ITHACA, N.Y. – The Wilkes University men's wrestling team saw five wrestlers advance to day two of the NCAA Division III Region II Championships Friday afternoon at Glazer Arena hosted by Ithaca College.

Day One Brackets
 
Two Colonels advanced to the semifinals of their respective brackets while three others remain alive in the consolation rounds. As a team, Wilkes stands in 11^th place with 52 total team points. Host Ithaca holds first place with 94 team points while Stevens Institute of Technology is in second place with 86.5 team points.
 
At 157-pounds, Jaryn Hartranft (Catasauqua, PA/Catasauqua) collected a pair of victories moving to 35-8 this season on way to the semifinals. He began the tournament with a 17-2 technical fall over Christopher Gliaos of Hunter College before advancing when Kobin Karper of Lycoming defaulted 3:12 into his second match of the day. It sets up a bout in the semifinals with top seed Ryan Smith (26-3) of Stevens who is ranked sixth overall at 157 in the NWCA national rankings.
 
At 149-pounds, Ryan Santiago (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) moved into the semifinals after securing two victories. He started his day with a quick 31 second fall over Patrick Stauring of Elmira College before collecting a thrilling 6-5 decision over Zack Vera of New Jersey City University. Santiago led 3-1 after one period thanks to an early takedown. After falling behind 5-4 after two periods, Santiago used an escape and riding time to secure the decision. Santiago (22-5) will now face second seed Angelo Centrone of Cortland State in the semifinals. Centrone is one of two nationally ranked wrestlers in the bracket standing sixth overall in the country at 149.
 
Gus Smith (Royersford, PA/Springford) remains alive at 125-pounds in his first regional event as a Colonel. Smith took a 13-4 major decision over Cosmo Damiani of Ithaca in his first match before falling by an 8-6 decision to second seed Trevor Middendorf of Brockport State. Smith led 5-3 after two periods only to see Middendorf answer back with a takedown and nearfall in the third period to steal the victory. Smith battled back with a back-and-forth 21-13 major decision win over Juan Roque of Oswego State to setup a consolation third round matchup with St. John Fisher's Carl Santariello.
 
Ashton Romberger (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg) continues his tournament going 2-1 on day one at 141-pounds. Romberger, making his first appearance in the NCAA regional event, earned a 15-0 technical fall over Hunter's Kenan Djokic in the opening round before falling to Isaiah Shafer of RIT in the second round 18-3. Romberger fought back with a 3-2 decision in the third overtime over Michael Santore of Oswego State to keep his hopes alive for third place.
 
After falling in his opening match against top seed and second ranked Josh Harkless of RIT, Trevor Gitski (Alburtis, PA/Emmaus) claimed three straight wins to keep his tournament hopes alive in the consolation bracket. Gitski bested Nathan Coon of St. John Fisher 8-3 before an 11-3 major decision over Hunter's Hayden Roy. Gitski then posted an 8-6 decision win over Oneonta State's Kenny Jackson never trailing in the bout. Up next Gitski will face Steven's Noah Berlin-Langston in the consolation fourth round.
 
Day two action begins tomorrow (Saturday) at 10:00 a.m. The top three wrestlers in each weight class receive a berth into the NCAA Championship Tournament.