Starting this upcoming school year, SUNY Niagara will offer women’s wrestling as its ninth NJCAA-recognized program, Director of Athletics Bob McKeown announced Wednesday.
Wrestling will be the fifth women’s sport offered at SUNY Niagara alongside volleyball, basketball, golf and softball. Wrestling is also the first new women’s sport at SUNY Niagara since the lacrosse team was disbanded following the 2015 season.
Since being recognized as an “emerging sport” by the NYSPHSAA Executive Committee in August 2022, high school girls wrestling has grown across the state, including 30 programs in Section VI. To date, the section has held two state qualifiers, and the state has held state championships to determine individual weight class winners.
SUNY Niagara men’s wrestling head coach and reigning NJCAA National Coach and National Tournament Coach of the Year honoree Keith Maute will serve as head coach of the women’s program starting this season. Maute completed his 15th season with the Thunderwolves in March, which culminated in their first Division III national championship in the program’s 53-year history.
Before arriving in Sanborn, Maute established himself on the Western New York high school scene from 1997 to 2011 as an assistant at Lancaster and then head coach at East Aurora and Iroquois. As head coach, Maute won five ECIC Division III championships and two Section VI titles (2008 with East Aurora and 2011 with Iroquois) and was a three-time Coach of the Year honoree.
The 2026-27 schedule for SUNY Niagara women’s wrestling will be announced at a future date. For more information, please contact Maute at kmaute@niagaracc.suny.edu.
Marshall, Hall receive All-American honors
Sophomore Chioke Marshall received NJCAA Division II second-team All-American honors in men’s basketball, and freshman Azriel Hall was a third-team All-American selection in women’s basketball, the NJCAA announced Thursday. Marshall and Hall are the 19th and 20th total All-Americans in SUNY Niagara basketball history (11 men, nine women) and it’s the fifth time multiple players were selected in the same season. (2017, 2021, 2022, 2023).
Marshall started in 24 of his 25 appearances this season for SUNY Niagara and scored a team-high 24.7 points per game on 45.4% shooting. Marshall’s scoring average was the fourth-highest among all NJCAA Division II players, while his 92.9% free-throw percentage ranked first.
Also the NJCAA Region III Div. II Player of the Year and the eighth All-American since the Bill Beilein era started in 2009-10, Marshall recorded eight of his 12 career games with at least 30 points this season. His new career-high of 50 points in an 110-109 victory at Jamestown Community College January 28 is believed to be a new single-game record since John Albert Young scored 47 in a contest during the 1963-64 season, the program’s inaugural season.
In 57 career games, Marshall scored 1,200 points and finished second all-time in program history. 1975 graduate and Athletics Wall of Fame inductee George Pendleton still holds the program record with 1,245 points, which he tallied in 62 career games from 1973-75.
A Lockport resident, Hall started all 25 contests for SUNY Niagara, and she led with a team-high 19.7 points per game on 54.1% shooting. Hall finished the season tied for 16th in NJCAA Division III in points per game and her 29 made 3-pointers and 49 steals were both second, and her 125 rebounds were third on the team.
Hall was also selected as the NJCAA Region III Div. II Player of the Year and finished in double-digit scoring in all 25 games this season, including 11 games with at least 20 points. Hall recorded a season-high 40 points in SUNY Niagara’s 100-59 win versus Lakeland Community College February 16, the program’s first 40-point scorer since 1998 graduate Michelle Milleville did in a 72-46 win versus Niagara College (Ont.) on Dec. 15, 1997.
Baseball
SUNY Niagara went 4-1 this week, has now won 18 of its last 19 contests and improved to 29-3 on the season. The Thunderwolves split its doubleheader at Monroe Community College Saturday (6-5 eight-inning win in Game One and a 3-2 loss in Game Two), defeated the Ontario Terriers, 15-4, Wednesday, and won both contests against Tompkins-Cortland Community College Thursday (11-2 in seven innings in Game One and 14-4 in five innings in Game Two).
In Game One Thursday, Liam Hadfield threw 115 pitches over seven innings, his longest outing of the season, and his 10 strikeouts were one shy of his career-high (11 at Corning Community College, April 3, 2025). Matt Kasprowicz retired five in four innings of work as the Game Two starter in his first outing since March 12.
