Pioneers Compete at Ithaca Invitational

The Alfred State college wrestling team finished 12th at the two-day Ithaca Invitational over the weekend. Six different Pioneers picked up victories in the highly competitive tournament.

George VanValen (Ithaca) led the Pioneers at 174 lbs. He finished the tournament 3-2. He defeated Joe Cutugno (RIT) 9-0 and Pat Canavan (Western New England) 16-0 to advance to the quarterfinals. He fell 3-1 to Troy Seymour (Oswego) in the quarters but was able to bounce back with a pin of Adrian Herrera in the consolation round. He lost a 8-3 decision to John Messinger (NYU) to end his tournament.

Ryan Thierman (Portville) and Michael Boyle (Cooperstown) both were 2-2 in the 125 lb. bracket. Thierman earned a 3-0 win over Brennen Liebel (Rhode Island College) and a 4-3 win over Drew Nirhio (Springfield) while Boyle pinned Joseph Morse (Daniel Webster) and Matthew Lopez (Rhode Island College) for his two victories.

Satchel Holder (Babylon) earned a 11-9 victory over Josh Barnard (Springfield Tech) at 165 lbs, Mitchell Lattuca (Lancaster) won 3-1 over Kelsey Patten (RIT) and Riley Andrews (York) won 5-4 over Kelsey Patten (RIT) to account for the Pioneer victories.

Ithaca College won the team title 163 points. The Pioneers scored 15 points in the competition.

The blue & gold head to Brockport on Wednesday for their first dual match of the season. The opening match is slated for 7 p.m.