Cooper Pontelandolfo of NYU Finishes Career as National Runner-Up, Four Time All-America Wrestler
Senior Cooper Pontelandolfo completed his outstanding collegiate career by finishing as the national runner-up at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships on Saturday in Providence, Rhode Island.
"What a career Coop has had. Our staff can't be more proud of him," said Associate Head Coach Corey Luce. "When you talk about the mount Rushmore of wrestling at NYU — Cooper is among one of our best to have ever put on an NYU singlet. It was an honor to be in his corner for these 4 seasons."
Now a four-time All-American, the #3-seeded Pontelandolfo faced #7 Tyler Goebel of the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse in Saturday's semifinal and breezed into the 157-pound finals with an 8-1 decision.
in the finals against top-seeded Michael Petrella of Baldwin Wallace University, a two-time national champion at 149, it was a battle of undefeateds as Pontelandolfo came into the bout at 34-0 while Petrella entered 39-0.
Pontelandolfo's performance at the championship meet was worth 17.0 total points for NYU.