Sophomore and Penn State commit Dalton Harper finished 5-for-7 in the two-game series against Tompkins-Cortland Community College and recorded his seventh and eighth home runs of the season, which is tied for eighth in NJCAA Division III. Harper’s 11 career home runs are tied for fourth, and his 78 career runs batted in are the ninth most at SUNY Niagara in the Matt Clingersmith era, which began in 2007.
Former Toledo Rocket and sophomore Cam Gravelle recorded his team-leading 50th and 51st hits during the Panthers series and is now third in NJCAA Division III. Niagara Wheatfield graduate and Niagara Falls resident Cam Gruarin recorded his first home run with SUNY Niagara in Game Two against Tompkins-Cortland.
SUNY Niagara continues NJCAA Region III play with a four-game series with Jamestown Community College Saturday and Sunday. Saturday’s contests start at 1 p.m. at Diethrick Park in Jamestown, while Sunday’s action starts at 2 p.m. at Sal Maglie Stadium and broadcasted on WLVL.com.
Softball
SUNY Niagara continues its winning ways with a pair of NJCAA Region III wins versus SUNY Adirondack April 4 at Grand Island High School. In their home opener, the Thunderwolves won the first contest in six innings, 13-5, and a 27-9 five-inning finish in Game Two.
The 13-5 win in Game One marked SUNY Niagara’s third come-from-behind win this season. The 27 runs on 24 hits in Game Two established both season-high and single-game records for the Thunderwolves, and just the third time they scored at least 40 runs in a two-game series since 2015.
SUNY Niagara is now 6-9 overall and 5-1 in NJCAA Region III action, its best regional start since 2022 (6-0). The Thunderwolves have won five of their last six contests.
Sophomore and D’Youville commit Quinn Manth of North Tonawanda ranks fifth in NJCAA Division III with her team-high 22 stolen bases and has produced a .477 batting average and 12 runs batted in. Manth now has 63 stolen bases in her career and needed seven more to pass 2022 graduate Mariah Semple (69 in 91 games) for the second most in the last 10 seasons.
Fellow NT resident and freshman Miranda Shingleton received NJCAA Region III player of the week honors Tuesday. During the series against SUNY Adirondack, Shingleton went 7-for-9, drove in 11 runs, scored four runs, posted two doubles and her team-leading third home run against the Wolfpack.
Shingleton has recorded at least one hit in all 14 of SUNY Niagara’s games and has had a multi-hit game in her last eight outings. Her .609 batting average is currently the best in NJCAA Region III and second overall in NJCAA Division III.
SUNY Niagara continues its NJCAA Region III slate with a doubleheader at Corning Community College Saturday at Noon. The Red Barons are 7-3 against the Thunderwolves since 2018 and have won five of the last six meetings.
Walker commits to Niagara
Sophomore and Niagara Falls resident Atarah Walker committed to Niagara University on April 2. In 53 career games at SUNY Niagara, Walker recorded 468 points and 474 rebounds, and her team-leading 9.1 rebounds per contest ranked 69th in NJCAA Division II this season, along with 9.1 points per game.
Walker is the fifth Thunderwolf to commit to an NCAA Division I program in the last 12 seasons. Walker joins 2019 graduate Kenetria Redfern (University of Maryland Eastern Shore and 2020 graduates Cierra Harrison (University of Detroit Mercy); Nickelle O’Neil (St. Peter’s then Niagara) and Aubrey Halloran (Niagara).
Walker appeared in the NJCAA Region III Div. II championship game twice, which she won as a freshman in the 2024-25 season. Walker then continued her freshman season with a win over Sullivan County Community College in the East A District championship, which sent the Thunderwolves to nationals for the fifth time in program history.
The 6-foot-3 forward recorded 14 career double-doubles and posted at least 10 rebounds in a contest 21 times with the Thunderwolves, including nine times this season. With Walker on the roster, the Thunderwolves were 42-15 and recorded the No. 1 seed in the NJCAA Region III Div. II tournament in both seasons.
Before joining SUNY Niagara, Walker spent two seasons at Niagara Falls High School from 2022 to 2024. Walker recorded 358 points and 355 rebounds in 32 games with the Wolverines and was part of the program’s Section VI Class AAA runners-up team in 2024.
Joe Kraus is the Sports Information Director at SUNY Niagara. For more information, please visit ncccathletics.com or email Joe at jkraus@niagaracc.suny.edu.