Pioneers Finish 2nd at Northeast Conference Championships

The Alfred State wrestling team finished 2nd at the NCWA Northeast Conference qualifier at the University of New Hampshire. Ryan Thierman (Portville) and George VanValen (Ithaca) won individual titles.

Thierman pinned Noah Williams (Rhode Island) in 4:08 in his first round match and pinned Matthew Chavez (Yale) in 3:18 to advance to the finals. In the finals he earned tech fall 15-0 victory to claim the crown at 125 lbs.

VanValen received a bye in the first round of the 165 lb and quickly earned a 59 second pin of Sam Anderson (UMass) in the quarterfinals. He then earned a 17-2 tech fall victory over Josh Thornton (Maine) in the semfinals and a 4-0 win over Caleb Cejka (New Hampshire) in the finals to be named champion.

Austin Keough (Warsaw) and Kevin Thayer (Unatego) both finished 2nd while Josh Lord (Owego Free) was 3rd

• Keough (133) pinned Michael Macchia (Rhode Island) in 3:51 and defeated Seamus Wolfe 4-2 to reach the finals. In the finals he lost a tough 2-1 decision to Cody Lambert (Navy Prep).
• Thayer (149) pinned Adam Ortiz-Gonzalez (Albany) in 1:28 and then defeated Matt Cohen (Rhode Island) 10-6 to reach the finals. In the finals he fell to Nicholas Gil (Navy Prep).
• Lord (174) pinned Anthony Messina (Rhode Island) in 4:05 and then defeated William Bonagura (RPI) 4-3. In the semis, he was tripped up but he rebounded with a 5-1 win over Ian Morse (Albany) to get into the 3rd place match. In the 3rd place match he defeated Bonagura 9-2.

Brad Haggerty (Wellsville) was 2-2 and was 4th at 184 lbs., Codie Nichols (Unatego) went 3-2 and was 5th at 157 lbs., Anthony Osman (Vestal) was 2-2 and was 5th at 235 lbs., and Matthew Sowers (Whitesboro) finished 7th at 197 lbs.

The Pioneers will now travel to the NCWA National Championships in Allen, TX - held March 12-14.