BROCKPORT, N.Y. (February 24, 2019)  – Sophomore Brett Kaliner captured the 149-pound championship as four members of the Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling team placed in the top-three in their respective weight classes Sunday on the second day of competition at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional, hosted by the College at Brockport.

After winning a regional title at 141 in his freshman year, Kaliner moved up in weight class and found the same result, earning his second regional title, moving through the bracket with three bonus-point victories. After earning a fall and a technical fall to reach the semifinals, the West Chester, Pennsylvania native defeated Brockport's Ryan Snow via a 15-5 major decision and won the regional championship with an 8-2 decision over TCNJ's Ryan Budzek. Kaliner built a four-point lead in the opening period of the championship bout on the strength of two takedowns. He increased his margin to six, while holding Budzek scoreless in the second. Kaliner scored a takedown in the final seconds to post the final margin of victory and punch his ticket to nationals.

Kaliner will be joined at the national tournament by junior Troy Stanich, senior Joey Borai and freshman Michael Dooley. Borai and Stanich each won a silver medal in their respective weight classes, denoting a second-place finish, and Dooley extended his season by winning the consolation bracket at 184. The NCAA Tournament appearance will be the third for Stanich and the second for Kaliner, while Dooley and Borai will each be making their first trip to the national championship.

The quartet's successes helped Stevens accumulate 108 points to finish third out of 18 teams. Ithaca captured the regional team title, totaling 166.5 points. The College of New Jersey finished third with 139 points as the top three teams Saturday finished in the same order. Rochester Institute of Technology moved into fourth place with 96.5 points and SUNY Oneonta climbed into fifth with 83 points to round out the top-five.

Borai advanced to the regional championship match at 133 after a 10-2 major decision over Merchant Marine's Taylor Dial. The victory was the Toms River, New Jersey native's fourth bonus-point victory of the tournament. Borai met TCNJ's Jake Giordano, the top seed in the weight class in the championship bout. The grapplers evenly battled through the opening two periods and entered the final quarter tied at five. In the final stanza, Giordano scored a takedown with 64 seconds left in the period to take a three-point lead. Borai posted an escape to pull within one with 37 seconds remaining but was unable to complete the comeback and dropped an 8-6 decision to earn the silver medal.

Stanich began his day with an impressive technical fall over Muhlenberg's Austin Sherman to reach the championship bout. The Roxbury, New Jersey native won the match 22-3 with a four-point near-fall and added riding time to produce the bout's final score. On the other side of the bracket, Ithaca's Ben Brisman posted a 12-7 decision victory over TCNJ's Robert Dinger to set up a match with the nation's top two wrestlers in the weight class. Unfortunately, the highly-anticipated match never came to fruition as Stanich withdrew from the tournament with a medical forfeit.

Dooley began his day against Ithaca's Jake Ashcraft and fell to the top seed in the weight class via pin to drop to the consolation bracket. The Hillsborough, New Jersey native rebounded with a 9-1 major decision over Oswego's Jeff Lombardi to reach the consolation final. On the other side of the mat, stood Ursinus' Anthony Cutrofello, who also was pinned by Ashcraft to fall on to the consolation side. Dooley scored a takedown in the final seconds of the opening period and added an escape to start the second period, while keeping the Ursinus 184-pounder off the scoreboard. Cutrufello earned an escape at the start of the final period, but Dooley used good defense to prevent Cutrufello from scoring a big move and won the third-place match 3-1 to advance his first national tournament.

Freshmen Robert Gennat and Akhil Vega, along with junior Dylan Van Sickell also placed for the Ducks as seven wrestlers earned top-seven finishes.

At 125, Vega finished seventh with a 9-6 decision over Hunter's Nickolas Karamoshos. Each wrestler collected six points over the first two periods before Vega posted an escape and a takedown in the final minute to earn the victory. The Cupertino, California native fell into the seventh-place match after falling to Elizabethtown's Josh McLaughlin via a 3-2 decision. Vega concludes his first season on Castle Point with a 16-17 record.

Van Sickell opened his day against the nation's third-ranked wrestler at 157 in RIT's Kaidon Winters and dropped into the consolation bracket after a second-period pin. The Little Silver, New Jersey native quickly rebounded with a 15-10 decision over Oswego's Christian Gramuglia. Van Sickell used a takedown and two-point near-fall in the final period to pull away. 

In the consolation final, Van Sickell fell behind TCNJ's JT Beirne 5-1 after the first two periods, only to rally in the third with three takedowns in the opening minute. Van Sickell took a 9-8 lead with a takedown with just seven seconds remaining, but Beirne posted an escape and won the match after riding time was added. Van Sickell finished his third season of competition with 29 victories. His third straight year of at least 29 wins.

Gennat finished sixth in his first regional tournament after falling to Oswego's Troy Seymour 4-1 in the 174-pound fifth-place match. The Sparta, New Jersey native began his day with a 13-7 decision over Cortland's Gianno Silba before falling to Ithaca's Chibueze Chukwuezi via a 12-5 decision. Gennat finishes his inaugural season on Castle Point with a 16-16 record.

Up Next: Wrestling will travel to Virginia for the Division III Wrestling Championship, hosted by Ferrum College, March 8-9.

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