2016 Northeast Regional Preview
2016 Northeast Regional
Saturday & Sunday, February 27 & 28
Springfield College – Event Website
Teams
Bridgewater State, Coast Guard, Cortland, Daniel Webster, Ithaca, Johnson & Wales, Norwich, Oneonta, Plymouth State, Rhode Island, Roger Williams, Springfield, Trinity, University of Southern Maine, Wesleyan, Williams, Western New England, WPI
Top Ten Ranked Individuals – 2015 All-Americans in bold
125 – #6 Jordan (JWU), #7 Kaishian (Ithaca), Amato (WPI)
133 – #4 Israel (Ithaca)
141 – none
149 – #4 Joseph (Springfield), #9 Gaccione (JWU), #10 Del Gallo (Southern Maine)
157 – #1 Dierna (Cortland), #2 Lopez (Williams), #10 Sullivan (Coast Guard)
165 – #7 Velez (Ithaca)
174 – #3 Puca (Cortland), #8 Ressler (Roger Williams)
184 – #2 Chorzepa (Williams), #6 Toribio (Ithaca)
197 – #1 Welch (Roger Williams), #2 Giaramita (Cortland)
285 – #5 Foster (Roger Williams)
Top 30 Teams (d3wrestle.com list)
#4 Cortland
#5 Ithaca
#7 Roger Williams
#14 Williams
#25 Johnson & Wales
#4 Cortland leads the pack at the Northeast Region with returning 197 lbs. NCAA Champion Joe Giaramita and a pair of 2014 All-Americans who missed last season in #1 ranked Bobby Dierna at 157 and #3 ranked Lou Puca at 174. #5 Ithaca is right on the heels of the Red Dragons with four ranked wrestlers and a very balanced team from top to bottom. Bryan Israel at 133 is their top ranked individual, but Jimmy Kaishian at 125 and Nick Velez at 165 were NCAA qualifiers a year ago. Also in the mix is Roger Williams. The Hawks are in the midst of one of their finest seasons ever that included a 3rd place finish at the National Duals. 2014 All-American David Welch currently has the #1 ranking at 197 and is eyeing a return trip to the podium.
Cortland’s Dierna missed all of last season after finishing 3rd in 2013 and 2nd in 2014, both at 149 lbs. He returned at 157 lbs. for 2015-2016 and has not been seriously challenged by a DIII opponent this year. He enters as the favorite but will have to deal with the #2 ranked wrestler at the weight in Jorge Lopez, a three time All-American from Williams. The other potential 1 vs. 2 matchup is at 197 lbs. where #1 David Welch could face #2 Joe Giaramita, the 2015 NCAA champion at the weight. The two have not met since the 2015 regional final won by Giaramita via injury default.
#2 ranked Christopher Chorzepa of Williams is a two time All-American who has placed 3rd and 4th at 184 his first two seasons. This year, he is undefeated and has a pair of wins over the likely #2 seed at the regional Carlos Toribio of Ithaca. He will hope to continue that winning streak here and in Iowa in a tough weight nationally. At 125 lbs., Brian Amato of WPI got hot and won at the right time to go from third in the region last year to 8th in the NCAA. This year, he has already lost to four in-region opponents without seeing either of Jordan or Kaishian yet. Will he be able to catch lightning in a bottle again in this postseason?