ROANOKE, VA - The Hunter men's wrestling team competed in the NCAA Division III East Regionals on Sunday afternoon. With eight wrestlers looking to qualify for nationals, two Hawks, Cary Palmer and Jesse Bader finished in 3rd place and 2nd place respectively to qualify for the NCAA Nationals on March 13-14 in Hershey, PA.

Wrestling at 141lbs, Palmer would drop only one decision on the day, in the semifinals, in overtime, to 1st place finisher Brandon Jones. Palmer would wrestle back and claim 3rd place after defeating Adam Swift for the second time on the day. Palmer would go 4-1 on the day with two wins via major decision.

Wrestling at 165lbs, Bader suffered his only loss of the day in the 165lb championship to CJ Caserta by a 5-1 decision. Bader, who entered the tournament with a 33-4 record, comfortably won his first three matches, one by major decision and two by decision.

"I am extremely proud of each wrester that competed this weekend," said head coach Chris Mazzatta. "They all have worked so hard throughout the season and the coaching staff feels that CJ and Jesse can reach their goals of winning an NCAA National Championship."

The two Hawks that qualified for nationals are the most for the program since 2008.

Other notable performances in the Regionals came from Dennis Melendez and Patryk Kopczynski, both of whom finished in 6th place. Melendez, wrestling at 197lbs, would go 2-3, he lost to the eventual 2nd place finisher in the quarterfinals before wrestling back and losing in the 5th place match. Kopczynski, wrestling at 285lbs would also go 2-3, losing in the quarterfinals to the 2nd place finisher as well.

Kenny Albert, wresting at 125lbs went 2-2, with both losses coming to the 4th and 6th place finishers.

Nick Wilkie went 1-2 wrestling at 157lbs.

Bader & Palmer will seek the national championship on March 13 and 14 at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA.


 

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