KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Nick Coreno's (Willoughby, Ohio/Lake Catholic) title at 165 pounds and Gannon's team championship highlighted a big day for the GU men's wrestling team at Super Regional 1.

Coreno placed first to lead a group of eight national qualifiers who finished among the Top 3 in the super regional on Saturday at Kutztown's Keystone Arena.

Coreno will make the trip to the NCAA Division II Championships on March 15-16 in Park City, Kan., joined by teammates Jose Diaz (Valparaiso, Ind./Wheeler) (second place at 125 pounds),

Jerry Echevarria (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) (third at 133), Jimmy Ryan (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) (third at 149), Ethan Richner (Bellefonte, Pa./Bellefonte Area High) (second at 157), Cole Hivnor (Painesville, Ohio/Lake Catholic) (second at 174), Cole Casilio (Wilcox, Pa./Johnsonburg Area) (second at 184), and Matt Long (Corry, Pa./Union City) (second at 285).

In the process, first-year head coach Tom Boyd's Gannon squad claimed the team title in a remarkably close race. Gannon finished with 145 team points, edging powerhouse Pitt-Johnstown (144.5) by half a point. UPJ had edged Gannon for the Super Regional 1 team title each of the past two seasons as GU settled for second place.
 

Fast start:

Gannon's performance was highlighted by a remarkable start in the early sessions.

The Golden Knights went 5-0 in the Round of 16 before going a stunning 10-0 in the quarterfinals as all 10 of GU's wrestlers reached the semifinals.

When Jose Diaz (Valparaiso, Ind./Wheeler) won his semifinal match at 125 pounds, Gannon had won its first 16 matches of the tournament.

Gannon then appeared to stagger, losing three consecutive semifinal matches at 133, 141, and 149 pounds.

However, Richner gave the Golden Knights a shot of adrenaline by claiming a 12-3 major decision over nationally ranked Bailey Gimbor of Kutztown. That moved Richner into the title match and triggered a series of semifinal wins for Gannon.

Coreno, the top seed a 165, had won by technical fall and fall in the first two rounds, and he followed Richner with another dominant win, a 17-1 victory in the semifinals.

Cole Hivnor's (Painesville, Ohio/Lake Catholic) 4-1 win at 174 pounds and Cole Casilio's (Wilcox, Pa./Johnsonburg Area) 9-2 victory at 184 ran Gannon's streak of semifinal wins to four.

After a close loss at 197, Gannon got one of the biggest wins of the tournament from Long at heavyweight. He pulled an upset, claiming a 4-1 victory over East Stroudsburg standout Layton Schmick, who was second seeded and had a 27-3 record. It also avenged an earlier season loss to Schmick.

That gave Gannon a whopping six finalists.
 

Finals and wrestle backs:

Coreno was the standout of the first-place matches for Gannon as the Knights lost five of the six title bouts. The No. 6-ranked senior earned an impressive 8-2 win over Kutztown's Dalton Gimbor, who was nationally ranked entering the match.  

It was the first title and first National berth for Coreno, who improved to 26-5 on the season.
 

Diaz (125), Richner (157), Hivnor (174), Casilio (184), and Long (285) each lost in their respective title matches.

However, Gannon did get good news from the consolation bracket.

After losing by technical fall in the semifinals, Jerry Echevarria (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) claimed an 18-3 tech fall over Kutztown's Javien DeLeon in the consolation semifinals and then best UPJ's Byron Daubert 7-2 in the third-place match.

That win proved critical because Echevarria earned a National berth, and it was a critical head-to-head win in the team race between GU and UPJ. Echevarria, ranked No. 6 nationally, improved to 26-6 on the year.

Jimmy Ryan (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) also bounced back to earn a trip to Nationals for the second straight year. After suffering a mild upset in a 9-7 loss to Millersville Craig Cook in the semifinals, Ryan won twice while not allowing a point.

He claimed a 15-0 tech fall over Seton Hill's Niko Ferra and then secured third place with a 7-0 win over Mercyhurst's Bret Minnick.

Two other Gannon wrestlers placed but did not advance to Nationals. Caleb Chaves (Odenton, Md./Arundel) finished fourth at 141 pounds, and Anthony Glessner (Middletown, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) took sixth at 197.

 
TEAM SCORES

1. Gannon  145.0
2. Pitt-Johnstown  144.5
3. Kutztown  113.5
4. Mercyhurst  107.5
5. Millersville  100.0
6. Frostburg State  56.5
7. Seton Hill  46.0
8. East Stroudsburg  36.5
9. Fairmont State  33.5
10. American International  17.5
11. Shippensburg  8.5


GANNON RESULTS

125 POUNDS:
JOSE DIAZ (20-5)
2-1, 2ND PLACE, NATIONAL QUALIFIER
Champ. Round 1 - Diaz (Gannon) received a bye
Quarterfinal - Diaz (Gannon) won by fall over Brandan Myers (Fairmont State) (1:13)
Semifinal - Diaz (Gannon) won by decision over Billy Smith (Mercyhurst)  (8-1)
1st Place Match - Trevon Gray (Pitt-Johnstown) won by decision over Diaz (Gannon) (10-4)
 
