LI's Jesse Dellavecchia sees his chance at an NCAA wrestling title dashed by coronavirus pandemic
Jesse Dellavecchia of Rider competes in the MAC wrestling hampionships in early March. Credit: Mid-American Conference
The texts started coming in fast and furious during wrestling practice at Rider University on March 12, one week before the NCAA Tournament was set to begin.
Word quickly spread around the room of reports that the NCAA was planning on canceling remaining championship events through the end of the academic year because of the coronavirus outbreak.
“We had been hearing rumors leading up to that and we were concerned,” Rider redshirt senior and 2015 East Islip graduate Jesse Dellavecchia said. “We really weren’t sure if it was true though.”
Hours later, it became official: the NCAA Division I wrestling championships, scheduled for March 19-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, would not take place.
“It was devastating,” said Dellavecchia, Rider’s first MAC champion. “It’s really a difficult time for a lot of athletes, especially the seniors.”
Dellavecchia was one of four Rider wrestlers who earned bids into the championship after the MAC Tournament on March 8. He earned the No. 4 seed at 157 pounds when the NCAA released the national brackets last week, and he was hoping to improve on last year’s result, when he won his opening-round match in the 165-pound bracket and went 2-2 overall.
“Me and my coach talked every day about my goals for this year and it was to be the first-ever national champion from Rider,” he said. “I felt like I was wrestling better and better as the year went on and I could really do that.”
He finished his senior year with a 30-2 record and a 13-match win streak. He won 17 of his 18 matches this calendar year, with the only loss coming to Hayden Hidlay of North Carolina State, who was ranked second in the nation.
Despite the rumors and concerns before the official cancellation of the tournament, Dellavecchia tried to keep a positive attitude and use the uncertainty to his advantage.
“I wanted to just keep doing what I was doing,” he said. “Let people think whatever they were about it and focus on training and closing this out. It’s unfortunate, but life goes on. There are worse things that could happen.”
The Rider team was planning on flying to Minneapolis the morning of March 17 to train there before the tournament was scheduled to begin two days later.
Now, Dellavecchia is focusing on how the rest of the semester will play out. Rider extended its spring break, which began last week, until Friday and moved all classes online for the rest of the semester, according to a statement released Sunday.
“Being on spring break, maybe it hasn’t really sunk in totally yet,” Dellavecchia said. “But I bet when I’m home taking classes next month, it’s going to be weird."
Long Island westlers who qualified for the 2020 NCAA Division I wrestling tournament
Nick Piccininni, Oklahoma State, Ward Melville, #3 at 125
Jacori Teemer, Arizona State, Long Beach, #9 at 157
Jesse Dellavecchia, Rider, East Islip, #4 at 157
Ricky Stamm, Hofstra, Division, #27 at 165
Phil Spadafora, Maryland, Hills East, #33 at 174
Shakur Rasheed, Penn State, Longwood, #21 at 197
Deonte Wilson, North Carolina State, Amityville, #22 at 285
Zachary Knighton-Ward, Hofstra, Uniondale, #29 at 285
Gene Morris joined Newsday's sports department in September 2012 and covers high school sports. He earned a journalism degree from Stony Brook University in 2010.
