BROCKPORT, N.Y. -- The Oneonta wrestling team traveled to SUNY Brockport for the 2026 SUNYAC Wrestling Championships where senior Carson LiCastri (Easton, CT/Joel Barlow High School) and junior Trevor Cortright (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) were respectively named the 197-pound and 133-pound Conference Champions as the Red Dragons took fourth in the team event on Saturday. Cortright was named the Co-Outstanding Wrestler of the Meet as his title made him a two-time SUNYAC Champion, while it was LiCastri's first conference title as he earned his 100th career win in his championship match. Senior Avery Leonard (Milford, N.Y./Milford Central) and sophomore Ryley Monica (Adams, NY/South Jefferson Central) finished second at 141 and 165-pounds, respectively, to earn All-Conference along with Cortright and LiCastri. The Red Dragons also had junior Mason Rappold (/) place fourth at 157 lbs., while seniors Aydin DeForest (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) and Kennith Jackson (New Orleans, LA/) both earned fifth at 174 and 285 lbs.

Oneonta was near the top of the team standings and cycled the lead throughout the day with Brockport, Cortland, and Ithaca, and ultimately finished in fourth out of nine teams with 139.5 points. The Red Dragons were one of four teams with two individual champions, and one of four with at least four All-Conference wrestlers.

"I'm very proud of this team and what they were able to accomplish in an extremely strong SUNYAC conference championship tournament, despite a few of our starters being out of the line-up this weekend due to injury/illness," said Head Coach Duane Ritter. "We had two SUNYAC Champions, two runner-ups, and three additional top five placers. LiCastri reached his 100th career NCAA win milestone with his win in the championship finals, Camillieri received the SUNYAC Elite 20 Award, and Cortright claimed the Most Outstanding Wrestler Award."

LiCastri, who was the top-seed in the 197-class and is ranked first in Region 2, had a 4-0 performance with a fall and tech fall for his first SUNYAC Championship and third All-Conference accolade. He started off with a 2:37 fall against Cortland's Carmine Gerbino, then he recorded two takedowns and a reversal in a 15-0 tech fall in 6:39 versus Brockport's Luke Herendeen. The Red Dragon advanced to the finals by medical forfeit over St. John Fisher's Aidan LeStrange and faced Brockport's Simon Lingle, the sixth ranked 197-pounder in Region 2. LiCastri collected his 100th career victory when he defeated Lingle in the first-place match with an 8-2 decision, where he executed two takedowns in the first period, an escape in the second and the riding time bonus.  LiCastri became the 11th wrestler in Oneonta wrestling program history to record 100 wins as a Red Dragon and is third all-time with 53 career pins. He is now the third active Red Dragon on the roster with 100 career wins, joining senior Jack Ryan (Trumbull, CT/) and Leonard. Ryan earned his 100th win in his last match against Arcadia in Ursinus two weeks ago, while Leonard has 131 career wins (63 with Oneonta, 68 in two years at Alvernia) and hit the 100-win milestone back on January 25, 2025, in a dual against Muhlenberg College at Wilkes University.  Leonard, ranked third in Region 2 and 14th nationally at 141 pounds, finished with three tech falls and a first-period pin at 141 pounds for his second-place finish and second straight All-Conference award. He started with five takedowns in 3:10 for a 20-4 tech fall against Brockport's Alex Smith, then he had three takedowns and a pair of four-point nearfalls in 1:24 for a 17-2 tech fall over Oswego's Garnet Fletcher. After Leonard pinned Ithaca's Ben White in 1:33, the Red Dragon recorded six takedowns and a four-point nearfall for a 22-6 tech versus Cortland's Culley Bellino. In the championship match, Leonard faced RIT's Isaih Shafer where he suffered an injury during the third period and was unable to continue. Monica, who is the fifth ranked 165-pounder in Region 2, totaled two pins and two majors for his first All-Conference honor and second-place finish at 165. As the two seed in the bracket, his day began with a 1:30 fall against RIT's Gavin Bob, then he pinned Cortland's Tristian Robinson-July in 3:37. The Red Dragon sophomore scored a takedown and two four-point nearfalls for an 11-0 major against Ithaca's Brian Bienus, and he advanced to the finals after he recorded a takedown and six nearfall points in a 12-1 major versus RIT's Mason Grodzki. Monica came up short in a 5-4 decision in the finals against Elmira's Donavan Smith, the fourth ranked Region 2 165-pounder.  Rappold finished 4-2 with two falls, a tech and a major at 157 pounds. He overpowered St. John Fisher's Dante Coppola in his first match for a 1:03 fall. On the consolation side, Rappold teched Ithaca's Michael Fahmie, 17-0, in 5:00 with a takedown, reversal, and 12 nearfall points. After he pinned Red Dragon teammate, freshman Kingston Strouse (Northport, N.Y./Northport), in 3:43, Rappold recorded two takedowns with a reversal for a 15-6 major versus Oswego's Steven Ventricelli to advance to the third-place match. Rappold faced RIT's Konrad Haugeto in the third-place match, where Haugeto came away with a 7-1 decision.  DeForest finished with three pins and a tech fall for his fifth-place finish at 174 pounds. He entered the tournament as the six seed and started off with a 2:09 fall against Brockport's Travis Robinson-Becker, then he pinned Elmira's Cache Littrell in 1:08. On the consolation side, DeForest recorded a 3:21 fall over Oswego's Shaquille Daniel, then he registered six takedowns for a 19-4 tech fall in 6:26 against the Lakers Jayden Kiell. DeForest won the fifth-place match by no contest against Brockport's Kiam Coleman. Jackson, the sixth ranked 285-wrestler in Region 2, recorded two falls and a major for his fifth-place finish at 285 pounds. He began his day with three takedowns in a 13-0 major versus St. John Fisher's Nathan Coon, then the Red Dragon heavyweight pinned Oswego's Dustin Koskinen-Falls in 4:37. He gave RIT's Josh Harkless, who is ranked third in the nation, his longest match of the day but unfortunately fell to him in the semifinals. On the consolation side, Jackson made it to the fifth-place match where he picked up his 46th career pin with a 2:36 fall over Cortland's Chris Ayala. Coach Ritter continued, "Overall, a very successful tournament, but we still have much to work and improve on, team and individually, as we head down the home stretch and begin to prepare for even more important NCAA Post-Season Championship competition in the near future."

