Trio of Marauders set for NCAA Division II Championships

Friday, March 11

St. Louis, MO

12:00 PM

Millersville University

NCAA Championships

Trio of Marauders set for NCAA Division II Championships

3/9/2022 9:46:00 AM | Wrestling

By: Ethan Hulsey, Director of Athletic Communications

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ABOUT THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

For the first time since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in 2012, Millersville wrestling has three grapplers competing at the NCAA Championships. 133-pound Devin Flannery, 165-pound Brandon Connor and 184-pound Anthony Giampietro qualified for nationals on the strength of top-three finishes at the Super Region 1 Championships. Flannery placed third in his weight class while both Connor and Giampietro finished second. The Marauders now seek top-eight finishes at the NCAA Championships for All-America status.
This year's NCAA Championships is held in Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Mo., with 18 wrestlers in each weight class. Only the top three in each of the six NCAA Super Regions qualified for the championships.
Action begins at 12 p.m. EST on March 11 with prelims and the first round. Session II begins at 6 p.m. EST and includes the second round and first two consolation rounds. Session III and IV are March 12 beginning at 11 a.m. EST.

MILLERSVILLE'S HISTORY IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Millersville has a long history of placing wrestlers in the NCAA Championships, dating back to 1971 when Mike Panarella became the program's first NCAA All-American. The Marauders competed at the Division III level until moving to the Division I ranks in the early 80s. Millersville produced six national champs and 17 All-Americans in DIII.
Millersville totaled 53 Division I qualifiers between 1986-2011, but only one--Tom Barley in 1991--achieved All-America status. The Marauders moved to Division II in 2013, and it took six years and new head coach Kerry Regner to get the Marauders their first national qualifier. All three times a Marauder has qualified for the DII Championships, he has reached the podium. Shane Ruhnke took sixth at 165 pounds in 2018 before winning the national title the following season. Colton Dull also placed fifth at 197 pounds in 2019.

MILLERSVILLE'S OUTLOOK

Brandon Connor's season has been a roller coaster. He enters the championships with an impressive 21-10 record. Of those 10 losses, seven came against Division I opponents and two others came against Super Region 1 champ Dillon Keane of Pitt-Johnstown, who is 20-1 and seeded fifth. At one point in the season, Connor lost his starting spot in the lineup after being slowed by an injury. After winning that spot back, Connor powered his way through the Super Region 1 Championships with two first-period pins and a 10-9 win over fellow national qualifier Evan Fisler of Gannon. Connor is the 10th ranked wrestler in the bracket and draws Western Colorado's Hunter Mullin (21-6) in the prelims. A win there would put him in a match-up with Lake Erie's James Penfold (15-1). Mullin finished as the runner-up in Super Region 6. The No. 1 seed at 165 pounds is Matt Malcom of Nebraska Kearney who is already a four-time All-American and a former national champ at 157 pounds.
Giampietro was a bracket buster at the Super Region 1 Championships, coming in unseeded but finishing as the runner-up. This is his first season at Millersville, and he didn't see his first action until mid-December. He went into the super regional with just 14 matches of experience and went 2-1, beating nationally-ranked Cameron Page of Gannon with a pin and then stunning top-seeded Brandon Matthews of Seton Hill by rallying from a 4-0 deficit to win 9-7 in sudden victory. Giampietro is again unseeded and draws fifth-seed Caden Steff of Southwest Minnesota State, who is 19-1 and the Super Region V champ. Steffen qualified for the NCAA Championships last season as well. The top seed at 184 pounds is West Liberty's Connor Craig, who is only 10-0 but won Super Region 3, is a three-time national qualifier and the 2021 runner-up at 184.
Flannery is making his first trip to the NCAA Championships as well after battling through the consolation bracket to take third place at the Super Region 1 Championships. Flannery led the Marauders with 66.5 team points scored and tied for the team lead with four tech falls. Flannery is 17-5 heading into nationals. His first-round opponent is Colorado Mesa's Collin Metzgar, who is 25-6 and seeded eighth as a first-time national qualifier as well. Central Oklahoma's Cole Tanner is the No. 1 seed and coming off a third-place finish in 2022.