Cedar Rapids, Iowa… The 2008 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships get underway on Friday with The College of New Jersey sending four grapplers to the mat in their respective weight classes.

The Lions are coming off of their second straight Metropolitan Conference Championships and look to place in the top 20 at the NCAA Championships for the 35th straight year.

The NCAA Championships are being held in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with Coe College, Cornell College and the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference serving as the hosts. The double-elimination tournament concludes on Saturday. The top eight place winners in each weight class will earn All-American honors.

TCNJ has a good mix of wrestlers competing as freshmen John Barnett (Oak Ridge, NJ/Jefferson Township) at 149 and Justin Bonitatis (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) at 165 each earned automatic bids to the tournament by winning their weight class at the Met Championships, while senior Ray Sarinelli (Rockaway, NJ/Morris Hills) and junior Greg Osgoodby (Waldwick, NJ/Waldwick) received \”wild card\” spots to the championships. Sarinelli will wrestle at 133 and Osgoodby at 174.

Sarinelli, who is seeded seventh, is making his second straight trip to the NCAA Championship and will open against Zac Bartlett from Luther College. If Sarinelli wins that bout, he will face second-seeded and defending NCAA Champion Dave Morgan from King’s College. The Lion senior enters the tournament with a record of 27-5.

Osgoodby opens the tournament taking on fifth-seeded Brandon McWhinnie from Stevens Institute of Technology. The junior placed second at the Met Championships and earned a \”wild card\” for the second straight year. He enters the NCAA Championships with a record of 33-5.

Bonitatis has had a banner season thus far as he leads the team with a 34-4 record with eight wins by fall. The Met Champion makes his NCAA Championship debut taking on fifth-seeded Shaheim Bradshaw from SUNY Brockport.

Barnett is made the most of his first season at TCNJ winning his weight class at the Met Championship advancing to the national tournament. Barnett faces Jonathan Quist from Luther College with the winner of that bout moving on to take on seventh-seeded Frank Cammisa from Bridgewater State.

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