A trio of Alfred State student-athletes have qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships. Dianna Pineda, Sean Malenfant, and Conor Compton will represent ASC after strong showings at NCAA Regionals.
Pineda became the first women's wrestler to place at the NCAA Regional Tournament with a third place finish in the 117 lb. weight class. She won 9-8 in the third place match to gain a spot in the first ever NC women's wrestling tournament to be held next weekend (March 6-7) at the Xtream Arena in Coralville, IA. She will take on Carleigh Czerneski in her opening match.
Malefant earned a pair of pins on Friday to advance to the semifinals. He pinned Koran Hinton (Kean) in 1:09 and Nicholas Smith (RIT) in 2:21. He earned a 6-4 victory over Xavier Pommells (Ithaca) to advance to the finals on Saturday morning. In the championship match, he earned a tough fought 4-2 victory over Jack Ryan (Oneonta).
Malenfant will find out where he will sit in the 184 lb. bracket on Friday, March 6. He will head to Cedar Rapids, IA the next weekend to compete in the National Championships at Alliant Energy Power House.
Malenfant was and All-American following a fifth place finish at the 2024 NCAA Division III National Championships. He is the first Pioneer to make multiple trips to the National Championships.
Compton finished second on the 3m board on Friday and won the 1m competition on Saturday to secure his fourth straight trip to the National Championships. Compton scored 552.45 points to win by over twenty points over Greg Meder from Geneseo on the 1m board. He scored 559.80 on the 3m board and trailed Meder by less than eight points.
Last year Compton was fifth on the 1m and seventh on the 3m. In 2024 he was third on the 1m and fifth on the 3m board while in 2023 he was 7th on the 3m board.
The NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships are March 18-21 at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, IN.