ERIE, Pa. -- The 14th-ranked Kutztown University wrestling team claimed multiple regional champions for the second straight season, Saturday, as sophomore Collin Wickramaratna (Malton, N.J./Cherokee) won the 133-pound bracket and defending national champion Andrew Dunn Jr. (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) repeated at 285 in the NCAA Division II Super Region 1 Championships at Mercyhurst University.

The championship-winning duo will represent the Golden Bears at the NCAA Division II Championships in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in two weeks.
 
Wickramaratna joined KU this season after qualifying for the NCAA Division III Championships last season as a freshman at Ursinus College. He's been a standout for the Bears all season, compiling a team-high 24 wins (24-2). The region's second seed and recent addition to the national rankings, Wickramaratna opened with a 15-0 technical fall of Alderson Broaddus' Breandan Coughlin, piling up the points in just 4:28.

The Marlton, New Jersey, native locked up a spot at nationals by disposing of the third seed Austin Hertel (Gannon), 7-3, in the semifinals. Wickramaratna built a 7-0 lead after two periods, opening a 1-0 lead with a takedown and four-point nearfall in the final 17 seconds of the second.

Last year's 133-pound national champion Tyler Warner stood in Wickramaratna's path for the title, but the Kutztown sophomore has found ways to get the job done all season and Saturday night was no exception. Warner, who wrestled at Wheeling University last year before transferring to Pitt-Johnstown for the 2019-20 season, escaped from bottom to start the second and take a 1-0 lead. Wickramaratna collected a second-period penalty point and with time running short, escaped from bottom with just eight seconds remaining in regulation. Warner, who is ranked sixth in the nation in the weight class, got the match to overtime, 2-2, by riding most of the third period and gaining the riding time point.

Just over a half minute into the first overtime, ninth-ranked Wickramaratna came through with the match-clinching takedown for a 4-2 victory.
 
Dunn Jr. cruised into the semifinals with an opening round technical fall over Gannon's Gehrig Hutchison and a 14-3 major decision against Alderson Broaddus' Jared Burgoyne. The redshirt junior's unbeaten season was in jeopardy during his semifinal match with Millersville's Joshua Walls, the region's fourth-ranked grappler.

Walls had first choice following the opening period and took a 1-0 lead early in the second on an escape. Dunn Jr. answered early in the third with an escape of his own, but nothing else would be decided in regulation. Finally in the third overtime, Walls was hit with his second stalling call, lifting Dunn Jr. to a 2-1 decision.

The nation's top-ranked heavyweight, who hails from Bethlehem, became just the fourth Kutztown wrestler all-time to win multiple regional championships joining Pat Mathuse (1994, 1995), Evan Yenolevich (2012, 2014) and Ziad Haddad (2014, 2015).

Redshirt junior 125-pounder Joe Renne's (Great Meadows, N.J./Hackettstown) bid to return to nationals came up one win short as he fell to Seton Hill's Frank Bonura, 12-4, in the third-place match. Renne had to wrestle back through the consolation bracket last year and nearly made history repeat itself. He won his quarterfinal match, 8-2, over Mercyhurst's Jacob Ruggeri, before 12th-ranked Jacob Dunlop of Gannon ended his title hopes with a 9-0 major decision in the semis.

Renne bounced back with a 4-2 decision against Noah Hodges of Alderson Broaddus in the consolation semifinals, but could not find an answer for Bonura in a matchup of the region's fourth and fifth seeds.

Beyond the Bears' place-winning trio, 141-pound entry Michael Albergo (Longport, N.J./Saint Augustine Prep) and 174-pound representative Anthony Emig (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) collected one win each. Albergo pinned Digger Dennison of Frostburg State at 5:19 of his first round match, but dropped his quarterfinal and first-round consolation matches.

Emig dropped his opener against nationally-ranked No. 6 Brock Biddle of Pitt-Johnstown, but stunned the region's No. 6 ranked wrestler, Millersville's Malik Jackson. Emig blanked Jackson 3-0, before being eliminated by Shippensburg's Colton Babcock.

Kutztown finished sixth in the team standings with 45 points.

Dunn Jr. and Wickramaratna will represent the Maroon and Gold at the NCAA Division II Championships March 13-14 at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
 

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2020 NCAA DIVISION II SUPER REGION I CHAMPIONSHIPS
FEBRUARY 29, 2020
MERCYHURST UNIVERSITY | ERIE, PA.
KUTZTOWN RESULTS
 
125 – JOE RENNE
R1 – Bye
QF – WIN Dec. Jacob Ruggeri (Mercyhurst), 8-2
SF – LOSS MD #12 Jacob Dunlop (Gannon), 9-0
CSF – WIN Dec. Noah Hodges (Alderson Broaddus), 4-2
CF – LOSS MD Frank Bonura (Seton Hill), 12-4
4th PLACE
 
133 - #9 COLLIN WICKRAMARATNA
R1 – Bye
QF – WIN TF Breandan Coughlin (Alderson Broaddus), 15-0 (4:28)
SF – WIN Dec. Austin Hertel (Gannon), 7-3
F – WIN Dec. #6 Tyler Warner (Pitt-Johnstown), 4-2 (SV-1)
REGIONAL CHAMPION
 
141 – MICHAEL ALBERGO
R1 – WIN PIN Digger Dennison (Frostburg State), 5:19
QF – LOSS MD Alexis Soriano (Mercyhurst), 8-0
CR1 – LOSS Dec. Matt Milbrand (Shippensburg), 9-7
 
149 – MICHAEL CUSICK
R1 – Bye
QF – LOSS Dec. Dominic Means (Gannon), 5-2
CR1 – Bye
CQF – LOSS PIN Alex Samson (Mercyhurst), 2:34
 
157 – MITCHELL CAMP
R1 – LOSS Dec. Marquan Payne (East Stroudsburg), 12-11
CR1 – LOSS Dec. Jacob Burgette (Pitt-Johnstown), 6-2
 
165 – CONNOR ROGOVICH
R1 – LOSS PIN #8 Devin Austin (Pitt-Johnstown), 1:50
CR1 – LOSS Dec. Alec Shaw (Seton Hill), 10-3
 
174 – ANTHONY EMIG
R1 – Bye
QF – LOSS TF #6 Brock Biddle (Pitt-Johnstown), 16-0 (2:35)
CR1 – WIN Dec. Malik Jackson (Millersville), 3-0
CQF – LOSS PIN Colton Babcock (Shippensburg), 3:53
 
184 – JAMES POTTS
R1 – Bye
QF – LOSS PIN #11 Elliot Riddick (East Stroudsburg), 3:19
CR1 – Bye
CQF – LOSS PIN Joey Romjue (Seton Hill), 2:23
 
197 – REED CUSTER
R1 – Bye
QF – LOSS PIN #7 (#2 SR1) Freddie Nixon (Gannon), 2:36
CR1 – LOSS PIN Reece Muldoon (Millersville), 2:22
 
285 - #1 ANDREW DUNN JR.
R1 – WIN TF Gehrig Hutchison (Gannon), 21-4 (5:50)
QF – WIN MD Jared Burgoyne (Alderson Broaddus), 14-3
SF – WIN Dec. Joshua Walls (Millersville), 2-1 (TB-1)
F – WIN Dec. #3 Jacob Robb (Mercyhurst), 3-2
REGIONAL CHAMPION