BROCKPORT TO HOST EMPIRE COLLEGIATE WRESTLING CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Wrestling starts Saturday at 11 a.m. in Tuttle North

BROCKPORT, N.Y. - The SUNY College at Brockport wrestling team will host Cortland, Ithaca, Oswego, Oneonta, and RIT Saturday, February 19, for the 14th Annual Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference (ECWC) Championship. Competition, to be held in the Tuttle North Gym, begins at 11 a.m. with quarterfinals. The semifinals are set for 12:30 p.m., with the 10 championship matches to begin at 4 p.m.

The winners of the 10 weight classes, plus 9 additional wild cards, selected by the head coaches at the conclusion of the wrestling, will advance to the NCAA Division III Championships, March 4-5, at St. Olaf, Minnesota.

The host Golden Eagles have won seven team titles, including the past two years. Brockport returns two defending ECWC champions.Tony D'Ambra (Caledonia/Caledonia-Mumford) at 133 and Dan Roberts (Bellport/Bellport) at 141. D'Ambra was named Most Valuable at last year's championships and both wrestlers were 2004 NCAA qualifiers, while Roberts earned NCAA All-American honors Head Coach Don Murray was named the ECWC Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2004.

Last year, Cortland finished in second place with 70.5 points, while Ithaca followed in third with 62.5 points. Oswego earned the fourth place spot with 57 points, Oneonta came in fifth with 43.5 points, and R.I.T. finished in sixth place with eight points. Brockport took home the title with 105 points and champions in six of the 10 weight classes.

The four ECWC champions back from last year are: D'Ambra from Brockport, Roberts of Brockport, junior Brent Rider of Cortland (165), and junior Mathias Keib of Ithaca (174). Rider was named an NCAA All-American for the second consecutive year and finished sixth at the NCAAs with an overall record of 24-9. Ithaca had two wildcards compete at Nationals who will also return to this year's ECWC, seniors K.C. Beach and Marc Israel. Oneonta's Tenkoran Agyeman, a two-time NCAA competitor and currently holds an 18-3 season record, will also return this year at 141. Oneonta returns Joe Sanders, Rory Tobias, Kyle Hauptfleisch, and Nick Castellano who were named to the All-ECWC wrestlers last year.