Pioneer Weekly Update: February 12th Edition

Weekly Schedule

Wednesday 2/14: Wrestling vs. Lycoming: 7 p.m. * Live Video

Wednesday 2/14: Swimming & Diving at AMCC Championships at Penn State Behrend: 6 p.m.

Thursday 2/15: Swimming & Diving at AMCC Championships at Penn State Behrend: 10 a.m. Prelims/1 p.m. Diving/6 p.m. Finals

Thursday 2/15: Lacrosse vs. Mercyhurst North East: 5 p.m. * Scrimmage *

Friday 2/16: Swimming & Diving at AMCC Championships at Penn State Behrend: 10 a.m. Prelims/1 p.m. Diving/6 p.m. Finals

Friday 2/16: Men's Basketball vs. Morrisville: 6 p.m. * Live Video * Live Stats

Saturday 2/17: Swimming & Diving at AMCC Championships at Penn State Behrend: 10 a.m. Prelims/1 p.m. Diving/6 p.m. Finals

Saturday 2/17: Indoor Track & Field at Brockport: 10 a.m.

Saturday 2/17: Women's Basketball at SUNY Canton: 2 p.m. * Live Video * Live Stats

Saturday 2/17: Men's Basketball at SUNY Canton 4 p.m. * Live Video * Live Stats

Make sure to follow Alfred State athletics at www.alfredstateathletics.com for the latest news, statistics, and schedules.

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Team Updates

Men's Basketball: 15-8

The Pioneers were 2-1 this past week. They lost a tight 76-70 contest at Villa Maria and then won a pair of home contests, 83-66 over SUNY Delhi and 53-39 over SUNY Delhi.

Alexshay Pearce (Rochester/Charlotte) led the team with 43 points and 21 rebounds and Dante Jordan (New York/Law & Public) added 35 points and 21 rebounds. Tahaij Lewis (Rochester/Greece Olympia) chipped in 22 points, Robbie Adams (Jasper Troupsburg) had 21 points, and Tyler Elliott (Perry) and Juwan Toliver (Buffalo/McKinley) each had 20 points.

The Pioneers shot 42.2% from the field and held their opponents to 32.1% for the week. They also continued to be dominant on the boards with a 146 to 113 advantage.

The 2017-18 team now has the most victories in a season since the 2008-09 season.

Women's Basketball: 9-12

The Pioneers were 3-0 on the week with a 87-84 win over Villa Maria, a 66-57 win over SUNY Delhi, and a 64-46 win over SUNY Canton.

Catherine Bialecki (Alfred Almond) had another big week as she scored 68 points, grabbed 41 rebounds, and blocked 12 shots. Janae Gibson (Bronx/Pelham Prep) scored 47 points and grabbed 45 rebounds while Kelsey Shaulis (South Seneca) chipped in 38 points. April Acosta (Bronx/Evander Childs) passed out 15 assists this week while Michayla Salatel (Geneseo) passed out 12.

The Pioneers shot 39.7% from the field for the week and held a 99 to 91 advantage on the boards. They also forced their opponents into 57 turnovers.

Wrestling: 7-7, 5th at USCAA Championships

The Alfred State wrestling team finished 5th out of 13 teams at the USCAA Championships held at Penn State on Sunday. Four Pioneers placed in the top four in the event.

George Van Valen (Ithaca) won the 184 lb. weight class with a dominating performance. He pinned Devon Meredith in his quarterfinal match, pinned Sam Soloman (Alderson Broadus) in the semifinals, and earned a 16-0 tech fall over Jake Paulson (Penn State Behrend) in the finals. Van Valen is now 33-1 on the season.

Brandon Whitacre (Jamestown) was 3rd in the 197 lb. bracket. He pinned Nate Grygo (Pitt Wrestling Club) in his opening round match but fell in the quarterfinals to William Graham (Apprentice). In the consolation bracket he was able to pin Doug Their (PSU Wrestling Club), and Marqus Young (Kent State Tuscarawas) to advance to the 3rd place match. He earned a medical forfeit to claim 3rd place.

