CORTLAND, N.Y. — The New Jersey City University men's wrestling team closed out its 2022-23 regular season on Saturday night, Feb. 11, with a highly competitive road loss to SUNY Cortland, 27-12. Four different Gothic Knights came away victorious against the Red Dragons, as well as one in an exhibition match.

Action began at 157 pounds and snaked its way around to 149 as the final match. After falling behind 4-0 at 157 pounds, the Gothic Knights (6-12) called upon rookie sensation Jazz Bull (New Brunswick, N.J./New Brunswick) at 165 pounds and the freshman collected his ninth victory of the season with a 4-2 decision to cut the Cortland (6-7) lead to 4-3. Bull is second on the team in wins this season. Not to be outdone, junior 174-pounder Farhan Khan (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) followed up with a decision win of his own, 11-8, to put the Green and Gold up 6-4 at the time — he nearly earned a major decision, but the Red Dragons managed four points in the final minute of the match.

After a tough loss at 184 pounds, junior Deren Cercioglu (Totowa, N.J./Paramus Catholic) stepped on the mat for the 197-pound bout. The first-year transfer was knotted up at 2-2 with his opponent after two periods before taking the lead with 1:55 left in the third via an escape. He then managed a takedown to go up 5-2 with 1:23 to go. After Cortland cut it to 5-4 with just 40 seconds left, Cercioglu shot his shot and got a takedown with five seconds remaining to win it, 7-4, and bring the match score to 10-9 in favor of the Red Dragons. He is now 6-10 on the season, including 4-5 at 197 pounds.

Junior heavyweight Pierre Francois (Elizabeth, N.J./Dwyer Tech) followed with a tight decision loss in his match before freshman Lucas Torre (Point Pleasant, N.J./Brick Memorial) continued his strong rookie campaign with another win at 125 pounds, a 9-5 victorious decision. He held a 4-2 lead after the first period and a 5-4 advantage after two, which he stretched to 6-4 via an escape with just under two minutes left in the third. Leading 6-5, Torre notched another takedown with 1:23 remaining and took riding time for the three-point win. He is now 4-6 on the season, including 4-3 at 125 pounds and his win brought the overall match score to within one at 13-12 with just three matches remaining. Unfortunately for the Gothic Knights, Cortland earned two technical falls and a pin over that span to seal it, 27-12.

In exhibition competition, junior Ty Bailey (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant Boro) got some action at 157 pounds and took just 40 seconds to earn a win by fall. He is 3-4 on the season, including a perfect 3-0 at 157 pounds.

Full Results

Cortland 27, NJCU 12
157: Kyle Klein (C) def. Zack Vera (Livingston, N.J./Livingston) (N), maj. dec. (10-1)	Cortland 4, NJCU 0
165: Jazz Bull (New Brunswick, N.J./New Brunswick) (N) def. Jaden Datz (C), dec. (4-2)	Cortland 4, NJCU 3
174: Farhan Khan (Carteret, N.J./Carteret) (N) def. Adam Barker (C), dec. (11-8)	NJCU 6, Cortland 4
184: Brian Torres (C) def. Marcus Hebron (Middle Township, N.J./) (N), fall (4;10)	Cortland 10, NJCU 6
197: Deren Cercioglu (Totowa, N.J./Paramus Catholic) (C) def. Steven Gazzillo (C), dec. (7-4)	Cortland 10, NJCU 9
HWT: Chris Bold (C) def. Pierre Francois (Elizabeth, N.J./Dwyer Tech) (N), dec. (6-0)	Cortland 13, NJCU 9
125: Lucas Torre (Point Pleasant, N.J./Brick Memorial) (N) def. Christian Lievano (C), dec. (9-5)	Cortland 13, NJCU 12
133: Devin Walker (C) def. Bless Daniel (Jersey City, N.J./Bayonne) (N), tech. fall (18-0, 1:46)	Cortland 18, NJCU 12
141: Vinnie Santilli (C) def. Andy Beras (Bergenfield, N.J./Bergenfield) (N), maj. dec. (10-2)	Cortland 22, NJCU 12
149: Angelo Centrone (C) def. Abdul Ibraheem (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) (N), tech. fall (25-10, 3:18)	Cortland 27, NJCU 12
Exhibitions:
149: Christian Paredes (C) def. Abdul Ibraheem (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) (N), maj. dec. (16-5)
157: Ty Bailey (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant Boro) (N) def. Michael Barker (C), fall (0:40)
165: Hunter Hughes (C) def. Jaydin Mahon (New Brunswick, N.J./New Brunswick) (N), maj. dec. (19-11)

Up Next:
With the regular season now complete, the Gothic Knights are gearing up for the 2022-23 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championships, which will be hosted by #15 Ithaca College on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24-25, in Ithaca, N.Y.