NEW YORK STATE DREAM TEAM OF NCAA DIVISION I CHAMPIONS

​NEW YORK STATE

NCAA DIVISION I CHAMPIONS 

125- Troy Nickerson (Chenango Forks HS) - Cornell - 2009

         Jeff Prescott (Olean HS) - Penn State -1990, 1991

         Nick Gallo (Deer Park HS) - Hofstra - 1977

         Dave Auble (Ithaca HS) - Cornell -1959, 1960

         David Hirsch (Clarkstown South HS) - Cornell- 1994 

​         Brad Penrith (Windsor HS) - Iowa -1986

         Carl DeStefanis (Locust Valley HS) - Penn State - 1984

133- Clar Anderson (Olean HS) - Oklahoma State - 1983

         Joe Gratto (Canton HS) - Lehigh -1957

141- Yianni Diakomihalis (Hilton HS) - Cornell - 2018, 2019

         Peter Yozzo (Sayville HS) - Lehigh -1987

​         Harold Masem (NYC-Brooklyn PSAL HS) - Lehigh - 1953

149- Jesse Jantzen (Shoreham-Wading River HS) - Harvard - 2004

         Gregor Gillespie (Webster-Schroeder HS) - Edinboro - 2007

         Frank Bettuci (Ithaca HS) - Cornell - 1953

157- Carl Adams (Brentwood HS) - Iowa State -1971, 1972

         JP O'Connor (Oxford HS) - Harvard- 2010

165- Kyle Dake (Lansing HS) - Cornell - 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

         Keith Stearns (Pioneer HS) - Oklahoma- 1978

         Chris Edmonds (Freeport HS) - Tennessee - 1985

         Joe Lemyre (Baldwin HS) - Penn State -1952

​174- Mitch Clark (Canton HS) - Ohio State - 1998

         Dean Morrison (Copiague HS) - West Virginia - 1994

184- Ed Banach (Port Jervis HS) - Iowa - 1980, 1981,1983

         Noel Loban (Copiague HS) - Clemson - 1980

197- Tom Schlendorf (Calhoun HS) - Syracuse -1967

         Josh Glenn (Johnson City HS) - American University -2007

285- Lou Banach (Port Jervis HS) - Iowa - 1980, 1983

         Kerry McCoy (Longwood HS) - Penn State -1995, 1997

         Nick Gwiazdowski (Duanesburg HS) - North Carolina State - 2014, 2015

ABOUT THE TEAM:

   This elite group of Empire State prepped wrestlers are NCAA Division I champions and collectively garnered 42 NCAA crowns and won two Dan Hodge trophies (symbolizing the top collegiate wrestler of the year) - those recipients were Kerry McCoy (1997) and Kyle Dake (2013). 

   At 125 pounds there are a stable of lightweight phenoms including four-time All-American Troy Nickerson (97-8, 38 falls) of Cornell who finished 2-1-3-4 at the NCAAs and a trio of MOW winners: two-time champ Jeff Prescott (88-15-2) of Penn State, two-time AA Nick Gallo, (104-14), also a member of the US Olympic team and the lone NCAA champion from Hofstra, along with Cornell's Dave Auble (51-1). Other lightweight stars were David Hirsch (116-17) of Cornell, Iowa's Brad Penrith, a three-time finalist who won his NCAA crown in his sophomore season and Penn State's Carl DeStefanis  who compiled a 114-16-1 mark and won his NCAA gold medal at the Meadowlands.

   Clar Anderson (73-17-4) began his college career at Auburn and then transferred to Oklahoma State, he had NCAA placings of 6-1-5 at 134 pounds. Cornell Junior Yianni Diakomihalis (63-1) avenged his only loss to Missouri's Jayden Eierman at the NCAA meet and is on track to win his third NCAA title in St. Louis in 2021. Lehigh's three-time All-American Peter Yozzo (3-2-1) won his title with a stunning fall in the finals and had an 82-5-2 ledger. Another Lehigh alumnus was Harold Masem (35-4) who placed 4th in 1939, but didn't earned AA status because the NCAA only recognized the top three finishers. 

​    New York State boasts three studs in the 149-pound class, first team selection Jesse Jantzen (131-13, 50 pins) of Harvard, a three-time AA (3-3-1) who won the MOW Award at the 2004 NCAAs, Edinboro's four-time All American Gregor Gillespie (7-1-5-4) who compiled an impressive 144-13 career mark, along with Frank Bettuci, a three-time EIWA champion and NCAA OSW winner for the Big Red of Cornell.

     Iowa State's Carl Adams (77-9-4) dominated the 158-pound class in the 1970s and was the first true freshman ever to place at the NCAAs, finishing fifth at 152, and then won two NCAA titles, he is the top pick here ahead of three-time AA JP O'Connor (5-6-1) of Harvard who finished with a 132-16 ledger. At 165 pounds is the only four-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake (137-4) to win four titles in four different weight classes. Dake of Cornell was the NCAA MOW in 2013 and defeated David Taylor (Penn State) in an epic NCAA title bout. Other top 165-pounders are Keith Stearns, a two-time AA from Oklahoma and Tennessee's lone NCAA winner Chris Edmonds who finished with a 75-15-2 record. Ohio State's Mitch Clark (77-6) scored a blistering 17-0 tech fall in the NCAA finals and is the pick here at 174 pounds over Dean Morrison (103-22-3) of West Virginia. 

    Three-time champion Ed Banach (141-9-1) of Iowa is still the Hawkeye pins leader with 73 falls and was an Olympic champion, he was an Iowa mainstay during their NCAA title runs in the early 1980s. Another standout was Noel Loban (88-13) of Clemson at 184 pounds. At 197, is Tom Schlendorf (84-8-1) of Syracuse who was a top NCAA grappler in the late 1960s, just ahead of two-time AA Josh Glenn (116-14) of American University. New York has a trio of spectacular heavyweights, with the top choice being two-time NCAA and Olympic champion Lou Banach (90-14-2) of Iowa. Other top 285-pounders are: two-time NCAA winner and two-time Olympian Kerry McCoy (105-18 career) of Penn State, along with four-time AA Nick Gwiazdowski (8-1-1-2). Gwiazdowski started his NCAA career at Binghamton and then transferred to NC State where he claimed two NCAA titles.