CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (March 12, 2022)  – Graduate student Brett Kaliner of the Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling team became the first national champion in program history Saturday, winning the 149-pound title on the final day of competition at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships.

Kaliner's historic 4-2 decision victory came over Michael Petrella of Baldwin Wallace, ranked third in the tournament and the Central Region champion, and completes an undefeated season (29-0) for the West Chester, Pennsylvania native. Kaliner was ranked No. 1 in the weight class throughout the 2021-22 season and concluded his career on Castle Point with four top-three finishes at the national championship tournament.
 
Kaliner scored the first points of the match with a takedown in the opening minute and built up over a minute of riding time before Petrella escaped to get on the scoreboard. 

Taking a 2-1 lead into the second period, Petrella was in the down position and Kaliner pushed his riding time to nearly two minutes, however Kaliner cut him loose with a little over a minute left in the frame and Petrella earned the escape point to even the match at two.

Kaliner started down to begin the third and final period and quickly earned the escape point. He held onto a single leg into the final minute of action and with the riding time already locked in, Kaliner was able to fight off Petrella's shot attempts to secure the championship. 

Kaliner reached the championship match for the second time in his career by scoring his second tech fall of the tournament in the semifinals, dispatching Chicago's two-time University Athletic Association champion Ryan Fleck by a 19-3 margin at the time of the second-period stoppage. The Ducks' 149-pounder notched a pair of takedowns and a four-point near-fall in the opening period, opening up an 8-2 lead, before scoring another takedown and two four-point near-falls in a 48-second span near the end of the second stanza.

Kaliner becomes the 31st Division III national champion to represent the Middle Atlantic Conference and the first at 149. The conference had two national champions at 150 (Mike Lee (Wilkes) in 1974 and Aaron Fitt (Lycoming) in 1997) before the weight classes were changed to their current format in 1999. The conference did not sponsor wrestling between 2007 and 2013 (the sport returned as a conference-sponsored sport for the 2013-14 season) and currently does not include any national championships won by conference members in its official archives. Kaliner is the first conference wrestler to compete in the 149-pound championship bout since 2001.

As a team, Stevens amassed 46.5 points to finish fifth in the team standings. Wartburg College totaled 79 points to win the team title, with Wabash (78), Augsburg (62.5) and North Central (62.5) rounding out the top-five.

Kaliner's national championship completed an outstanding tournament for the program. The Ducks' fifth-place finish came with just three student-athletes in the field, all of whom earned All-America honors.

Junior Kyle Slendorn finished in fourth place at 141 to close out his third season in Hoboken with a 29-4 record. The Howell, New Jersey native, who earned a pair of bonus-point victories to reach the semifinals, dropped a hard-fought 9-8 decision to the weight class' top seed, Jordin James of Mount Union, with the riding time point proving to be the difference in the contest.

Slendorn, who was the fifth seed in the bracket, quickly bounced back in the consolation bracket, scoring a 14-7 decision victory over Elmhurst's second-seeded Jimmy McAuliffe. Slendorn would wrap up his tournament against Ohio Northern's Jacob Reed in the third-place match, with Reed scoring a takedown in the final seconds of the second period to claim a 4-1 decision victory. The fourth-place finish at the national tournament is the second of Slendorn's career.

Competing in his first NCAA Championship, junior Stefan Major finished seventh at 174, scoring a 7-4 decision victory over SUNY Cortland's seventh-seeded Demetrius Henry. Major jumped in front with a takedown in the first minute of action and took a 2-0 advantage into the second period. Henry would knot the score with a takedown early in the second, before Major scored the reversal to jump back in front.

The Ducks' 174-pounder was awarded a penalty point after Henry was whistled for stalling for the second time to take a 5-2 lead into the final period. Major upped his advantage with an escape at the start of the period and then added a riding time point to produce the final margin.

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