Lycoming News

Penn College is preparing for the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championship, set to take place on Saturday at Alfred State University. The event will begin at 10 a.m. and feature teams from Alfred State, Penn State Behrend, Pitt-Bradford, and Hiram College.

The Wildcats have four wrestlers ranked in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Individual Mideast Region as of January 26. Noah Hunt is ranked fourth at 141 pounds, Kaden Ware sixth at 133 pounds, and TJ Martin seventh at 149 pounds.

Alfred State boasts three regionally ranked wrestlers: Sean Malenfant is second at 184 pounds, Zach Levey third at 133 pounds, and Dom Vinci seventh at 141 pounds. Meanwhile, Penn State Behrend has two wrestlers ranked in the Southeast Region: Peyton Hearn first at 149 pounds and Cole Neil eighth at 133 pounds.

In dual meet records this season, Alfred State stands at 9-3, Penn State Behrend is 7-5, Penn College holds an 8-9 record, Pitt-Bradford is 4-11, and Hiram College remains winless with a record of 0-12.

Last fall marked a change for Penn College as it became an affiliate member of the AMCC after previously competing in the Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference. "This is an exciting opportunity for our program to compete in this regular season conference championship event," said Pankil Chander, who is in his second year as coach. He added that he expects many opportunities for their wrestlers to showcase their talent while bringing visibility to Penn College in its new conference.

The team’s entries include Luke Heimbach (125), Kaden Ware (133), Noah Hunt (141), TJ Martin (149), Liam Goodrich (157), Cavin Napoletano (174), Gabriel Kennedy-Citeroni (197), and Nicholai Brotzman (285). Coach Chander also mentioned having several second-string competitors ready to perform hard across different weight classes.