NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release – March 18, 2013 Media Contact: Alicia Steger 516.572.9634E-mail: alicia.steger@ncc.eduncc.edu/newsreleases

Nassau Community College Wrestling Team Wins National Non-Scholarship Title

Wrestlers NJCAA Finalists, All Americans, Academic All Americans

 

 

Garden City, NY – Nassau Community College (NCC) is proud to announce that its 2013 men’s wrestling team won its second consecutive National Championship at the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) Champion Wrestling Tournament held on the weekend of February 24-25 in Des Moines, Iowa.“Repeating as champions is great,” said NCC wrestling Coach Paul Schmidt, “but what made it particularly satisfying this year was that we had to take on not only other schools but also the adversity brought on by Superstorm Sandy and the blizzard that affected our training schedule and facilities.” He added, “The guys were really resilient and handled every adversity thrown at them. At the end, I was very proud of all of them when they held the National Trophy up high."At the tournament, NCC wrestlers also won individual awards, including having four wrestlers reach the finals (the most in NCC’s history), six wrestlers being named NJCAA All Americans and seven wrestlers making the NJCAA All Academic Team. Individual accomplishments included:125 lbs. - John Pellegrino 2^nd place141 lbs. - James DeKrone NJCAA 2013 National Champion (NCC’s 11^th National Champion)149 lbs. - Kyle Wade sixth place, and NJCAA 2013 Sportsmanship Award 174 lbs. - Chanse Menendez 2^nd place197 lbs. - Ian MacInheirghe 7^th place285 lbs. - Yaseen Mudassar 2^nd place and two-time NJCAA All AmericanThe following wrestlers were Academic All Americans, with GPAs of 3.0 or higher:Juan Diaz, Basil Lawson, Ian MacIneirghe, Chanse Menendez, Hector Paez, John Pellegrino and James Rolla“This team simply was not going to be denied,” said NCC’s Acting President Kenneth Saunders.” “It took on the competition. It took on the elements. And it took home the Championship to NCC. We could not be more proud.”Photo caption: (Front L to R): James DeKrone (Elwood), John Pellegrino (Levittown), Steven Drew (Bohemia). (Back L to R): Yaseem Mudassar (Levittown), Frank Merante (Sachem), Kyle Wade (Islip), Adam DeJesus (Long Beach), Coach Paul Schmidt (Wantagh), Chanse Menendez (Hauppauge), Juan Diaz (Levittown), Ian MacIneirghe (East Islip), Coach Sam Thomas

 

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