Pioneers Finish 4th at Northeast Districts

The Alfred State wrestling team finished 4th at the 2013 NJCAA Northeast District Tournament on Sunday.  Conner Fox (Midlakes) finished 2nd in the 174 lb. weight class to lead the way.

Fox pinned Quoc Pham (Springfield Tech CC) in 38 seconds in his first match and then pinned Kojo Boadu (Mercyhurst North East) in 4:22 in the semifinals to reach the title match.  In the championship match, Fox dropped a tough 4-2 decision to John Brabon (Niagara CCC).

With his 2nd place finish, Fox will represent Alfred State at the 2013 NJCAA National Championships Feb. 22-23 in DesMoines, IA.

Fox will be joined by Josh Simons (Campbell Savona) who received a wild card spot to the Nationals after missing the District Tournament due to injury.  Simons will compete in the 165 lb. weight class.

Four other Pioneers wrestled in the 3rd place match with the opportunity to advance to nationals but were unable to advance.

Tyler Aldinger (Alexander) was 1-2 on the day at 149. He earned a 18-8 victory over Matt Ostrander (Mercyhurst North East) in his opening round match.

Anthony Carome (Cincinnati, OH) received an injury default in his first match at 157 but could not pick up another victory.

Travis Harvey (Alfred Almond) lost his first match at 197 but rebounded with a 11-3 victory over Bryan McCoy (Jamestown CC) to advance to the 3rd place match but he was unable to get past Rahmel Hill (Springfield Tech).

Dan Ognibene (Alexander) dropped his first match at heavyweight but bounced back with a pin of Vince Hall (Jamestown CC) in 2:37.  In the 3rd place match, Ognibene lost a tough 4-3 decision to Lorenzo Maddox (Mercyhurst North East).

The Pioneers finished the day with 31 points.  Niagara CCC won the team championship with 116 followed by Mercyhurst North East (83.5), Springfield Tech (80.5), Alfred, and Jamestown (23.5).