Wrestling | 3/10/2017 3:34:00 PM
LA CROSSE, WI – Senior
Tory Cain (Ontario, NY/Wayne), junior
Sam Weinger (Blooming Grove, NY/Washingtonville), and sophomore
Dempsey King (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) represented RIT wrestling at the 2017 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championship at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin on Friday, March 10. All three wrestlers were eliminated on the first day of competition. Wartburg College won the team title with 129.5 points.
Cain, the No. 6 seed at 174 lbs., won his opening round match over Logan Walkup of Wheaton College, 5-2. Cain was in a tight battle against No. 3 seed Richard Carlson of Wisconsin-La Crosse in the quarterfinals, down 1-0 in the second period before Carlson went in on a takedown and eventual pin, 4:02 into the match. Cain had to come back just over an hour later with All-American status on the line, but could not overcome Dan Kilroy of The College of New Jersey in the consolation round match, falling 6-1. It was 2-1 midway through the third period before a stalling call on Cain and late takedown by Kilroy.
Cain made his second appearance at the NCAA Championship at 174 lbs. In 2015, Cain earned All-American honors at 174 lbs., placing fifth overall. He finished 14-4 this season and 92-43 in his tremendous RIT career.
Weinger dropped his opening round match at 285 lbs. to top-seed Zachery Roseberry of Delaware Valley University by technical fall. He was eliminated after Jesse Judge of Olivet College won by pinfall right as the second period was ending in the consolation round match Friday evening. Weinger finished the 2016-17 season with a 21-9 record with nine wins by pin and is 77-38 in his collegiate career.
King, wrestling at 157 lbs., was defeated in his opening round match by No. 7 seed Logan Meister of Ferrum College, 4-0. He fell to Erik Beshada of the United States Merchant Marine Academy in a consolation round match on Friday evening, 7-5 to end his season. King fell behind 6-0 after the first period, but stormed back with a takedown in the second period and one in the third period, but ran out of time to complete his comeback. King led RIT with 28 wins, while making his first trip to the NCAA Championship. In two seasons, King has a tremendous 50-17 career record.
A total of 180 participants are competing at the national championship. Student-athletes qualified for the championship by placing top-three in their respective weight classes at one of the six NCAA regional tournaments held on February 24, 25 and 26. RIT competed in the Mideast Regional, placing sixth overall out of 19 teams. Cain and Weinger were both second in their weight classes, while King placed third.
