EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. -- Kutztown University qualified multiple wrestlers for the NCAA Division II Championships for the third straight season after Matthew Weinberg (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) finished runner-up at 184 pounds and Dalton Gimbor (Bernville, Pa./Hamburg) claimed third at 165 during Saturday's Super Region I Championships inside East Stroudsburg University's Koehler Fieldhouse.
 
Weinberg, fifth in the latest NWCA national rankings, brought an unblemished 22-0 record into the Super Regional and continued his season-long dominance early on. The Philadelphian pinned Millersville's Braden Newby at 2:20 of their quarterfinal match, before needing just 46 seconds to do the same to Seton Hill's Riley O'Mara in the semifinals.
 
The pair of quick falls set up a championship showdown with Brock Biddle of Pitt-Johnstown. Weinberg blanked Biddle 7-0 when the two met during an early February dual, but Biddle stunned the bracket's top seed with a pin at 2:04 of the first period to deny Weinberg from repeating as the 184 lb. regional champ.
 
Nevertheless, Weinberg will head to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in two weeks for his second straight appearance in the national tournament. He's now 24-1 on the year and 33-4 in his career since joining the Bears midway through the 2021-22 season.
 
The Gimbor brothers have been a tremendous addition to Kutztown's roster, with both Dalton and Bailey Gimbor (Bernville, Pa./Hamburg) placing Saturday.
 
Dalton secured his spot at nationals with his second win of the day over East Stroudsburg's Luke Ciampa to claim third at 165. The Bernville, Pa., native and Franklin & Marshall transfer, nearly had a shot at going for a regional title after blowing past Ciampa with a 19-4 technical fall (5:20) in the quarterfinals. Two takedowns in the final 1:17 of the third spoiled Gimbor's upset bid of No. 3 Alex Farenchak (Gannon) in a 5-2 semifinal loss.
 
Putting the tough setback behind him, Dalton answered with a 2:25 pin of Mercyhurst's Mike Clark in the consolation semifinals and defeated Ciampa, 8-2, for third.
 
Though coach Robert Fisher and his staff are ecstatic about sending two representatives to nationals, there were others who came agonizingly close to joining Weinberg and Gimbor.
 
Sophomore Ethan Baney (Hanover, Pa./South Western) opened with a 12-3 major decision over Jaccob Gonzalez of East Stroudsburg at 174 lbs. A last-second takedown spelled heartbreak in the quarterfinals as Cole Casilio of Gannon emerged with a 3-1 win. Baney tore through the consolation bracket with three straight wins, but was relegated to his second consecutive fourth-place finish at regionals after American International's Jack MacKiernan got a takedown with 43 seconds remaining in overtime of the consolation final.
 
Multi-time national qualifier and 2020 All-American Collin Wickramaratna (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) pinned Joel Cawoski of Seton Hill to move into the semifinals at 141, but was knocked off, 9-4, in the semifinals by Gannon's Jimmy Ryan, whom he defeated in the regular season. Wickramaratna bounced back to reach the third-place match with a 3-2 win over Millersville's Tim Uhler, but ran into top-seed Caleb Morris of Pitt-Johnstown, who also got bounced in the semis. With the final national bid in the weight class up for grabs, Morris defeated Wickramaratna, 7-3.

Wickramaratna, who twice qualified for DII nationals with Kutztown and for DIII nationals as a freshman with Ursinus, closes his KU career with a 63-16 record over three seasons and a combined collegiate record of 93-24.

Kibwe McNair (Lansdale, Pa./Methacton) (149) and Bailey Gimbor (Bernville, Pa./Hamburg) (157) came up two wins shy of qualifying for nationals, but each placed at regionals for the first time.
 
McNair fell to No. 2 Nick Young of Gannon in the quarterfinals before pinning a pair of opponents in the wrestle backs rounds. The sophomore was beaten by Tommy Nichols of American International in the consolation semifinals and dropped the fifth-place match against Frostburg's Colton Stoneking, 9-1, to claim sixth.

Bailey Gimbor (Bernville, Pa./Hamburg) returned after missing nearly two months due to an injury suffered during an early January dual and wasted no time shaking off the rust. He pinned Mercyhurst's Max Stedeford in 4:52 in the quarterfinals and came within a point of taking down top seed Nathan Smith of Pitt-Johnstown in the semifinals. Gimbor received a penalty point for Smith's stalling and an escape to tie the match at three in the final minute, but when the clock hit zeroes, a riding time point was enough to move Smith into the championship bout, 4-3.

In the consolation semifinals, Millersville's Johnathan Parrilla used a takedown in each of the first periods to hold off Gimbor, 5-3. Gimbor used a medical forfeit against Stedeford in the fifth-place match, bringing home sixth.

