Posted: Feb 14, 2016

Pioneers Finish 4th at USCAA Championships

The Alfred State wrestling team finished 4th at the 2016 USCAA Wrestling Championships held at Penn State on Sunday afternoon. Riley Andrews (York) and George VanValen (Ithaca) won their respective weight classes.

Andrews was 3-0 at 235 lbs. to win the championship while VanValen won both of his matches at 174 to claim the title. Andrews and VanValen join Matthew Sowers (2014) as the lone Pioneers to win a USCAA title in the three years Alfred State has competed in the tournament.

Andrews pinned Noah Julian (West Virginia Tech) in 2:50 to start the day, downed Shakeem Lassiter (Apprentice) 2-1, and defeated Steven Francisco (Apprentice) 8-4 in the championship match.
VanValen earned a 9-1 victory over Deontay Wadley (Penn State DuBois) in the semifinals and then won a 3-1 victory over Colten Rowe (West Virgina Tech) in the finals.

Ryan Thierman (Portville) and Konnor Kremer (Horseheads) also had big days for the Pioneers.

Thierman pinned Tucker Harvey (Apprentice) in 2:34 and defeated Brett Himes (Penn State DuBois) 3-2 to advance to the finals of the 125 lb. bracket. In the finals, he fell 7-4 to Ty Boyd (Apprentice).
Kremer was the busiest Pioneer finishing the day 4-1 in the 165 lb. bracket. He fell 6-3 Bryan Overten (West Virginia Tech) in his opening match but rallied for four straight victories. He pinned Gio Lins (West Virginia Tech) in 5:47, earned a 4-2 win over Ryan Kiefer (Williamson Trade), defeated Joe Knarr (Penn State DuBois) 12-5, and then earned a 15-6 victory over Chad Simmons (Apprentice) in the 3rd place match.

Penn State DuBois took the team title with 174 points followed by West Virginia Tech (148.5), Apprentice (129), and Alfred State (108). Eleven teams competed in the annual event.

The Pioneers next head to the NCWA Northeast Qualifier on February 27th.