Van Valen and Galton Place at Baldwin Wallace

George Van Valen (Ithaca) and Mike Galton (Warsaw) placed as the Alfred State wrestling team competed at the John Summa Invitational at Baldwin Wallace on Saturday. Van Valen finished 2nd at 184 lbs. and Galton was 6th at 157 lbs. in the tournament that featured wrestlers from 15 different colleges.

Van Valen opened up the tournament with a 16-0 tech fall of Adam Rigney (Waynesburg) and then advanced to the quarterfinals with a pin of Bret Lane (Ohio Northern). He won 18-0 over Will Amberger (Wabash) in the quarterfinals and won a 7-3 decision over Alex Bair (Ohio Northern) to advance to the finals. In the finals, Van Valen lost a 4-1 decision to Aidan Pasiuk (Wheeling Jesuit). Van Valen is now 30-1 on the season.

Galton was 4-2 on the day in the 157 lb. weight class. He defeated Kollin Clark (Wheeling Jesuit) 11-4 and won 15-8 over Lawrence Schrott (Washington & Jefferson) to advance to the quarters. In the quarters he fell to eventual champion Kyle Hatch but was able to bounce back with a pair of victories, 4-1 over Joey Bush (Oswego) and 5-2 Kevin Kelly (Baldwin Wallace) to advance to the 5th place match. In the 5th place match he lost a 9-4 decision to Andrew Munn (Case Western).

Ryan Mattison (Brockport) earned two victories at heavyweight and finished the day 2-2. He pinned Tannex Six (Waynesburg) in 3:36 and pinned Eli Swain (Thiel) in 5:00.

The Pioneers host their only home match of the season on Wednesday when they battle Lycoming at 7 p.m. Prior to the match, the team will honor their seniors that will graduate this year.