Cortland Preview

Cortland capped an undefeated dual meet season with a tie for the Empire Championship.  Paul LeBlanc made his way onto the podium for the 2nd time, and sophomre Dave Colagiovanni made his second trip to the NCAA championships.  The 2008 season ended with disappointment for two returning Cortland wrestlers.  Peppy Cabrera came in as the Empire’s top seed at 125 but failed to place while Corey Barber was 21-6 at 174 before an injury ended his season.  Both are back this year as part of yet another talented Empire Conference team.  Starters return from 125 up to 157, and Barber joins heavyweight Joe Murphy as upper weight returners.  All in all, Cortland returns six 20 match winners.  Top newcomers include New York state champ Brian Borst, Morrisville transfer (and 35 match winner) Aljamain Sterling, and NJCAA All-American Stephen Perez.  Many of Cortland’s top incoming wrestlers will be at weights with established starters, so there could be some fiery competition to make the starting lineup this year.

Team: SUNY-Cortland
Head Coach: Brad Bruhn (UW-La Crosse ’97)
Years at School as head coach: 7th season
Career Record at school: 79-37
Assistant Coaches: Jason Reynolds, Zach Bogardus

2007-2008 Dual Meet Record: 11-0
2007-2008 National Qualifiers and All-Americans: Dave Colagiovanni (133/NQ), Paul LeBlanc (149/7th), Zach Bogardus (165/NQ), Treavor LeBlanc (184/NQ)
Returning Qualifiers and All-Americans: Colagiovanni, P. LeBlanc

Top returning starters: 125 Peppy Cabrera 25-6, 133 Dave Colagiovanni 24-7 1st Emprire National Qualifier, 141 Joey Widrick 25-6 4th Empire, 149 Paul LeBlanc 28-3 1st Empire 7th NCAA, 184 Corey Barber 21-6 before injury

Top incoming wrestlers: 125 Brian Borst NY State Champ, 133 Alamain Sterling transfer from Morrisville, 133 Mark Arcara 3x NY qualifier, 141 Stephen Perez NJCAA All-American, 157 Eric Ekstrom NY placer, 165 Aaron Barber 2x NY placer, 184 Martino Sottile 2x NJCAA qualifier, 197 Ryan Woodward NY placer