D’Emilio already accomplished

By: 
J. Patrick Eaken

The continuing success of Genoa wrestling at the collegiate level cannot be denied.

Among the most recent NCAA Division I scholarship signees are Kevin Contos, Jr. (Brown University) and Dustin Morgillo (George Mason University).

Two years ago, James Lamongi (Kent State University), Julian Sanchez (Army West Point), Oscar Sanchez (Ohio University) and Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio State University) signed on to wrestler at college wrestling’s highest level. D’Emilio is already an accomplished wrestler heading into his sophomore year 

D’Emilio, a four-time Ohio Division III state champion, was named to Amateur Wrestling News’ 2021 All-Rookie Team after a season in which he earned the starting spot over highly-touted recruit Cuban World Champion Anthony Echemendia, and won three bouts at the NCAA tournament in March.

D’Emilio wrestled in a weight class dominated by upperclassman — six of the eight All-Americans this season were seniors, and no freshmen made the podium. AWN noted that the young Buckeye did something that no other rookie in the weight class was able to do at the tournament: win.

At the NCAA D-I championships in St. Louis D’Emilio went 3-2 at 141 pounds, recording back-to-back wins over No. 19 Lane Peters (Army) and No. 16 Brian Courtney (Virginia) in the wrestle backs at the NCAA championship

“At the NCAAs, he was the No. 30 seed, and lost his opening bout,” the AWN editors explained. “He started again all the way back from the consolation pigtail round, and won three bouts before falling to fellow-Ohioan Dom Demas (Oklahoma). D’Emilio ended the season 10-8. No other rookie at this weight won a single bout at the NCAAs.”

D’Emilio opened the NCAA tournament by losing to Rutger’s Sebastian Rivera, 8-1. He then won an 8-0 major decision over Hofstra’s Vinny Vespa in the consolation preliminaries, defeated Peters 10-4 and then downed Courtney 10-9 in overtime. In round three of the preliminaries, he fell to Demas, 14-8.

For the redshirt freshman from Curtice, it was his first time qualifying and there is likely more to come.

“He did a great job amidst all these veterans and returning All-Americans in the Big Ten,” said Genoa coach Bob Bergman. “He held his own. They all come back and so does he. He never has a year where he stays complacent. He continues to climb. We are excited for him.”

Behind a runner-up finish from Sammy Sasso and three All-Americans, Ohio State finished ninth at the NCAA championships. Under head coach Tom Ryan (since 2007), the Buckeyes have finished in the Top 10 at the NCAA Championships in all but one season.

At the Big Ten championship, D’Emilio finished in ninth and he had an overall record of 10-8 and a pair of wins over ranked opponents. He was 2-3 in Big Ten matches, including a major decision over No. 28 Parker Filius of Purdue and a 6-5 victory over Michigan’s Drew Mattin in the team dual in Ann Arbor. 

During his redshirt season, 2019-20, D’Emilio battled through injuries to compete in two open tournaments, posting a 6-2 overall record. He placed fifth at the Edinboro Open by winning five of six bouts with two major decisions and a technical fall, plus garnered a major decision in the Storm Open.

Highly regarded by his Ohio State teammates and coaches alike, D’Emilio was also named the Chris Ford Freshman of the Year at the team’s annual awards program last spring.  

At Genoa, D’Emilio had a 208-6 overall record, including a 52-0 junior campaign. He was a Fargo champion and three-time finalist, a Cadet World Team member, and Cadet Pan American Games silver medalist. He was also an academic All-Ohio honoree and has earned three academic awards since being at Ohio State, including as a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar as a psychology major.

Dylan is the son of Dominic and Michelle D’Emilio, and his two brothers, Damian and Devin, were standout wrestlers at Genoa, also. Damian and his father Dom both help Bergman coaching at his alma mater. (— includes Ohio State Athletics and ElevenWarriors.com press material)

 

 

 

Category:

The Press

The Press
1550 Woodville Road
Millbury, OH 43447

(419) 836-2221

Email Us

Facebook Twitter

Ohio News Media Association