Upstate New York Chapter mourns the loss of four Board members & Chapter honorees

Orlando Turco – September 6, 1932 – November 3, 2025 – Lifetime Service to Wrestling, 1998

Jim Howard – February 23, 1933 – February 9, 2026 – Lifetime Service to Wrestling, 1997

Ed Michael – April 26, 1942 – January 27, 2026 – Lifetime Service to Wrestling, 1999

Eric Knuutila – February 11, 1947 – March 5, 2026 – Lifetime Service to Wrestling, 2010

SUNY Niagara captures NJCAA Division III national title

The Thunderwolves outpaced rival Harper by a half point, 58.5 to 58-points in the final team scoring at the 2026 NJCAA National Championships in Council Bluffs, Iowa, March 6-7, to claim the Division III team title. Niagara was led by Newfane High School alumnus Aidan Gillings whose victory in the 149-pound 5th place bout sealed the win for the ‘T-Wolves’ who were also mourning the loss of assistant coach and program architect Eric Knuutila who passed on Thursday night on the road with the team. Lancaster native Keith Maute is the head coach of the Thunderwolves.

Three Upstate alumni secure Division I All-American

Three wrestlers hailing from the Upstate New York Chapter region placed in the top-8 of their brackets at the 2026 NCAA Division I Championships in Cleveland. Penn State University’s PJ Duke (Minisink Valley-Section IX) captured 3rd place at 157-pounds as a true freshman wrestling for the Nittany Lions. Michigan redshirt freshman Cam Catrabone (Williamsville North-Section VI) earned 7th place at 157-pounds, and Oklahoma State’s Zack Ryder (Minisink Valley-Section IX) finished in 8th place at 184-pounds for the Cowboys as a redshirt freshman. In total, eleven wrestlers hailing from upstate New York competed at the 2026 Division I championships wrestling for Appalachian State, Binghamton, Bloomsburg, SUNY Buffalo, Cornell, Edinboro, Iowa State, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Penn State.

New York State high school wrestling championships

Twenty-one boys and ten girls hailing from upstate New York area regions captured NYS federation individual titles in Albany to conclude the 2025-2026 high school wrestling season in New York. The Section V Division II (Rochester/Genesee River Valley region) boys team captured the section team title for the second straight year and for the 10th time since 2004. Meanwhile, the Section IV (Binghamton region) girls’ team claimed the section title in the second year of the official girls NYS championships.

Friends of Section III Wrestling 2026 Hall of Fame class released

The Friends of Section III Wrestling will honor five new inductees to the Section III Wrestling Hall of Fame as part of the 2026 class:

Jamee Call – coach, Indian River High School

Alex Herringshaw – wrestler, Holland Patent High School

Paul Lumia – official, contributor

Kevin Maxwell – official, contributor

Keith Rose – wrestler, Watertown High School

Oswego State head coach Mike Howard heads to the NCAA Division III wrestling Hall of Fame

The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) has announced the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Hall of Fame class, they recognized six individuals whose careers as athletes, coaches, officials, and contributors have left a lasting impact on Division III wrestling. The Oswego Lakers’ head men's wrestling Coach Mike Howard has been named to the 2026 class. Mike has coached the Lakers for 37 years and will join his father in the Division III Hall of Fame. Howard wrestled at SUNY Buffalo and Oswego State collegiately and stepped into coaching the Lakers after his legendary father retired in 1989. Howard has coached 22 All-Americans and 29 conference champions. He has also served in various administrative positions to promote wrestling in Division III wrestling. Mike was inducted into the Upstate New York Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2024.

Ithaca coaching staff recognized by SUNYAC

Kudos to the Ithaca College coaching staff who earned SUNYAC Wrestling Coaching Staff of the Year Award for the 2025-26 season. Hall of Fame coach Marty Nichols and his staff were named by the coaches of the SUNYAC for this recognition. Marty’s staff included Eze Chukwuezi, Richardo Gomez, Marc Israel and Travis Jones and this was the second time in three years that Nichols and his staff had received this accolade. The Bombers had 13 dual meet wins and climbed as high as number 19 in the Division III top 25 Dual Meet Poll. Additionally, Ithaca’s Isaias Torres earned All-American honors at the Division III Men’s Championships. Furthermore, seven Bombers were named NWCA Scholar All-Americans – Akio Sanders, Charlie Turner, Jay McDonnell, Kamdyn Dorchester, Konrad Parker, Ryan Galka and Tomah Gummow. Coach Nichols was inducted into the Upstate New York Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2025.

New female wrestling programs

SUNY Niagara is the latest college in the upstate region to announce it is starting a brand new women’s wrestling program. The school’s athletics communications made the announcement on April 8th via the below news release:

https://ncccathletics.com/sports/wrest/2025-26/releases/Women-s_Wrestling

New York Military Academy (NYMA) announced it is launching a girls’ wrestling program starting in the 2026-2027 season via a Facebook post on February 5th:

New York Military Academy is launching a Girls Wrestling program, with competition beginning in the 2026–27 school year, building on the momentum of our nationally recognized wrestling team and our new state-of-the-art wrestling facility.

Designed to compete at the highest levels, the program will prepare student-athletes for college success and international freestyle competition.

From five wrestlers in 2017 to a nationally respected program today — NYMA wrestling is rising. Now, we’re opening the door for the next generation of female competitors.

Upstate New York Chapter Board news

The Upstate Chapter Board kicked off 2026 with meetings on February 1st and April 19th to discuss the new 2026 Hall of Fame class and high school award winners amongst many other topics relating to Chapter business. The Board also welcomed new Board member Carlene Sluberski. Coach Sluberski is a native of Fredonia and is the first and current head coach of the D’Youville University Saints women’s wrestling team in Buffalo.

The Chapter will host a social and golf outing on Monday, August 10th at Millstone Golf Course in Elbridge. All are welcome to join!