Tim Flynn coaching at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)LOCK HAVEN, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference has released the major award winners for the 2016-17 Wrestling season, the league office announced Thursday afternoon.
The awards are determined by a vote of the league's head coaches.
Edinboro redshirt sophomore Sean Russell was named PSAC Athlete of the Year. Russell represents the 18th time that the Fighting Scots have garnered the award. He won his second consecutive Eastern Wrestling League championship and is now a two-time PSAC champion at the 125-lb weight class. Seeded seventh is his weight class, Russell would end his second trip to the NCAA DI National Championships as an All-American following a seventh-place finish. Russell was dominant in winning PSAC and EWL crowns. He won all three of his PSAC Championships bouts by major decision, and won by fall, decision and major decision at the EWL Championships. He finished the year with a 37-8 mark while amassing 15 major decisions, four falls and two technical falls.
Gannon's Carmine Ciotti was named PSAC Freshman of the Year. He is the first Golden Knight to win any major postseason award. Ciotti became Gannon's first freshman All-American since 2005 with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships. The true freshman was ranked No. 1 at 133 pounds in NCAA Division II Super Region One for the majority of the season, before finishing second at the regional championship following an overtime setback. He finished the 2016-17 campaign 26-5 overall and 7-0 in dual competition, recording the seventh-highest single-season pin total in program history and 10th-highest single-season overall winning percentage. Ciotti's freshman resume included 13 pins, three major decisions and two technical falls. He is Gannon's third 133-pound All-American, but first since 2010. Ciotti was 20-2 during the regular season.
Edinboro's Tim Flynn claimed the PSAC Coach of the Year award. This marks the 14th time Flynn has received the award and it is the 15th time EU has claimed it since 1988-89. Flynn concluded his 20th season as the head coach for the Fighting Scots with a 9-6 dual record, winning the PSAC and EWL championships while finishing 20th at the NCAA Championships. EU finished the EWL regular season with an unblemished mark for the fourth consecutive season. Flynn boasts a 215-90-5 record while 38 student-athletes have received All-America recognition under his watch.
PSAC Wrestling Athlete of the Year: Sean Russell, Edinboro
PSAC Wrestling Freshman of the Year: Carmine Ciotti, Gannon
PSAC Wrestling Coach of the Year: Tim Flynn, Edinboro
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