over Garrett Smith (Gannon) 22-15, RS So. (Dec 4-2).
True 4th Place
Micheal Springer (Shippensburg) 17-11, Fr. over Garrett Smith (Gannon) 22-15, RS So. (Fall 5:34).
5th Place
Micheal Springer (Shippensburg) 17-11, Fr. over Zach Voytek (Seton Hill) 21-15, So. (Dec 8-6).
165
Championship
Angelo Bortoluzzi (Mercyhurst) 27-7, RS Jr. over Bo Candelaria (Kutztown) 13-9, RS Sr. (Dec 5-0).
3rd Place
Louden Gordon (Notre Dame) 18-16, RS Jr. over Ian Shannon (Millersville) 24-11, Fr. (MD 12-3).
True 4th Place
Tyler Reinhart (Pitt-Johnstown) 19-5, RS So. over Ian Shannon (Millersville) 24-11, Fr. (Dec 6-0).
5th Place
Tyler Reinhart (Pitt-Johnstown) 19-5, RS So. over Ryan Walters (Seton Hill) 22-10, RS Sr. (M. For.).
174
Championship
Joey Davis (Notre Dame) 28-0, Jr. over August Mizia (Mercyhurst) 29-5, RS Jr. (Dec 9-3).
3rd Place
Zachary Zelcs (Gannon) 10-2, RS Sr. over John Blankenship (Pitt-Johnstown) 21-7, RS So. (Dec 4-3).
True 4th Place
John Blankenship (Pitt-Johnstown) 21-7, RS So. over Ryan Krecker (Kutztown) 11-7, RS So. (Dec 6-2).
5th Place
Ryan Krecker (Kutztown) 11-7, RS So. over Sawyer Leppla (Wheeling Jesuit) 16-14, So. (Dec 2-1).
184
Championship
Garrett Lineberger (Notre Dame) 22-3, So. over Andre Petroski (Kutztown) 22-8, RS Sr. (MD 10-2).
3rd Place
Dakota DesLauriers (Mercyhurst) 23-10, So. over Luke DeLuise (East Stroudsburg) 16-9, RS Sr. (MD 9-1).
5th Place
Ryan Winslow (Wheeling Jesuit) 20-12, So. over Ronnie King (LIU-Post) 18-16, Fr. (Fall 2:42).
197
Championship
Chris Di Lorio (LIU-Post) 20-9, Sr. over Tyler Richardson (East Stroudsburg) 18-8, So. (Dec 3-2).
3rd Place
Chase Long (Ohio Valley) 20-8, RS Sr. over Jalal Paige (Shippensburg) 12-9, RS So. (Dec 1-0).
5th Place
Garrett Linton (Notre Dame) 13-13, RS So. over Brandon Clark (Kutztown) 13-14, RS Jr. (Fall 5:22).
285
Championship
Ziad Haddad (Kutztown) 26-0, RS Sr. over Nick Budd (Gannon) 25-11, So. (Dec 7-2).
3rd Place
Andy Welton (Mercyhurst) 22-11, So. over Damon Sims (Pitt-Johnstown) 14-10, RS So. (Dec 6-1).
5th Place
James Louison (LIU-Post) 10-16, Fr. over Tyson Searer (East Stroudsburg) 24-10, Jr. (M. For.).
