Justin Signorelli is entering his sixth season at the helm after coming to Alfred State in the summer of 2019 to serve as the full time Head Wrestling Coach. Signorelli plays a lead role in Athletic Department Fundraising efforts has also served as an Adjunct Professor on campus, teaching in the Business Administration, Sport Management and Physical Education departments.
The 2023-24 season was the most successful to date for the Pioneers as an NCAA wrestling program. Sean Malenfant became the programs first NCAA All-American with his 5th place finish at 184 lb at the National Championships. Malenfant and Zach Levey became the programs first NCAA Championships Qualifiers after being crowned Region Champion and Regional Runner-up, respectively and Blake Ilges also earned NCAA All-Region honors. The Pioneers made it back-to-back AMCC Championship's with seven wrestlers earning individual AMCC titles and three others reaching the finals. Malenfant and Brent Perry earned Wrestler of the Year and Newcomer of the Year honors respectively for Alfred State. 2024 also marked Alfred State's first ever appearance at the NWCA National Duals, hosted by University of Northern Iowa. The program finished with its third consecutive winning dual meet record finishing 9-3 with the programs first ever wins over Brockport and Cortland. Off the mats Signorelli led the Pioneers to the program to NWCA Scholar All-America Team honors for the second time in three years, finishing a program best 25th in the country. Additionally, he guided five wrestlers to individual NWCA Academic All-American honors, increasing the programs total to 23 individual honorees since 2020.
The 2022-23 season was a great season for the Pioneers. Signorelli led the Pioneers to their first AMCC Championship with eight wrestlers earning individual AMCC titles and four others reaching the finals. Signorelli was recognized as the AMCC Coach of the Year and wrestlers Sean Malenfant and Dom Vinci earned Wrestler of the Year and Newcomer of the Year honors respectively for Alfred State. The program made it back-to-back winning dual seasons going 11-3 in dual meet competition, including going 3-0 and winning the AMCC regular season dual meet event and 5-0 to win the team title at the Electric City Duals. Signorelli led fourteen wrestlers to All-State honors at the NYS Collegiate Championships, coached seven wrestlers to All-Conference honors at the ECWC Championships and again placed multiple wrestlers at the NCAA Mideast Championships with Zach Levey and Sean Malenfant earning All-Region honors. Off the mats Signorelli guided six wrestlers to individual NWCA Academic All-American honors. He led a program high fifteen wrestlers to Conference All-Academic honors, marking the fifth consecutive year the team has had an increase in members honored. In the spring, Signorelli traveled to Quantico, VA to participate in the nationwide 2023 USMC Coaches Workshop.
The 2021-22 season was the first big step in the right direction for the Pioneers as an NCAA wrestling program. Signorelli led his team to a 9-4 in dual meets including sweeping AMCC opponents in dominant fashion by a combined score of 100-0. This marked the programs first winning season since competing as a junior college. The team finished 14th of 20 teams at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships led by their first two Regional Place Winners in program history in Mike Galton and Sean Peterson. Signorelli also led nine wrestlers to All-Conference honors at the ECWC Championships including two finalists, coached three wrestlers to All-State honors at the NYS Collegiate Championships and had three different wrestlers win individual tournament titles during the season. Off the mats Signorelli led the Pioneers to the programs first ever NWCA Scholar All-America Team honors, finishing 30th in the country, coached 3 wrestlers to individual NWCA Academic All-American honors and ten wrestlers to Conference All-Academic honors.
While unable to compete in 2020-21 during his second year, Signorelli coached eight individual NWCA Academic All-American’s in addition to leading seven wrestlers to Conference All-Academic honors. During this time he served the ECWC as the conference’s academic representative and also served the NWCA as the a Regional representative on their national rankings committee.
In his first season at the helm, Signorelli led the Pioneers during their second year as an NCAA DIII program to a 4-7 mark in dual meets (improving on a 1-9 record from the previous season) and brought a full lineup to compete at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships for the first time. Four different wrestlers earned wins and the team finished tied for 16th of the 19 teams. Signorelli coached the programs first ever NWCA Academic All-American in Kyle Fitzgerald and coached four wrestlers to Conference All-Academic honors. Signorelli also led four wrestlers to All-Conference honors at the ECWC Championships and coached Jake DeWall to All-State honors at the NYS Collegiate Championships. Signorelli earned his Master of Science degree in Sport Leadership & Coaching through Western New England University in the summer of 2020.
Signorelli came to Alfred State after spending the 2018-19 season as a graduate assistant coach at Western New England University. During his one year with WNE Signorelli coached three NWCA Academic All-Americans and two NCAA National Qualifiers including NCAA DIII 184 lb National Champion John Boyle. Additionally, he spent the summer of 2019 working as a counselor at the highly regarded J Robinson Intensive Wrestling Camps.
Prior to his time at Western New England, Signorelli spent two years as the head wrestling coach at SUNY Ulster Community College. While at Ulster, Signorelli was tasked with resurrecting and building the wrestling program that had not been active since the 1970s. During his two seasons Signorelli coached an Academic All-American, led 14 wrestlers to All-District honors including a North East District individual champion, and he qualified seven wrestlers to compete at the NJCAA National Championship Tournament. Along with his coaching duties at Ulster he also served as Assistant Athletic Director within the Ulster Athletic Department and was an Adjunct Professor working in the Physical Education Department.
Signorelli previously was an assistant coach at Highland High School for three years, leading Highland to its first team sectional title during his tenure.
Collegiately he was a four-year letter winner at NCAA DIII SUNY Cortland, serving two of those seasons as team captain. In 2013, he helped lead his team to a 4th place finish at the NWCA DIII National Duals. His Red Dragon teams were consistently ranked in the top 10 in the country and he placed in many tournaments including winning the Jamestown Open. He graduated from SUNY Cortland earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications.
At Highland High School he competed in football, wrestling, and lacrosse. On the mat he was a four-year varsity team captain and was a three-time Sectional Champion, three-time MHAL Champion, three-time NYS Wrestling Championship Qualifier and won over 85% of his varsity matches in his four seasons en route to becoming the first member of Highland's 100-win club. He was a captain on Highland's varsity football Section 9 Class B Championship team in the fall of 2008 and graduated with honors in 2009.
Signorelli resides in Wellsville with his wife Marley, and their daughter Gianna.
Updated 8/24
