The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference is preparing to host the AMCC Wrestling Championship this weekend at Alfred State College. Wrestlers will take to the mats on Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m.
The Pios are primed for this year's post season push. Alfred State has a lot of upperclassmen experience in certain weight classes from senior Nicholas Barrett in 285, senior Blake Ilges in 197, to juniors Zach Levey and Sean Malenfant. All four Pioneers have won at least one open bracket throughout the season, garnering some conference recognition. ASC has already won the regular season championship for the AMCC, now they are looking to add some individual names to the championship banner.
Hiram College enters the AMCC Championship with high hopes; the team had three student-athletes earn all-conference honors last season, including Seth Holt, who will look to do it again in 2024. Holt has a team-high 14 wins this season and is one of four wrestlers in program history to record at least 30 career wins. Another of those wrestlers is Jimmy Thomas, who notably won all three of his bouts at the AMCC Quad at Hiram College earlier this season.
Penn College enters its inaugural AMCC Championship with an 8-9 dual meet record while also claiming an RIT tournament title. The Wildcats’ AMCC Championship lineup features six 10-match winners, three 20-match winners and two 30-match winners in freshmen TJ Martin (30-14) and Travis Green (32-14). Both grapplers are also in the NWCA Mideast Region rankings as Martin is seventh at 149 pounds and Green is eighth at 165 pounds. Joining Martin and Green in the regional rankings are junior 141-pounder Noah Hunt (fourth) and freshman 133-pounder Kaden Ware (sixth). Ware enters the weekend as the team leader in tech falls (7) and major decisions (7), Green and freshman heavyweight Nicholai Brotzman are tied for the team lead with 16 falls. Brotzman is also ranked among the NCAA’s most dominant in Division III with 15 D-III falls in 26:51.
The Penn State Behrend Lions are looking to improve on their fourth-place finish from last year's AMCC Championship. Behrend is 2-1 against AMCC competition this year. The Lions have two regionally-ranked wrestlers in the lineup. Senior Peyton Hearn ranking first at 149 in the Southeast Region and freshman Cole Neil eight at the 133 weight class. Neil leads the team with 23 wins and Hearn is second with 19. Jake Brown paces Behrend with nine pins, three major decisions and two technical falls in his 18 wins.
Pitt-Bradford enters the AMCC Championships with a 2-7 record in dual meets, including a 1-2 mark at the AMCC Quadmatch. The Panthers are coming off a season high 72-point performance at the Rennie Rodarmel Allstate Invitational, hosted by Lycoming. Pitt-Bradford is led by a trio of wrestlers who have combined for 62 victories this season. D.J. Slovick has the most wins for the Panthers, as he has tallied 24 victories, with 11 coming by pin, three by technical fall and seven by major decision. Senior Colton Gietler has won 73.1 percent of his matches this year and is coming off a championship at the Jamestown open, followed by a second place finish at Lycoming. Freshman Gavin Thompson has had an impressive freshman campaign, winning 19 matches in the heavyweight decision, pinning 10 opponents.
Click here for live video of the AMCC Champioship match.
Click here for the Championship Brackets.