La CROSSE, WIS. - Senior Bobby Dierna (Webster/Wayne) secured his fourth All-America honor, while senior Colin Barber (Westfield, NJ) and junior Maverick Passaro (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) each locked up his first All-America credential after day one of the NCAA Div. III Wrestling Championships hosted by Wisconsin-La Crosse. Junior Deuly Espinal (Brooklyn/Grand Street) and sophomore Zack Zupan (Canastota) each had his season conclude after the first day of competition.

As a team, the Red Dragons are tied for sixth place with Stevens Institute at 26 points. Wartburg leads with 83 points, followed by Augsburg (47), Johnson & Wales (41), Wabash (34), Messiah (32.5) and Cortland and Stevens.

Dierna, the top seed, opened the championships with a 23-5 technical fall over Steve Bonsall of the University of Chicago in 6:21. He advanced to the semifinals with a pin of Roger Williams' Ty Herzog in 6:24. Leading 9-4, Dierna turned a takedown into his eighth pin of the season. The two wins raised his record to 19-0 with all of the victories earning bonus points, including eight pins, six technical falls and five major decisions.

Passaro, the sixth seed, earned an 18-3 technical fall over Jared Brown of Elmhurst to advance to the quarterfinals, where he lost a 4-2 decision in the first sudden victory period to unbeaten and third-seeded Chris Williams of Millikin. Passaro secured his All-America honor with a 10-8 decision versus Augsburg's Sam Bennyhoff, clinching the win with a late takedown and nearfall points after trailing 8-5. He improved to 15-2 on the season.

Barber posted a 3-1 record to clinch his All-America status, improving to 38-10 on the season. He opened with an 8-2 decision against NYU's John Messinger in a preliminary bout but fell to third-seeded Richard Carlson of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 2-0. In the consolation bracket, Barber defeated Logan Walkup of Wheaton, 5-3, and locked up his All-America honor with a 7-1 decision versus fifth-seeded Jon Goetz of Wisconsin-Platteville.

Zupan wrapped up his season with a 17-3 record after going 2-2 at the national meet. His first three bouts went to extra time before his season ended in the consolation bracket against Davon Jackson of Olivet. Zupan started with a 3-1 decision in the first sudden-victory period against Tristan Zurfluh of Luther with a takedown 46 seconds into the extra period. He followed with a 7-5 decision versus fifth-seeded Connor Brummett of Wabash, picking up a takedown midway through the first sudden-victory period. In the quarterfinals, Zupan dropped a tough 2-1 decision in the first tiebreaker to fourth-seeded Larry Cannon of Messiah.

Espinal finished his first season as a Red Dragon with a 24-7 record after posting a 1-2 mark at the championships. He dropped a 5-2 decision versus seventh-seeded Blaise Benderoth of NYU in the opening round before earning a 13-5 major decision over Luke Dodd of St. John's in the consolation bracket. His season came to a close with a 7-2 loss against second-seeded Christopher Chorzepa of Williams. 

Tournament Web Page (By host Wisconsin-La Crosse; includes links to brackets, live scoring, video, results and other info)
Official NCAA Div. III Wrestling Page
Digital Championship Program

Live Video (Day 2)
Live Results

D3Wrestle.com NCAA Championships Special Section