James Bethel honored by SUNY Oneonta Athletics Department

2017 May 4

The SUNY Oneonta athletics department held its 28th annual awards ceremony on Tuesday, May 2 and honored 16 student athletes as major award recipients.

James Bethel of Saugerties, NY was one of the major award winners for the 2016-17 year.

Bethel was selected as the male Athlete of the Year. After spending a year rehabbing from shoulder surgery, Bethel picked up where he left off - as one of the most dominant heavyweights in Division III. This past winter, Bethel finished fifth at the NCAA championships to earn his second All-American honor. Bethel completed a 44-4 record with 19 pins while winning three separate in-season tournaments titles while also winning the NCAA Northeast Region title in his weight class.

The Athlete of the Year Award goes to the male and female who have exemplified athletic excellence in their sport during the current athletic year inclusive of the previous spring.

A liberal arts institution with a strong focus on undergraduate research and service learning, SUNY Oneonta consistently gains recognition for delivering excellence and value. The college has been named to Kiplinger's list of "100 Best Values in Public Colleges" for 10 years running and sits at No. 9 on the 2016 U.S. News and World Report list of the best public institutions in the region. SUNY Oneonta enrolls 6,000 students in its 70 undergraduate majors and 14 graduate programs.

The College boasts 21 NCAA Division III varsity sports and competes in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) and the Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference (ECWC).