Wrestlers 8th at Empire Wrestling Championships

The Alfred State wrestling team finished 8th at the 2016 Empire Collegiate Wrestling Championships at RIT on Saturday. Ryan Thierman (Portville) and Michael Boyle (Cooperstown) led the way for the blue & gold.

Thierman finished 4th in the 125 lb. weight class while Boyle was 5th in the same class. Thierman fell in his first match but rebounded with with a pin of Jake Yankloski (Oswego) in 1:54. He then defeated Boyle in the consolation semifinals to advance to the 3rd place match. Thierman fell in the 3rd place match. Boyle defeated Ferdinand Mase (Ithaca) in his first match and then suffered two straight set backs before pinning Dominic DeGraba (Oneonta) in the 5th place match in 1:44. Both Thierman and Boyle were 2-2 on the day.

Konnor Kremer (Horseheads), Timothy Rathbun (Central Valley Academy), Mitchell Lattuca (Lancaster), and Riley Andrews (York) were each 1-2 on the season.

• Kremer earned a pin of Austin Scheer (Oneonta) in a consolation match in the 157 lb. weight class.
• Rathbun pinned Justin Hommer (Lycoming) in 2:12 in a 165 lb. consolation bracket contest.
• Lattuca earned a 4-0 win over Kelsey Patten (RIT) in a heavyweight consolation match.
• Andrews defeated Nick Lupi (Cortland) 4-1 in a heavyweight consolation match.

The Pioneers have a twelve days off before hosting Lycoming on January 28th at 7 p.m.