Pitt-Johnstown held off Gannon by 14.5 points to capture its second Super Region I title in a row and 25th regional crown all-time. The Mountain Cats finished with 148.5 points ahead of the Golden Knights with 134. Mercyhurst was third with 109.5, followed by Kutztown with 77.5 and Millersville with 71.
 
Weinberg and Dalton Gimbor (Bernville, Pa./Hamburg) will now begin training for the NCAA Division II Championships at Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, March 10-11.
 

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NCAA DII SUPER REGION I CHAMPIONSHIPS
FEB. 25, 2023 | KOEHLER FIELDHOUSE | EAST STROUDSBURG, PA.

KUTZTOWN RESULTS

125
Julien Maldonado (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown), R-Fr., 5-9
R1 – LOSS MD Kyle Burkholder (Seton Hill), 16-3
CR1 – Bye
CR2 – LOSS PIN Billy Smith (Mercyhurst), 4:34

133
KJ Fenstermacher (Northampton, Pa./Northampton), R-Sr., 5-5
R1 – LOSS dec. #4 Devin Flannery (Millersville), 7-0
CR1 – Bye
CR2 – WIN MD Aaron Morocho (American International), 8-0
CQF – LOSS dec. Byron Daubert (Pitt-Johnstown), 9-3

141
Collin Wickramaratna (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee), Sr., 14-6
R1 – Bye
QF – WIN PIN Joel Cawoski (Seton Hill), 1:55
SF – LOSS dec. Jimmy Ryan (Gannon), 9-4
CSF – WIN dec. Tim Uhler (Millersville), 3-2
3rd – LOSS dec. Caleb Morris (Pitt-Johnstown), 7-3
4TH PLACE

149
Kibwe McNair (Lansdale, Pa./Methacton), So., 4-2
R1 – Bye
QF – LOSS PIN #2 Nick Young (Gannon), 4:41
CR2 – WIN PIN Chad Miller (Alderson Broaddus), 1:47
CQF – WIN PIN Dominic Williams (Seton Hill), 6:47
CSF – LOSS PIN Tommy Nichols (American International), 3:44
5th – LOSS MD Colton Stoneking (Frostburg State), 9-1
6TH PLACE

157
Bailey Gimbor (Bernville, Pa./Hamburg), R-Fr., 12-2
R1 – Bye
QF – WIN PIN Max Stedeford (Mercyhurst), 4:52
SF – LOSS dec. Nathan Smith (Pitt-Johnstown), 4-3
CSF – LOSS dec. Jonathan Parrilla (Millersville), 5-3
5th – MFF vs. Max Stedeford (Mercyhurst)
6TH PLACE
 
165
Dalton Gimbor (Bernville, Pa./Hamburg), R-Fr., 16-7
R1 – Bye
QF – WIN TF Luke Ciampa (East Stroudsburg), 19-4 (5:20)
SF – LOSS dec. #3 Alex Farenchak (Gannon), 5-2
CSF – WIN PIN Mike Clark (Mercyhurst), 2:25
CF – WIN dec. Luke Ciampa (East Stroudsburg), 8-2
3RD PLACE

174
Ethan Baney (Hanover, Pa./South Western), So., 13-6
R1 – WIN MD Jaccob Gonzalez (East Stroudsburg), 12-3
QF – LOSS dec. Cole Casilio (Gannon), 3-1
CR2 – WIN dec. Nyiem Flucas (Shippensburg), 5-0
CQF – WIN PIN Ashton Miller (Alderson Broaddus), 1:33
CSF – WIN dec. Brandon Matthews (Seton Hill), 7-4
CF – LOSS dec. Jack MacKiernan (American International), 7-5 (SV-1)
4TH PLACE

184
#5 Matthew Weinberg (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan), R-So., 22-0
R1 – Bye
QF – WIN PIN Braden Newby (Millersville), 2:20
SF – WIN PIN Riley O'Mara (Seton Hill), 0:46
F – LOSS PIN Brock Biddle (Pitt-Johnstown), 2:04
2ND PLACE

197
Tyler Fisher (Lenhartsville, Pa./Kutztown), R-Jr., 9-9
R1 – LOSS MD Dwayne Johnson (Alderson Broaddus), 13-4
CR1 – Bye
CR2 – LOSS PIN Trey Shoemaker (Shippensburg), 2:09

285
Dustin Swanson (New Holland, Pa./Garden Spot), R-Fr., 11-9
R1 – Bye
QF – LOSS dec. Danny Scheib (Shippensburg), 6-1
CR2 – WIN PIN Thomas Graden (Frostburg State), 4:21
CQF – LOSS inj. def. Bishop McCoy (Millersville), 4:24