Wrestling | 2/27/2016 4:41:00 PM
WILLIAMSPORT, NY - The RIT wrestling team had its 2015-16 season come to an end with a 15th place finish out of 18 teams at the 2016 NCAA Mideast Regional held at Lamade Gymnasium on the campus of Lycoming College on Feb. 27-28. RIT finished with a team score of 25.5 points, while Messiah was victorious with 139 points over Baldwin Wallace (109.5) and The College at Brockport (104).
Sam Weinger (Blooming Grove, NY/Washingtonville) had RIT's best finish over the weekend, finishing fifth at 285 lbs. He earned a 2-0 win over Nicholas Kumburis of Washington and Jefferson, before bowing out to nationally-ranked Cole Tristam of The College at Brockport, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Weinger rallied to defeat Antonio Zapata of Muskingum, 2-0 in his first consolation match. On Sunday, Weinger defeated Kade Andrews of SUNY Oswego, 2-1, before facing Mike Spencer of York in the consolation semifinal. A win would have given Weinger a shot for a right to wrestle for a NCAA Tournament berth, but it was not to be, as Spencer won by fall. In the fifth place match, Weinger defeated Tristam, ranked seventh in Division III, by medical forfeit. Weinger finished his second season at RIT with a 31-10 mark.
Jake Sepor (Stafford, NY/Pavilion) had the best day for RIT on Saturday, going 3-1 at 141 lbs. he opened the day with a 6-5 win over Jessie Lopez of Wilkes, before defeating Daniel Pommerer of Washington and Jefferson, 4-0. In the quarterfinals, Sepor fell in overtime to Robert Ritschard of Thiel, 3-1, before winning by pin in 1:41 over Jon Raugh of Muskingum in the consolations. On Sunday, Sepor had his season end by falling to Filippo Crevelli of Waynesburg, 6-1. Sepor finished the season with a 24-13 mark.
Dempsey King (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) finished in sixth place at 149 lbs.for the Tigers, going 3-3 over the weekend. He opened with a win in overtime over Adam Kritzer of York, 9-7 before falling to ninth-ranked Seth Lansberry of Lycoming, 5-1. King rebounded to trounce Nick Sutton of Thiel via major decision, 11-1. On Sunday, King defeated Trevor Myers of Washington and Jefferson, 6-2, before falling to Damon Cheek, 4-3 in the consolation semifinal and to Joey Schmidt of Baldwin Wallace in the fifth place match. King finished his first season with a 22-9 record.
Isaiah Ocasio (Vineland, NJ/Vineland) (133 lbs.),
Won Kim (Millbrae, CA/Mills) (157 lbs.),
Joe Cutugno (Ventnor, NJ/Atlantic City) (165 lbs.), and
John Donohue (Smithtown, NY/Hauppauge) (174 lbs.) also competed for RIT at the Regional Championship. Ocasio and Cutugno won single matches.
RIT is expected to return most of its nucleus intact for the 2016-17 season.
