ELIZABETHTOWN, PA. – Sophomore Xavier Pena finished third in his weight class and was named a National Qualifier to highlight the action on day two of the NCAA Mideast Regional Tournament for the Centenary University wrestling team.

Pena's finish means he will represent the Cyclones at the NCAA National Championship Meet to be held March 11 and 12 in Iowa.

Centenary had three other wrestlers (Jacy Jones, Cameron Bruffy and Keevon Berry) place in the top eight of their respective weight classes.

The National Qualifier:
After suffering a tough loss in the semifinals, Pena bounced back with a pair of wins to take third in the 141-pound bracket.

Pena picked up a win by tech fall (24-8) over Michael Blando of Oneota State. He then followed that up with a win by major decision (10-0) over Ryan Burgbacher of SUNY Cortland. Burgbacher had been ranked sixth in the Mideast region.

Other Cyclones to Place:
Jones earned a fifth-place finish at 133-pounds for the Cyclones. After falling in the semifinals, Jones went 1-1 to secure his top five finish.

In his next match, Jones was just edged by Jake Giordano of TCNJ, 3-2. Giordano was the top wrestler in weight class for the Mideast region. Jones then bounced back with a third period fall (6:01) over Andre Ruiz of New Jersey City.

Bruffy secured a sixth-place finish at 149-pounds for the Cyclones.

Bruffy suffered a tough loss in the semifinals to start the day. In his next match, Bruffy was just edged by Brandon Bowles of Muhlenberg. Bowles needed an overtime period to earn the 3-1 win over Bruffy. Bruffy was tripped up by Mike Glynn of RIT, 9-8 in the fifth-place match.

Berry picked up a seventh-place finish at 197-pounds for Centenary.

After being tripped by Jaedyn Harris of McDaniel in a 6-3 decision in his first match of the day, Berry bounced back. He secured his seventh-place finish with a 7-5 decision over Jhordyn Innocent of Oneota State.

Stay with CentenaryCyclones.com for more information on Pena's march to the NCAA National Championship.