Alfred State Ready to Host Wrestling Districts

Alfred State College will host the 2010 NJCAA Region III/Northeast District I Championship on Sunday at the Orvis Activities Center.  The event, featuring five teams, is a qualifier for the NJCAA Wrestling National Championship.

Wrestling action at 10 a.m. with opening round matches.  Semifinals are scheduled for approximately 11 a.m. and the championship finals will start at approximately 3:15 p.m.

The Pioneers will be joined by Jamestown CC, Mercyhurst North East (ranked #12 in NJCAA Division I), Niagara CCC (ranked #11 in NJCAA Division I), and Springfield Tech.

Eric Shedden (Canton, PA) and Cody Dill (Unatego) will lead the Alfred State team into competition. 

• Shedden ranked 7th nationally at 141 lbs. will most likely be the #1 seed in his bracket.  He enters competition with a 13-5 overall record.
• Dill will compete in the highly competitive 125 lb. weight class.  He is 12-6 with four pins on the season.

In total nine Pioneers will be entered into the competition (Dill - 125, Shedden - 141, Darren Whittall 149, Shawn Hanrahan - 157, Cody Lansberry - 165, Dan Steiger - 174, Eric Giles - 184, TJ Nelson - 197, and Ben Hoffman - Heavyweight).

Other nationally ranked wrestlers scheduled to compete include: John Pas (Mercyhurst North East - 125), Dan Audy (Niagara CCC - 133), Shay Shive (Niagara CCC - 149), Troy Ireland (Niagara CCC - 157), Tony Mack (Mercyhurst North East - 165), Travis Booth (Mercyhurst North East - 174), George Hargrove (Springfield Tech - 184), Richard Dawson (Niagara CCC - 184), Jeff Hawrylin (Mercyhurst North East - 197), Matt Johnson (Niagara CCC - HWT).

The top two finishers in each of the ten weight classes are guaranteed to advance to Des Moines, IA for the NJCAA Championships to be held Feb. 25-27.  There are also wild card selections that will advance to nationals.