On Sunday, the NYU wrestling team competed in the New York State Championships at Cornell University in Ithaca. NYU took 15th place out of the 19 schools participating. Split into an A and B squad, NYU’s A Team comprised the official competitors.
LS junior Sam Friedfield led NYU’s B Team with a 3-1 record in his weight class — 157 pounds. SCPS sophomore Richy Cruz, 141 pounds and CAS sophomore Dylan Lojac, 157 pounds, both finished 2-2 for the day and advanced to the fourth round of the consolation bracket. For NYU-A, CAS junior DJ Albonico, at 149 pounds, advanced to the same round.
“[They] had a pretty tough day, but this is one of the toughest tournaments we compete in,” Lojack said. “It features every collegiate wrestling program across the state of New York, including Cornell, ranked top 10 in Division I.”
Cornell finished in first place on Sunday, with a final team score of 207, followed by Hofstra University, Binghamton University and United States Military Academy at West Point.
“Although three of our captains and other members of our team did not travel with us due to injury, we had various wrestlers winning matches,” Lojack said.
UAA Athlete of the Week, CAS junior Patrick Sheehan, was unable to participate in the tournament, but was still positive about the team’s future.
“[The team is] in great shape, and wrestling tough,” Sheehan said. “[They] need to maintain [their] drive in practice heading into the long winter.”
Willow Frederick is a contributing writer. Email her at [email protected].