Justin James Loses in ECWC Finals

John Wilkinson was one of four Golden Eagles to advance into the ECWC semifinals.

The College at Brockport's wrestling team traveled to Ithaca College for the annual Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference's (ECWC) Championships, and four Golden Eagle grapplers advanced into the semifinals of Saturday's championships inside the Ben Light Gymnasium.

Junior Justin James (Spencerport, NY/Brockport) was the lone Golden Eagle to advance into the finals. James, competing at 165 pounds, defeated Lycoming College's David Smith 3-1 in the first round, and beat Messiah College's David Jones 3-1 in overtime to advance into the championship bout.

Facing Ithaca's Nick Sanko, James, seeded No. 1, trailed 1-0 going into the third period before scoring a point on an escape. The match went to a one-minute, sudden-victory overtime, and James and Sanko battled to a scoreless first two overtime sessions. In the third overtime, James was penalized one point on a stalling call with less than 10 seconds remaining in the period. Trailing 2-1, James allowed Sanko to escape, pushing the deficit to 3-1. James, hoping for a two-point takedown that would have knotted up the match, ran out of time and fell 3-1 in the championship bout.

A victory would have clinched James a spot in the NCAA Championships, held March 11-12 at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Juniors Thomas Rispoli (East Meadow, NY/East Meadow) and Tom Voorhis (Chenango Forks, NY/Chenango Forks) and freshman John Wilkinson (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) all earned spots in the semifinals before losing.

Rispoli defeated Oneonta's J.P. Sala 6-3 before dropping a 6-3 decision to Cortland's Tony Sterling at 157 pounds; Voorhis pinned Morrisville's Troy Cardenas in 3:09 before dropping a tough 2-1 decision to Lycoming's Russel Korbul at 197 pounds; and Wilkinson blanked Lycoming's John Geisel 5-0 before losing a 6-3 decision to Ithaca's Matt Mahon at 285 pounds.

Junior Jose Vazquez (Huntington, NY/Huntington), freshman James McCabe (Ronkonkoma, NY/Connetquot), sophomore Jon Khoury (Lido Beach, NY/Long Beach), sophomore Eliah Golding (Albany, NY/Colonie), freshman Michael Bosco (East Northport, NY/John Glenn) and junior David Manzueta (Brentwood, NY/Brentwood) all lost their first-round matches.