Centrone Repeats as Regional Champion to Claim NCAA Berth https://t.co/kvqMtUnbJE
— Cortland Athletics (@RedDragonPride) March 1, 2026
ITHACA, NY – Cortland's Angelo Centrone (Mahopac) repeated as the 149-pound weight class champion to secure a berth into the NCAA Division III Championships during the second day of competition at the NCAA Division III Region 2 Wrestling Championships on Saturday. The regional was hosted by Ithaca College.
Centrone, ranked sixth nationally at 149 pounds, will make his second straight appearance at the national championship meet, which will be held March 13-14 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The top three finishers in each weight class at the regional punched their tickets to nationals.
After going 3-0 on Friday to reach the semifinals, Centrone opened Saturday with a 10-4 decision over Ryan Santiago of Wilkes. He had one takedown in each period, and the only points that Santiago earned were from escapes. Centrone then secured the regional title with a 7-2 victory in the finals over Cole Handlovic of Stevens, who entered the weekend ranked fourth nationally in the weight class.
Three Red Dragons – Colton Havens (Canisteo/Canisteo-Greenwood), Christian Lievano (East Setauket/Ward Melville), and Rocco Futia (Wallkill) – placed fifth in their respective weight classes.
Havens started the day in the semifinals, but dropped a 4-1 decision to Paul Lichter of St. John Fisher. In the consolation bracket, Havens also lost by decision, 6-3 to Josh Warland of RIT. He rebounded with a 7-3 decision over Tyler Rossini of Brockport in the fifth-place match, the second time Havens defeated Rossini in the tournament.
Lievano went 2-1 on the day to place fifth at 125 pounds. The senior started the day with a pin in 2:41 over Charles Piccione of Stevens in the consolation bracket, before falling to New Jersey City's Dominic Terracciano by pin in the third period. In the fifth-place match, Lievano earned a 7-1 decision over Gus Smith of Wilkes.
Rocco Futia also placed fifth at 133 pounds with a 2-1 record on the day. He had three takedowns in the first period during a 16-5 major decision over Derek Bernardino of St. John Fisher to open the day. In his second match, Futia was defeated 8-5, by Robert Gardner of Lycoming in sudden-victory overtime. Futia won by forfeit over Amarfio Reynolds of Penn State Behrend in the fifth-place match.
Cortland finished in 12th place out of 20 schools in the final team standings with 68.5 team points. Stevens was the regional team champion with 147.5 points, followed by Ithaca (144 points) and Lycoming (108 points).