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Results

EAST STROUDSBURG - Redshirt sophomore Mike Raccioppi leads East Stroudsburg University into the NCAA Division II Super Region 1 Championships as the region's No. 1-ranked wrestler at 165 pounds.

The regional, which will be held Friday and Saturday at Pitt-Johnstown, will determine the region's 40 entrants - four in each of 10 weight classes - to the NCAA DII Championships, set for March 9-10 at Upper Iowa.

Freshman Victor Lopez, listed No. 8 at 125 pounds, gives the Warriors two regionally-ranked wrestlers entering the weekend.

ESU has 12 athletes who have combined for 16 NCAA qualification spots since reclassifying to DII in 2010, most recently Dylan Nace (141) and Joey Kratochvil (157) in 2017. Nace qualified as a sophomore last year but wrestled just two matches this year due to injury.

Raccioppi, ranked No. 6 in DII, has a record of 19-3 - 15-1 vs. DII competition, 13-1 on the mat and a perfect 10-0 mark vs. SR1 wrestlers.

He is 10-1 (8-1 on the mat) since falling to Lock Haven's Chance Marsteller, currently ranked No. 5 in DI by InterMat, in the PSAC final on December 9.

Raccioppi is 4-0 vs. wrestlers currently ranked in the region - a 9-3 decision vs. No. 2 Devin Austin (Pitt-Johnstown) on November 21, a 7-6 decision vs. No. 3 Shane Ruhnke (Millersville) on January 26, an 8-4 decision vs. No. 6 Jackson Mordente (LIU Post) last week and a second-period fall vs. No. 7 Gavin Wilkerson (Mercyhurst) on January 12.

Raccioppi (No. 6), Austin (No. 9) and Ruhnke (No. 10) give the region three nationally-ranked wrestlers at 165.

The weight class features two previous national qualifiers, both in 2016, when Austin went at 157 pounds and No. 8 Chris Matthews (Gannon) went at 174 pounds.

Raccioppi will be making his first regional appearance, going 10-3 in the first semester as a freshman in 2015-16, but was unable to compete during the second semester before taking a redshirt season last year.

Lopez will compete in a 125-pound weight class that includes the region's only returning national champion in Ivan McClay of Notre Dame (Ohio).

Three regional wrestlers are currently ranked No. 1 in DII in their weight classes - Darius Bunch (West Liberty) at 133, Cody Law (UPJ) at 157 and Kameron Teacher (Notre Dame) at 285.

Four are ranked No. 2 - McClay at 125, Chris Eddins (UPJ) at 141, Taylor Misuna (Notre Dame) at 149 and Evan Ramos (Shippensburg) at 197.

Lopez has a 12-9 record - 8-6 vs. DII opponents, 6-6 on the mat and 4-3 vs. regional competition. He battled regional No. 2 Austin Petril (Kutztown), ranked No. 11 nationally, in a 2-1 setback on February 2 after falling to Petril by technical fall at the PSAC Championships.

Three Warriors have previous regional experience in redshirt junior Blake Cohen at 149, senior Christian Silva at 157 and sophomore Daniel Makagon at 197. Cohen and Makagon, who competed at 285, were in the ESU lineup last year, and Silva wrestled at 149 in 2016 and 141 as a freshman in 2015.

The remainder of ESU's lineup is redshirt sophomore Francesco Palagruto at 133, freshman Peter Nace at 141, Cohen at 149, Silva at 157, freshman Dillon Warner at 174, Makagon at 197 and freshman Hunter Marhan at 285.

Nace, the younger brother of Dylan Nace, had his only regional win with a first-period of Carmine Ciotti (Gannon), a returning All-America, on January 19.

Warner has a 6-5 record, all vs. DII, including 4-4 in-region since joining the Warriors for the second semester.

Marhan sealed ESU's 26-24 upset win vs. LIU Post last Tuesday with a 7-5 decision over Damian Caffrey in the final bout of the night.

The Warriors have four All-Americans - Shane Mallory (2nd at 184) in 2010, Ed Ebewo (3rd at 197) in 2012, Braden Turner (6th at 157) in 2012 and Brendan McKeown (6th at 174) in 2013 - since 2010.

ESU has produced three regional champions - Jeff Jacobs (174) in 2011, Ebewo in 2012 and McKeown in 2013, when he was named the region's Outstanding Wrestler. Four have been regional runner-up - Adam Hluschak (141) in 2010, Turner (157) in 2012, McKeown (174) in 2012 and 2014 and Tyler Richardson (197) in 2015.