LOCH SHELDRAKE -- The best wrestlers from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Eastern A District showed off their skills inside SUNY Sullivan's Paul Gerry Fieldhouse on Sunday. It was the first time SUNY Sullivan hosted wrestling districts. Grapplers competed for the chance to earn a spot at Nationals in Council BluffsIowa.

“It's pretty awesome,” SUNY Sullivan Wrestling Coach Anthony Ng said of hosting districts, “because you get to showcase some good wrestling locally. It's nice to be able to have high level wrestling in Sullivan County.

Several Generals competed in the district tournament, and of their performance, Ng said, “I think our guys battled pretty hard. They wrestled well. Some of them came up a little bit short, some of them won some big matches, but the tourney isn't over yet and everyone has to finish strong.

Two of the Generals' which competed at the tournament were freshmen Liam Bullock, a Chester grad, and Dirani Haynes, a Beacon graduate. Both were drawn to Sullivan's growing wrestling program, under Coach Ng, a Sullivan County native and Monticello graduate.

“Coach Ng is really dedicated to the sport,” Bullock said when asked about what made him choose SUNY Sullivan. “He works three different jobs wrestling, Sullivan is close [to home] and seemed like the best choice for me.”

On his year and tournament, Bullock said, “I'm feeling great so far and feel like I can do big things today.”

When asked the same questions, Haynes said, “I love it here. They had a good program, I like the coaches and I wanted to be a part of it.” On keys to his success, Haynes' answer was simple, “Hard work.”

At day's end, Bullock (125-lbs) and fellow freshman Nicholas Glanville (133-lbs) earned a trip to Nationals.