Senior Jack Kohrs (Monroe, NY/Monroe-Woodbury High School) and Strouse each totaled three wins at 157 pounds, while freshman Jude Betancourt (Beacon, N.Y./Beacon) had three wins at 149 pounds.

Kohrs finished with two falls in his three wins. His first win was an 8-0 major over Elmira's Kaiden Ellis, where he scored a couple of takedowns. Kohrs later pinned Oswego's Sam Watson in 1:46, and teammate junior Ocean Rados (Eastchester, NY/Eastchester High School) in 46 seconds. Strouse had a tech fall and two decisions in his first conference championship appearance. The Red Dragon freshman began the tournament with a takedown in the first and third period for a 10-4 decision versus RIT's Luke Pires. He came from behind against Ithaca's Michael Fahmie with a two-point nearfall at the start of the third period then a takedown with 33 seconds left for an 8-5 decision. On the consolation side, Strouse had a takedown with 12 nearfall points in 2:00 for a 15-0 tech fall over Utica's Hunter Morton. He fell in his next match against Rappold. Betancourt had two tech falls with a decision for his first SUNYAC championship appearance. Betancourt started his opening match off with a takedown in each period for a 9-3 decision over RIT's Justin Baker. Both of the Oneonta freshman's tech fall wins happened on the consolation side. After he recorded five takedowns to defeat Brockport's Dylan Kolk in a 19-2 tech in 5:13, Betancourt totaled seven takedowns for a 22-6 tech in 6:38 against Utica's Matt Bonato. Freshmen Jack Borowiec (), Matt Verri (Little Falls, N.Y./Little Falls), Wesly Guzman (Haverstraw, N.Y./North Rockland), and sophomore Jason Gielarowski (Mastic, NY/William Floyd) all picked up a pair of wins at the tournament.

Borowiec had two tech falls in the championship rounds at 133 pounds. He started his day with five takedowns and a four-point nearfall for a 20-5 tech in 5:37 against Ithaca's Francisco Muriel. The 133-pounder then had 21-5 tech with six takedowns in 4:47 against Oswego's Ben Burkhardt.

Verri defeated Ithaca's Aaron Nelson in his first match at 157 pounds with a takedown in the second period for a 4-1 decision. Verri later got the upper hand over teammate Kohrs in a 10-1 major on the consolation side.

Guzman outlasted Ithaca's Cole Kuhar in his opening match at 165 pounds with a takedown with 25 seconds left for a 7-6 decision. On the consolation side, Guzman pinned St. John Fisher's Evan Salazar in 3:35.

Gielarowski recorded two pins on the consolation side at 197 pounds. He pinned Oswego's Even Cataldo in 42 seconds, then the Lakers Salvador Hernandez in 1:52.

Senior Andrew Morris (Holland Patent, NY/Holland Patent) defeated Cortland's Brady Callahan in a 2-0 decision at heavyweight. Morris scored an escape in the second period, then he received a point with 28 seconds left after Callahan was called for stalling.

Rados beat Utica's Hunter Morton with four takedowns for a 14-4 major at 157. Freshman Matt Sarter () recorded a 1:29 fall against Elmira's Pat Stauring at 149 pounds. Junior Billy Colloca (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon Senior High) pinned Ithaca's Cosmo Damiani in 17 seconds at 125 pounds.  

Freshman Jason Kelly () pinned Sarter in 3:04 at 149, after he came up short in a 2-1 decision to the tournament's seven seed, Cortland's David Ensminger. Sophomore Luke Leshaj (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) had a 6:59 fall over teammate senior Colby D'Andria (Hauppauge, NY/Saint John Baptist Diocesan) at 157 pounds. Freshman Jake LeSage (Cobleskill, N.Y./Cobleskill Richmondville) pinned teammate sophomore Charles Rosenthal (Long Beach, NY/Long Beach) in 4:10 at 285 pounds. 

During the post-event award ceremony, junior Gabriel Camillieri (Croton-On-Hudson, NY/Croton-Harmon-High School) was honored with the SUNYAC Elite 20 award. The SUNYAC Elite 20, an award modeled after the NCAA ELITE 90 program, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the conference championship level in their sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among their peers. Camillieri is currently majoring in business administration. "A very special thank you to all the friends, family, and support staff who made the long trip up to SUNY Brockport in the freezing winter weather to support the wrestling team this weekend. It is very greatly appreciated," Coach Ritter concluded.   

The Red Dragons are back in action on Wednesday, February 4, when they travel to Oswego for a dual with the Lakers starting at 7 pm.

Full Team Results
1st - Brockport, 167 pts.
2nd - Cortland, 155 pts.
3rd - Ithaca, 149 pts.
4th - Oneonta, 139.5 pts. 
5th - RIT, 115.5 pts.
6th - Oswego, 91 pts.
7th - St. John Fisher, 82.5 pts.
8th - Elimra, 22 pts.
9th - Utica, 20 pts.