They came, they wrestled, they conquered.

Senior Kyle Fried and sophomore Josh Patterson will take the Bearcats to the NCAA wrestling championships in St. Louis from March 20 to 22 after strong performances at the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament held at Hofstra this weekend.

Binghamton University finished sixth out of nine schools, as it moves up slowly each year in the standings. In last year’s competition, the Bearcats placed seventh and the year before that, they were ninth out of 11.

“We accomplished one of our goals, which was to improve,” said Bearcats head coach Pat Popolizio. “We lived up to our top seed, and I think that made all the difference.”

Fried, who is 22 on the season and entered the tournament seeded second in his class, lost his first match, but snatched second place after winning five straight matches, the last of which was a 5-2 tiebreaker win between him and the defending champion, Boston University’s Mike Roberts. Patterson picked up one of four wild cards for his second straight season, going 4-1. Both Patterson and Fried said they are ecstatic about their upcoming NCAA Championship appearances.

“I am real excited to qualify,” Fried said. “I mean it’s my last season and I am far from done. To be All-American is a dream of mine and I am in a great position to achieve that right now.”

The top eight finishers in each class at the NCAA Tournament earn All-American honors.

Other Bearcats place-holders include junior Nate Patterson and freshman Anwar Goeres, who placed third and fourth respectively.

Hofstra once again dominated the competition with a total of 104.5 points. The Pride has won seven straight titles and is sending seven of its athletes to the NCAA tournament.

Though the season is over for most Bearcats, Fried and Patterson have opportunities to garner Binghamton national recognition at the NCAA Tournament.

“[The top wrestling teams] don’t see Binghamton as a contender,” Fried said. “Hopefully I can come in as the underdog and surprise them in the end.”

“The team did what was expected,” Popolizio said. “We had everybody there, and that was positive. Right now as we are building, we are constantly improving. We always want to overachieve and I guess that matters. You always have to want more.”