At a glance
Alfred State College freshmen Eric Shedden (Canton, PA) and TJ Nelson (Somers) claimed Northeast District Wrestling Championships on Sunday afternoon. Cody Dill (Unatego) and Dan Steiger (Miller Place) earned 3rd place finishes.
Alfred State College freshmen Eric Shedden (Canton, PA) and TJ Nelson (Somers) claimed Northeast District Wrestling Championships on Sunday afternoon. Cody Dill (Unatego) and Dan Steiger (Miller Place) earned 3rd place finishes.
Shedden, 133 lbs., defeated Evan Dahl (Mercyhurst North East) in the semifinals and then downed Tyler Wong (Springfield Tech) in the finals 7-4 to earn the automatic spot at the NJCAA National Championships. Shedden will head to nationals with a 15-5 overall record.
Nelson, 197 lbs.,the #3 seed heading into the tournament received a medical forfeit to advance to the semifinals. In the semi's he downed Don Schildhauer (Niagara CCC) 5-1 and then defeated #1 seed Jeff Hawryliw (Mercyhurst North East) 6-2 to punch his ticket to Des Moines, IA. Nelson will enter nationals with a 6-6 mark.
Dill fell in his first match at 125, 9-3 to Rocco Rosso the eventual champion but rebounded with a pin of Chad Roberts (Springfield Tech) in 3:27 to claim 3rd place.
At 174 lbs., Steiger fell 11-8 to Tony Lisek (Jamestown CC) but rebounded for a 14-3 victory over JD Bardanis (Niagara CCC) to earn 3rd place.
As a team the Pioneers finished in 5th place with 46.5 points. Niagara CCC won the District crown with 85 points followed by Mercyhurst North East 76.5, Springfield Tech (MA) 58, and Jamestown CC 57.
Mercyhurst's Jason Alexander was named the most outstanding wrestler for winning the 133 lb. weight class while Eric Knuutila from Niagara CCC was named the coach of the year.
Shedden, Nelson, Dill, Steiger and Shawn Hanrahan (Unatego) will represent ASC at the NJCAA National Championships. The championships will be held February 25-27 at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, IA.