133 POUNDS:
JERRY ECHEVARRIA (26-6)
4-1, 3RD PLACE, NATIONAL QUALIFIER
Champ. Round 1 - Echevarria (Gannon) won by injury default over Ben Makaritis (East Stroudsburg) (3:24)
Quarterfinal - Echevarria (Gannon) won by decision over Nathan Pelesky (Fairmont State) (10-3)
Semifinal - Thierno Diallo (Frostburg State) won by major decision over Echevarria (Gannon) (15-3)
Cons. Semi - Echevarria (Gannon) won by tech fall over Javien DeLeon (Kutztown) (18-3)
3rd Place Match - Echevarria (Gannon) won by decision over Byron Daubert (Pitt-Johnstown) (7-2)
 
141 POUNDS:
CALEB CHAVES (18-11)
2-2, 4TH PLACE
Champ. Round 1 - Chaves (Gannon) received a bye
Quarterfinal - Chaves (Gannon) won by fall over Aidan Micheli (Millersville) (4:35)
Semifinal - Jake Niffenegger (Mercyhurst) won by decision over Chaves (Gannon) (1-0)
Cons. Semi - Chaves (Gannon) won by decision over Gregory (Andrew) Wert (Shippensburg) (3-1)
3rd Place Match - Colton Stoneking (Fairmont State) won by decision over Chaves (Gannon) (8-1)
 
149 POUNDS:
JIMMY RYAN (20-6)
3-1, 3RD PLACE, NATIONAL QUALIFIER
Champ. Round 1 - James Ryan (Gannon) received
Quarterfinal - Ryan (Gannon) won by tech fall over Gage Heilbrun (Frostburg State) (17-0)
Semifinal - Craig Cook (Millersville) won by decision over Ryan (Gannon) (9-7)
Cons. Semi - Ryan (Gannon) won by tech fall over Niko Ferra (Seton Hill) (15-0)
3rd Place Match - Ryan (Gannon) won by decision over Bret Minnick (Mercyhurst) (7-0)
 
157 POUNDS:
ETHAN RICHNER (17-7)
3-1, 2ND PLACE, NATIONAL QUALIFIER
Champ. Round 1 - Richner (Gannon) won by fall over Kolton Parsons (Fairmont State)  (1:19)
Quarterfinal - Richner (Gannon) won by fall over Nicholas Bennet (Millersville)  (4:44)
Semifinal - Richner (Gannon) won by major decision over Bailey Gimbor (Kutztown) (12-3)
1st Place Match - Cooper Warshel (Pitt-Johnstown) won by decision over Richner (Gannon) (5-0)
 
165 POUNDS:
NICK CORENO (26-5)
4-0, 1ST PLACE, NATIONAL QUALIFIER
Champ. Round 1 - Coreno (Gannon) won by tech fall over Navid Ighani (Fairmont State) (18-3)
Quarterfinal - Coreno (Gannon) won by fall over Cole Lang (Shippensburg) (3:39)
Semifinal - Coreno (Gannon) won by tech fall over Brandon Connor (Millersville) (17-1)
1st Place Match - Coreno (Gannon) won by decision over Dalton Gimbor (Kutztown) (8-2)
 
174 POUNDS:
COLE HIVNOR (20-6)
3-1, 2ND PLACE, NATIONAL QUALIFIER
Champ. Round 1 - Hivnor (Gannon) won by decision over Evan Thompson (Fairmont State) (7-2)
Quarterfinal - Hivnor (Gannon) won by fall over Robert Burke (East Stroudsburg)  (2:31)
Semifinal - Hivnor (Gannon) won by decision over Jonathan Parrilla (Millersville) (4-1)
1st Place Match - Kane Kettering (Seton Hill) won by medical forfeit over Hivnor (Gannon) (M. For.)
 
184 POUNDS:
COLE CASILIO (22-9)
3-1, 2ND PLACE, NATIONAL QUALIFIER
Champ. Round 1 - Casilio (Gannon) won by tech fall over Jarett Pantuso (East Stroudsburg) (17-0)
Quarterfinal - Casilio (Gannon) won by fall over Tristan Ice (Fairmont State) (1:28)
Semifinal - Casilio (Gannon) won by decision over Anthony Giampietro (Millersville)  (9-2)
1st Place Match - Matt Weinberg (Kutztown)  won by decision over Casilio (Gannon) (4-2)
 
197 POUNDS:
ANTHONY GLESSNER (12-15)
1-3, 6TH PLACE
Champ. Round 1 - Glessner (Gannon) received a bye
Quarterfinal - Glessner (Gannon) won in sudden victory - 1 over Ajay Hiller (East Stroudsburg) (7-4)
Semifinal - Dakoda Rodgers (Pitt-Johnstown) won by major decision over Glessner (Gannon) (11-0)
Cons. Semi - Bruce Vaughan (Millersville) won in TB-2 by riding time over Glessner (Gannon)  (2-2)
5th Place Match - Dwayne Johnson (Fairmont State) won by fall over Glessner (Gannon) (5:47)
 
285 POUNDS:
MATT LONG (21-12)
2-1, 2ND PLACE, NATIONAL QUALIFIER
Champ. Round 1 - Long (Gannon) 21-11 received a bye
Quarterfinal - Long (Gannon) 21-11 won by tech fall over Dustin Swanson (Kutztown) (17-1)
Semifinal - Long (Gannon) 21-11 won by decision over Layton Schmick (East Stroudsburg) (Dec 4-1)
1st Place Match - Isaiah Vance (Pitt-Johnstown) 4-0 won by major decision over Long (Gannon) (24-12)