MEDFORD - Tufts junior diver Matt Rohrer won his second straight NCAA Regional three-meter title on Saturday afternoon at Wellesley College.
Rohrer earned a 499.00 score for 11 dives to top the 14-man field in the three-meter competition at the Regional. He was nearly 22 points ahead of runner-up William Porter from the US Merchant Marine Academy (477.15).
On Friday, Porter had edged Rohrer in the one-meter competition at the NCAA Regional. Also in an 11-dive program, Rohrer compiled a score of 479.36 that was a little more than three points behind Porter's 482.65 winning score.
By virture of his finishes at the Regional this weekend, Rohrer earned a berth into the 2016 NCAA Division III Men's Swimming & Diving Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina March 16-19. Rohrer will dive at Nationals for the third consecutive season.
Last year at Springfield College, Rohrer won his first NCAA Regional title in the three-meter event with a 585.20 score. He now was two firsts and a third (2014) in three-meter, along with a second, third (2015) and fifth (2014) in one-meter at the Regional competition.
This is the fourth year of the NCAA Zone Diving Regional. The Jumbos have won six of the eight men's Regional titles since the event started in 2013. In addition to Rohrer's pair of wins, Johann Schmidt won off the one- and three-meter boards in both 2013 and 2014.
Six men's divers from the Wellesley Regional overall move on to the NCAA meet. Rohrer will join swimming teammates Kingsley Bowen, Anthony DeBenedetto, and Michael Winget to form the Tufts contingent at the national championship. He will dive in three-meter on Wednesday (March 16) and in one-meter on Friday (March 18) during NCAA week.
Rohrer is already a two-time All-American (top eight) and two-time honorable mention All-American (ninth through 16th). He was sixth in three-meter and eighth in one-meter at the 2015 NCAA meet. In 2014, he placed 10th in both events.
Tufts sophomore Aaron Idelson also qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Regional this season. He was 10th in the three-meter event today with a 377.35 score.
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