WILLIMASPORT (Pa.) – Senior 174 pounder Youssef Ait Boulahri and junior 141 pounder Russell Benson are still alive after day one at the NCAA Division III Southeast Regional tournament as the duo led the Delaware Valley University men's wrestling team, and will look to qualify for the national tournament tomorrow.
The Aggies entered 10 wrestlers at the regional qualifier this weekend and competed against a field featuring 20 colleges and universities from the southeast region. The top-three wrestlers at each weight class will qualify for the national championship tournament.
Ait Boulahri earned the number two seed in the 174-pound bracket and made quick work of his first two opponents to advance to tomorrow's semi-final round. He cruised to an 11-0 major decision over Trevor Carter of Greensboro College to begin his run and capped the day with a first period pin of John DeVito from Wilkes. Ait Boulahri is one of three Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) wrestlers in the semi-finals and will face Kade Kravits of King's for a chance to advance to the regional finals. The winner will also guarantee a top-two finish and qualify for the national tournament. The loser will have one more chance to qualify with a win in the third place match.
Stevens Institute of Technology's Stefan Major is the other MAC athlete still alive at 174 pounds. Major entered the tournament as the number one seed and was the 2022 MAC Champion. Major faces Cameron Blizard of Washington & Lee in the other semi-finals match.
Benson's path to nationals at 141 pounds will require three victories tomorrow. The junior, who qualified for the national championship tournament as a freshman in 2019, won his first match of the day by 6-4 decision after a lengthy battle with MAC foe Wiley Kahler of Lycoming. In his second bout, Benson met the 10th ranked wrestler in the region, and number two-seed at this tournament, Messiah's Josiah Gehr. Gehr caught Benson late in the first period and earned a win by fall at 2:37.
Benson bounced back with a 7-0 decision over Hunter Martz of Thiel College to advance to day-two. In his first bout tomorrow, Benson will need to get past Charlie Cunningham of Washington & Lee and then win two more bouts to secure third place and a spot at nationals.
Senior heavyweight Austin Williams went 0-2 as he surrendered nine points in each of the decisions while fellow upper-classmen Chris Richardson posted a 1-2 mark. Richardson fell to Ryder Slaton of Messiah by 9-3 decision, but came back in the consolations with a second period pin of Rino DiCesare in a match that Richardson controlled from the beginning.
DelVal's junior student-athletes, 197 pounder Isaiah Johnson and 133 pounder Rashaad Stratton, each finished 1-2 at the tournament.
Johnson earned his win with a narrow 3-2 decision over Brandon Loder of Gettysburg. Loder scored first with a takedown, but Johnson got one back on an escape before the end of the first. Another escape by Johnson in the second tied the match, and Johnson earned riding time to claim the decision.
In his next bout, Johnson battled Max Steele of Greensboro College to a hard fought 11-10 decision. Johnson led 6-3 after the first period and 7-5 after the second, but Steele fought hard and got three takedowns in the third, the last with 40 seconds remaining, to claim the victory.
For Stratton, his day began with a 10-4 setback before taking a convincing 11-2 decision from Harper Thompson of Southern Virginia University. In his final match of the tournament, Stratton dropped a 5-0 decision to Hunter Thompson of Thiel.
DelVal had three first-years competing in the tournament in Ryan Kelly (125), Greg Croce (149), Adam Coleman (157), and Cooper Kidd (165).
Croce led the group with a 2-2 showing. He dropped his first bout to second-seed Jason Rezac of Alvernia but came back with a pair of wins by decision including a 12-6 decision over Allen Kokilananda of Wilkes. Croce got five takedowns and did not allow any in the win. Croce bowed out of the tournament after surrendering a technical fall to Jared Blair of York College.
Kelly and Coleman each picked up wins in their first collegiate regional appearance. At 125, Kelly defeated Kyle Miller of King's College with a second period pin, while Coleman's victory came by 10-0 major decision over Jake Dressler of Gettysburg.
Ait Boulahri and Benson will be back in action tomorrow starting at 10 a.m. looking to finish inside the top-3 and qualify for the 2022 Division III National Tournament.