Ryan Mattison (Brockport) finished 3rd in the heavyweight bracket. He pinned Shakeem Lassiter in his opening match but fell in the quarterfinals. He battled back with a 7-1 win over Lassiter and then pinned David Platon (Pitt Wrestling Club) in the 3rd place match.

Patrick Lehman (Marathon) was 2-2 on the day and took 4th place at 125 lbs. He earned a pair of victories over Dan Bertram (Penn State Mont Alto) on the day, 15-0 and victory by fall.

Apprentice took the team title with 182.5 points followed by Alderson Broaddus (107.5), Kent State Tuscarawas (79.5), Penn State Wrestling Club (77.5), and Alfred State (75.5).

Swimming & Diving: Women 5-2, Men 1-5

The swimming & diving team had the week off as they prepared for the 2018 AMCC Championships this week at Penn State Behrend. The event starts Wednesday evening and continues Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. 

Follow all the action at: http://psblions.com/sports/mswimdive/2017-18/AMCC_Championship

Indoor Track & Field:

The Pioneers split their team this week as part of the team competed at Boston University and the rest of the team competed at Houghton.

At Boston University in a stacked field, Paul Kemsley (Lancaster) broke his own school record for the second straight week in the weight throw with a toss of 16.12 m. He also registered a season best toss of 14.48 m in the shot put. Anders Presthus (Lansing) qualified for ECAC's with a toss of 15.12 m in the weight throw and tossed the shot put 12.92 m. Zach Curran (Williamson) was 11th in the pole vault with a leap of 4.50 m. while Nate Robertson (Hamburg) had a personal best in the 400 finishing in 52.73.

On the women's side, Sophie Gonzalez continued to impress during her freshmen season. She ran the 60 m in 8.38 and the 200 m in 26.93. Cassidy McCourt (Buffalo/Emerson) had a season best performance in the 400 m finishing in 1:08.71.

At Houghton, Ryan Lohr (West Seneca) was 7th in the 5,000 (18:01.06) while teammates Joe Kretschmar (Phoenix, AZ) was 8th (19:20.46), and Conrad Kroll (Westtown/Minisink Valley) was 9th (19:30.37). Tim Berry (Midlakes) was 7th in the 60 m hurdles (9.99) and Alex Brown (Wellsville) was 8th (10.43). Joe Richardson(Geneva) was 8th in the high jump (1.68 m) and Chadwick Ekeigwe (Spring Valley/Ramapo) was 8th in the 400 m (53.79). The 4x800 relay team of Caleb Boyce-Wright (Cheektowaga/John Kennedy), Lohr, Kroll, and Kretschmar was 2nd in 9:27.43 while the 4x200 relay team of Madel Green, Fidelis Olom, Eric Zamor (New York/Ramapo), and Ian Cooke(Valatie/Ichabod Crane) finished in 5th in 1:41.27.

On the women's side, Emily Brigman (Lancaster) was 8th in the 60 m hurdles (11.06 in the finals and 10.68 in the prelims) and 10th in the high jump (1.38 m) to lead the women. Holly Fiore (Niagara Falls) was 11th in the long jump (4.48 m) while Shannon Shirley was 14th in the 60 m dash (8.93).

Western Equestrian: Two Reserve Hi-Point Honors

The Western Equestrian team had another strong showing at their final regular season show at Alfred University on Saturday. The Pioneers earned Reserve Hi-Point honors at both the morning and afternoon show.

Meagan Castoro (Syosset) and Rachel von Hagn (Bath) won top honors in both the AM and PM show. Castoro won 1st in the Beginner competition in the AM and then took 1st in the PM show in Intermediate I. von Hagn won 1st in Advanced competition in both shows. Caylen Bedow (Fillmore) was 1st in Intermediate 2 in the PM show after finishing 2nd in the morning show while Jamie Fredenburg (Fabius Pompey) was 2nd in Intermediate 2 in the AM show and claimed 1st in the PM show.

Four Pioneers, Castoro (Beginner), Fredenburg and Bedow (Intermediate 2) and Rachel McNeal (Open Horsemanship), qualified for the Regionals during the day of competition.