ITHACA, N.Y.- The TCNJ wrestling team claimed their third consecutive Mideast Region title on Saturday with 137.5 team points. The Lions were trailed by Ithaca with 121.5 points and RIT with 112 points. Nine out of the ten wrestlers had a Top-7 finish, including four wrestlers who punched their ticket to nationals.
 
Domenic Difrancescantonio (141), Matt Sacco (157), Nick Sacco (165) and Peter Wersinger (285) all qualified for the national tournament on March 10^th. Nick Sacco and Wersinger captured individual titles while Difrancescantonio and Matt Sacco each took second place.
 
The other wrestlers to finish Top-7 include Kyle Nase (5^th at 133), Mike Conklin (5^th at 149), Reid Colella (4^th at 174), Quinn Haddad (7^th at 184) and Joe Daddario (7^th at 197).
 
In the awaited semifinal match between Nick Sacco and Brian Schneider, Sacco came out victorious in sudden victory (2-0) over Schneider and moved on to face Austin Lamb of RIT. In the Championship bout, Sacco held Lamb scoreless on his way to a 4-0 decision win and a trip to Roanoake, Virginia.
 
Just like Sacco, Wersinger held both of his opponents scoreless on Saturday to secure the Mideast Region title. In the semifinal, he took care of Joe Yanis from the College at Brockport in a 5-0 decision. The championship bout, featuring Wersinger and Nate DeGroff of RIT played out similar to the semifinal, with Wersinger not allowing DeGroff to score and tacking on six of his own.
 
Difrancescantonio took care of business in the semifinal bout between him and Cathal Donovan of SUNY Cortland, pinning Donovan in the closing minute of the first period. In the championship bout, Difrancescantonio unfortunately had to forfeit for medical reasons. However, winning the semifinal guaranteed him a spot at nationals.
 
In and exciting semifinal match, Matt Sacco punched his ticket to nationals with a 5-3 decision win over Brandon Bowles of Muhlenberg. Sacco faced off against a familiar foe in Wenchard Pierre-Louis of Ithaca. In similar fashion their last matchup at TCNJ, Pierre-Louis won in a tight 6-3 decision win.
 
These four will take the next week or so to prepare for the NCAA DIII Wrestling National Tournament in Roanoake, Virginia starting on Friday, March 10^th.