Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = SUNY-Delhi

SUNY-Delhi was an extremely good NJCAA program that we lost after the 1999-2000 season.  While always a tough team, the Broncos saw their best years under head coach Frank Millard from the 1971-1972 season through the 1984-1985 season.  Under Millard the green, white & gold won seven Region III championships & had back to back third place finishes at the NJCAA championships in 1983 & 1984.  This success included a dual streak of 92 victories in a row.  Forty-Eight of the wrestlers earned Academic-All American honors. 

Anthony Bellai

Bellai won NJCAA titles in 1984 & 1985.  He continued his collegiate career at Oklahoma & afterwards became a P.E. teacher & head wrestling coach at Saratoga Springs. 

Rob Waller 
142 lbs 

Waller won Region III championships in 1969 & 1970, winning a NJCAA title in 1970.  He continued his collegiate career at Slippery Rock.  In both 1972 & 1976, Waller made the finals of the Olympic trials. 

Robert Hilfiger

Hilfiger was a two time Region III champion & two time NJCAA All American for the Broncos.  He then transferred to Appalachian State where he won two Southern Conference titles. 

Mark Cody 

Presbyterian College director of wrestling Mark Cody began his collegiate wrestling career at SUNY-Delhi.  He won Region III titles for the Broncos in 1981 & 1982.   He finished up his collegiate career at Missouri where he placed fifth at the 1985 NCAA Division I championships. 

Cody then turned his focus towards coaching.  As head coach of of American, he took the Eagles to a fifth place finish at the 2011 NCAA Championships.  To this day it is the highest finish of any school without a football program in Division I wrestling. 

Anibal Nieves

After winning a NJCAA title for SUNY-Delhi, Nieves transferred to East Stroudsburg where he put together a record of 62-13.  Representing Puerto Rico, Nieves had a successful international career that included making Olympic teams in 1992 & 1996, as well as winning PAN-American silver medals in 1991 & 1995.   He later coached Haiti's Olympic team. 

Post his international career Nieves went on to coach at the collegiate level.  Among the teams he coached were American International, Western New England, Springfield Tech & East Stroudsburg. 

Garrett Keith

Keith had an outstanding career for the Broncos during his time at SUNY-Delhi.   As a freshman in 1983 he won a Region III title & finished in sixth place at the NJCAA championships.  That summer he made the PAN-American championship team.  As a sophomore in 1984 he finished at the Region III runner-up & made the NJCAA finals.  Upon graduation he had set a record for the most amount of falls recorded over a two-year career in the NJCAA.  For this honor, he was featured in an issue of Sports Illustrated. 

He then took his talents to North Carolina State where he finished as the ACC runner-up in 1985 & took a third place finish in 1986. 


 

James McCloe

McCloe won a NJCAA title for the Broncos in 1971.  He then transferred to North Carolina where he was an NCAA qualifier.  Post his collegiate career McCloe coached at both East Carolina & West Chester before turning his focus to high school. 

While also coaching Football, Gymnastics & Swimming, McCloe lead Waverly high school to Section Titles while winning 435 dual meets.