ROCKY MOUNT, Va. – Four Ursinus College wrestlers advanced to the semifinals at the NCAA East Regional championship Friday, part of a strong first-day showing that ended with the Bears just two points out of second place.
Junior Christopher Tan (125), seniors Alexander Kramer (149) and Derek Arnold (157), and junior Cody Richmond (184) all find themselves one win away from booking a trip to the NCAA championships, while freshman James Harkness (133), sophomore Jarret DiGiantomasso (165), and seniors Corey Markovitch (174) and Matan Peleg (285) remain alive in the consolation rounds.
Host Ferrum College topped the team standings with 69.0 points, with NYU (55.5) in second and Ursinus (53.5) a close third. Stevens (52.5) was fourth, and Centenary (45.0) rounded out the top five.
Tan is halfway toward defending his 125-pound title at last year's regional championship after two more impressive victories Friday morning. He pinned Hunter's Hamad Amir in just 1:21 and scored a 15-2 major decision over Gettysburg's Lenny Ogozalek, his second triumph over the Bullets' grappler this season. Tan registered two near fall points in all three periods, posting two takedowns in the first and one each in the second and third.
Up next for Tan is a date with Ferrum's Zachary Beckner, who is 10-0 and dominated Stevens' Rob Murray – the 2016 Centennial Conference champion – by a 13-3 count in the quarterfinals, with a guaranteed spot in the NCAA championships up for grabs.
Kramer stretched his win total to 40 with a pair of dominating performances at 149. First, he logged a 9-1 major decision over McDaniel's Clint Wright, then pinned Hunter's John Sherlock in 1:48 to advance to the semifinals. Kramer, ranked ninth in the country, will meet Ferrum's Collin Saunders (25-8) on Saturday.
Arnold continued his season-long tear, improving to 26-1 following victories over TCNJ's Luke Balina and Merchant Marine's Erik Beshada. The two-time regional champion had three separate four-point near falls and another two-pointer on the way to a 17-0 technical fall against Balina; Arnold led 4-1 after two periods against Beshada, then used a takedown, four near fall points, and riding time to notch an 11-1 major. Arnold will challenge NYU's Raymond Jazikoff (33-5) in the semifinals.
Richmond built upon his runner-up showing at the CC championship by making the regional semifinals for the first time in his career. He did so in dramatic fashion, walking off with a 3-1 victory with an overtime takedown of Delaware Valley's Elias Vega in the quarterfinals. Richmond, a 15-4 victor over Nicholas Price of King's in the first round, draws NYU's Blaise Benderoth (14-1) in the semifinals.
DiGiantomasso, Markovitch, and Peleg each fell in the quarterfinals of their respective brackets. At 165, DiGiantomasso tallied a 9-4 decision over Southern Virginia's Jared Watts before a 3-1 loss to King's College's Howard Kilpatrick sent him into the consolation rounds. In his first playback match, DiGiantomasso started the scoring with a second-period reversal and added two near fall points and a takedown for a 7-1 victory over Johns Hopkins' Dane Morgan, his second over Morgan this year.
Harkness dropped a 9-0 final to Washington and Lee's Bylykbashi, ranked 10th in Division III, in the first round before making a run through the consolations. Harkness recorded a 16-4 rout of King's College's Jake Daniel and pinned Johns Hopkins' Christian Vallis in 2:38, an impressive result against a foe he had defeated 4-3 earlier this season.
At 174, Markovitch handled McDaniel's Ronald Wuest, 13-1, before succumbing to Delaware Valley's Benjamin Schweiger, who is ranked fifth in the country, via first-period fall in the quarterfinals. He trailed 2-0 in his second-round consolation bout with Centenary's Thomas Hinz, but a reversal and near fall points turned the tables. After a reversal by Hinz tied the score, Markovitch regained the upper hand with an escape and stayed on top the whole third period for a 6-4 decision.
Peleg, meanwhile, pinned Mt. St. Vincent's Justin Hansel in 1:50 in the first round before suffering a hard-fought 3-2 setback to Merchant Marine's Victor Raigoza. Peleg then pinned Stevens' Pete Andrich in the second round of consolations, this third win over Andrich this season and the second by fall.
Freshman Alfred Corradetti won his first-round match at 141 by injury default against TCNJ's Ryan Erwin, but was pinned by CC champion and ninth-ranked Alvontae Drummond of McDaniel in the third period of their quarterfinal matchup. Coradetti's rookie campaign ended with a pin by Greensboro's Christopher Haskin in the second round of consolations.
Sophomore Michael Newman drew a difficult first-round matchup with Stevens' AJ Kowal, the fifth-ranked wrestler in the country at 197. But after an 18-2 tech fall defeat, he rebounded to pin Johns Hopkins' William Gilliam in 2:51. A 10-5 loss to NYU's Jack La Corte in the second round ended his season.
The NCAA East Regional concludes Saturday, with matches to get underway at 9 a.m.