Lardarello wins NCWA Championship

Recently named National Collegiate Wrestling Association All-American Luke Lardarello capped off his weekend Saturday evening by becoming the first NCWA National Champion in school history at Penn State Mont Alto.

Lardarello finishes his sophomore season with a 34-9 overall record. He went a perfect 6-0 in the NCWA 174 pound weight class bracket, avenging an earlier loss to top-seeded Grigol Khochiashvili from Temple University in the championship bout. Lardarello lost a 5-2 decision to Khochiashvili at NCWA Mid-East Conference Championships on February 26.

Lardarello entered the 2022 NCWA National Tournament as the second seed at 174 pounds. He won his first round match defeating Northeastern's Anthony Wilkinson by technical fall 20-5.

He defeated William Heath (Apprentice) and Ryan Cummings (Grays Harbor) by fall to advance to the elite eight.

The first two periods of the quarterfinal match against Clemson's Drew Doscher went scoreless until Lardarello recorded an escape and takedown plus riding time for a 4-0 victory.

A third period takedown in the semifinal match propelled Lardarello into the finals defeating Penn State WC's John Arentz 3-1.

In the championship match, Lardarello went on to avenge his earlier loss to Khochiashvili, defeating him in overtime 3-2.

Lardarello compiled a 54-40 career record at New Oxford High School in New Oxford, PA. He finished his junior season with a 21-9 overall record finishing 5th in his section.

During Lardarello's senior season at New Oxford, he won 28 of his 42 matches, placing 3rd in his section and 6th in his region.

To cap off his championship season, Lardarello became the 5th All-American in program history. He joins Tyler Warner (2016), Clay Kocsis (2015-17), James Hughes (2014) and Jack Coulson (2020) as the program's All-Americans.