Angelo Centrone Secures All-America Honors with 2-1 Record on Day 1 of NCAA Championships
Cortland Sports Information Department
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – Cortland senior Angelo Centrone (Mahopac) went 2-1 at 149 pounds to earn All-America honors for the second consecutive season during the first day of competition at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships. The two-day tournament is being held at the Alliant Energy Power House in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Centrone, the third seed, received a bye in the first round and defeated Evan Lindner of Wahington & Lee in the second round by a 12-4 major decision. After falling to Cade Siebrecht of Central on riding time in sudden victory in the quarterfinals, Centrone secured a top-eight finish with a pin of Oneonta's Avery Leonard in 3:33.
Centrone is now 19-2 on the year and could finish as high as third place with three victories tomorrow on the second day of the national tournament. He will face seventh-seeded Nate Fitt of Coast Guard to begin his action in the morning.
Centrone got off to a fast start in the match against Lindner, posting a takedown just 23 seconds into the first period. After an escape by Lindner, Centrone recorded two more takedowns in the period to jump out to a 9-2 lead. Centrone allowed Lindner a free escape to open the second period, but quickly piled on a fourth takedown of the bout only 13 seconds in. Lindner's escape with 1:37 left in the period created the final 12-4 margin, and neither wrestler scored over the remainder of the match.
The quarterfinal match was scoreless in the first period, and Centrone recorded the only point of the second with a quick escape in seven seconds. Siebrecht escaped two seconds into the third period and tied the score at 1-1. Neither wrestler scored in the remainder of the third period or in the first overtime period. Centrone recorded an escape in the second overtime to go up 2-1, but Siebrecht got his escape point to open the third overtime and tie the bout at 2-2, and advanced into the semifinals by just seconds of riding time when Centrone could not score a takedown in the final seconds.
Centrone's third match of the day opened with a scoreless first period. Leonard started on bottom in the second period and scored an escape point five seconds in. Centrone was quickly able to score a takedown 31 seconds into the period, and earned the pin seconds later to become the first Cortland wrestler since Bobby Dierna in 2016 and 2017 to earn All-America honors in back-to-back national tournaments.
