Complete ESU Results | Complete Tournament Results

ERIE, Pa. – Redshirt junior Mike Raccioppi and redshirt senior Dylan Nace are heading to the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships after both finished in the top four of their respective weight classes at the Super Region I tournament on Saturday.
 
The Warriors placed eighth out of 10 schools in the team standings, finishing with 46.5 points. ESU finished just behind LIU Post (52.5) for seventh place, while Pitt-Johnstown paced six PSAC schools with 141 points. Raccioppi (2nd – 174 pounds), Nace (3rd – 141), junior Richard Viruet (5th – 165), and sophomore Marquan Payne (6th – 157) all placed on the podium for the Warriors.
 
The 2019 NCAA DII Wrestling Championships will be held in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 8-9. ESU has 13 athletes who have combined for 18 NCAA qualification spots since reclassifying to DII in 2010. The Warriors sent Nace (141) and Joey Kratochvil (157) to the national tournament in 2017. The Warriors have four All-Americans - Shane Mallory (2nd at 184) in 2010, Ed Ebewo (3rd at 197) in 2012, Braden Turner (6th at 157) in 2012 and Brendan McKeown (6th at 174) in 2013 - since 2010.
 
Raccioppi, who entered the day ranked second in the region and seventh nationally, opened with an 18-5 major decision victory over LIU Post's James Langan. He would follow that up by pinning Shippensburg's Adam Martz in 3:19 to advance to the semifinals. Raccioppi battled with No. 3 regionally-ranked Damon Greenwald from Seton Hill and prevailed with a 5-2 decision.
 
He would square off against Kutztown's TC Warner in the first-place matchup, ultimately dropping a 5-0 decision. Warner entered the championship bout ranked first in the region and fourth nationally.
 
Nace battled through the consolation bracket to get to the third-place match after dropping his semifinal bout against Joseph Calderone of LIU Post (5-3 decision). Nace entered as the No. 3 wrestler in the region, while Calderone ranked second regionally and third nationally. Nace advanced to the semis after notching a 6-4 decision against Seton Hill's Tyler Kenney.
 
He needed just 25 seconds to pin Kutztown's Anthony Petril and advance to his final bout, where he would pin Mercyhurst's Aidan Burke in 6:59.
 
Payne would be paired with Gannon's George McGuire in a quarterfinal matchup after receiving a bye in the opening round. The pair entered as the fourth (McGuire) and fifth (Payne) ranked wrestlers in the region. McGuire pinned Payne in 5:22 to send him into the consolation bracket. Payne tallied his lone victory against Seton Hill's Alec Shaw via an 11-4 decision.
 
In the consolation semifinals, Payne dropped a 21-5 tech fall (5:36) against the region's third-ranked wrestler, Kevin Kinyua from Mercyhurst. He would face a tough task in the fifth-place match, squaring off against the region's top wrestler and nationally-ranked No. 10 Chad Haegele from Kutztown. Haegele notched a 10-1 major decision victory over Payne to secure fourth-place.
 
Viruet finished 3-2 and started his day with an 8-4 decision over Gannon's Connor Day. Entering as the No. 5 wrestler in the region, Viruet would drop his quarterfinal matchup against Kutztown's Connor Rogovich (3-2 decision).
 
He defeated the region's No. 3 wrestler in Devin Austin from Pitt-Johnstown with a 5-2 decision to advance to the fifth-place match against LIU Post's Dan Arkow. Viruet would secure a fifth-place finish with a 7-6 decision over Arkow, the region's No. 6 wrestler.
 
Freshman Nick Reto, sophomore Nick Conetta, sophomore Nick Klinoff, redshirt sophomore Cameron Kates, and junior Pierre Liciaga made their regional tournament debuts for ESU, while sophomore Dillon Warner made his second consecutive appearance for the Warriors.