Complete Brackets
York, PA… The College of New Jersey wrestling team took second place at Sunday's Metropolitan Conference Championships with three individuals winning their respective weight classes.
The Lions finished with 86.5 points trailing only Wilkes University with 98. TCNJ had won the previous two conference titles. Host York (PA) College placed third with 58.5 points with Centenary College (42) and King's College (37.5) rounding out the top five in the nine-team field.
The Lions crowned three individual champions with two other grapplers advancing to the finals. Winning titles for TCNJ and securing a spot at the upcoming NCAA Division III Championships were senior Dan DiColo (Budd Lake, NJ/Mt. Olive) at 157 pounds, sophomore Justin Bonitatis (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) at 165, and freshman and Scott Kelley (Vineland, NJ/Sacred Heart) at 184.
In addition to the three champions advancing to the national tournament, senior Tyler Branham (Newton, NJ/Kittatinny) and freshman Ed Broderick (Manahawkin, NJ/Southern Regional) each received “wild cards” giving the Lions five national qualifiers.
The NCAA Tournament is slated for March 6-7 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
DiColo garnered TCNJ's first crown with 7-3 win over top-seeded John Niedrich from York to finish a perfect 3-0 on the day.
Bonitatis also won all three of his bouts winning his second straight conference title by pinning Centenary's Matt Regan in 2:15 in the finals.
Kelley gave TCNJ its third champion at 184 pounds as the Lion freshman pulled out a 4-0 victory over Buddy Gouger of Wilkes University.
Branham advanced to the finals at 149 and took second as he was clipped by Erik Smith from Wilkes, 4-1.
Broderick had a strong tournament at 197 pounds going 2-1 advancing to the finals as the third seed. He fell in the title match by the score of 5-2 to top-seeded Zach Pizarro from Wilkes.
Heavyweight Adam Koziol (Paramus, NJ/Paramus) earned a third-place finish for the Lions winning the consolation bracket with a pin of Christopher Rash of King's in 2:48.
Senior Greg Osgoodby (Waldwick, NJ/Waldwick) capped his standout career with the Lions with a fourth-place finish going 2-2 on the day.
