NYers Earn All-American Honors at NJCAAs; Who Qualified in D-III and NCWA

This article is from 03/03/14

The New York State high school tournament garnered a lot of attention this weekend, but there was plenty of action at the college level as well.  Here are some of the highlights:

Wade, Nicholson Are 2014 All-Americans

At the NJCAA Nationals in Washington, New York was represented on the podium.  Nassau Community College's Kyle Wade grabbed fifth at 157 pounds, while Jamestown Community College's Jake Nicholson picked up sixth at 133.  The highest placing Empire State squad was Niagara County Community College, which took 21st overall.

Malcolm Allen, a New Rochelle native competing for Iowa Central, also made the podium with a second place finish at heavyweight.

Tickets Punched for the NCAA Division III Championships

Who is going to Division III Nationals?  New York teams competed at several regionals over the weekend to determine who will get a chance at the national tournament.

At the East Regional, three Empire State squads ensured representation at the NCAAs in the lightweights.  For NYU, it was the #2 ranked wrestler in the country at 141 pounds, Brandon Jones, who will look to be a repeat All-American.  At 125, Mike Mui of the US Merchant Marine Academy nabbed second on Sunday to punch his ticket to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, while at 133 it was Jaydon Rice of Hunter taking third to secure his spot in the field.

At the Mideast Regional, Brockport and RIT both earned qualifying spots for the NCAAs.  For the Golden Eagles, Paul Glover (197) and Matt Ellis (125) nabbed spots with second and third place showings, respectively.

For RIT, Brad Mayville will be heading to the biggest tournament of the campaign after notching third at 149 pounds.

Cortland captured the Northeast Regional championship for the second consecutive year, led by five titlewinners - Sean Kempf (125), Brian Bistis (141), Bobby Dierna (149), Lou Puca (174) and Joe Giaramita (197).  Heavyweight Lance Moore will join those teammates in Iowa, as he earned a spot with his runner up finish.

Just two points behind the Red Dragons in the standings was second place Ithaca.  The Bombers will also bring six grapplers to the NCAAs, including Regional champions Alex Gomez (133) and Kristopher Schimek (165).  Both were All-Americans last year (Schimek at the NJCAA event).

Ithaca's additional qualifiers are silver medalists Jimmy Kaishian (125), Dominick Giacolone (141) and Kevin Collins (157) as well as Carlos Toribio, who was third at 174.

SUNY Oneonta and Oswego also competed at the tournament over the weekend.

Who is Going to NCWA Nationals?

We haven't received the full list yet, but did receive word on the following wrestlers:

Alfred State: Austin Keough, Bryan Mongiello, Tyler Aldinger, Kevin Thayer, Codie Nichols, Konnor Kremer, Josh Lord, Conner Fox, Matthew Sowers, Alex Ortiz and Dan Ognibene

RPI: Alex Petersen, Alec Vogel, Conner Burns, Ryan Ford, Will Bonagura, Ray Douglas, Enrico Cascio, Stuart Curtis, Omar Abdoun and Brad Huizinga

Conner Burns was the MOW in the Heavyweight Division at the qualifying tournament last weekend

Stony Brook: Preston Garick, Matt Frey, Austin Hecker

SUNY Westchester: Raymond Ramos

USMAPS: Sean Badua, Joey Affronti, Parker Maytrott and Jack Wedholm

According to Justin Altro of SUNY Cortland, those who qualified from his team turned "down their bids due to financial concerns."

Good luck to all!  With more information, please send us an e-mail at newyorkwrestlingnews@gmail.com.