Photo courtesy of Michelle Gilbert | MaxPreps
Alex Conti, who was honored at this year’s NYSPHSAA girls wrestling championships for his contributions to the sport, was named interim head coach of the Buffalo State University women’s wrestling program last month.
In early July, just in its infancy, the Buffalo State University women’s wrestling program was in turmoil.
Months before even competing in their first match — with a full recruiting class ready to step on campus this fall — the Bengals were without a coaching staff.
The Athletic Department was in need of someone reliable, knowledgeable and connected to keep its team on track as an interim head coach for its inaugural season.
Enter Alex Conti.
An inductee of the Western New York Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame, Conti is a pioneer of women’s wrestling in the region. He has served as New York USA Wrestling’s women’s director and as a coach of Team USA women’s freestyle wrestling squad at the Pan American Games. Conti is also a past winner of the National Wrestling Coaches Association Girls Coach of the Year award.
OBSERVER File Photo by Scott Kindberg
Alex Conti delivers his Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame induction speech in February 2016.
“We are very fortunate to have Alex joining our staff to help launch women’s wrestling at Buffalo State University,” Jeff Ventura, Buffalo State senior associate director of athletics, said after Conti’s hiring. “Alex brings a wealth of experience, and his passion for the sport and existing relationships in the extended wrestling community will play an instrumental role in ensuring a successful start for the program in its inaugural season.”
Conti, who wrestled collegiately at Ball State University, SUNY Brockport and Jamestown Community College, recently retired after 29 years as a physical education teacher in the Fredonia school district, including many years as a wrestling coach. He was instrumental in establishing the girls wrestling program at Fredonia High School.
“I am very excited to take on this challenge to help coach the inaugural women’s wrestling season at Buffalo State University,” Conti said upon his hiring. “We have a tremendous group of talented female wrestlers coming to campus in August. I hope the level of enthusiasm they bring to the sport matches the talent I know they have. If that happens, we will have a tremendous season — win, lose, or draw.”
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Buffalo State University announced it was adding women’s wrestling to its offerings in June of 2022.
“This extraordinary announcement represents the first intercollegiate women’s wrestling program added in SUNY,” Mike Moyer, executive director of the NWCA, said at the time. “I speak for our NWCA Board of Directors when I say that the SUNY Buffalo State administration is a trailblazer in a region where women’s intercollegiate wrestling is very underserved despite strong high school participation numbers. Creating this new opportunity for women wrestlers builds incredible momentum for our sport. Most importantly, this means more opportunities for more students. This is a win we should all be celebrating.”
Head coach Steve Hart and assistant coach Kellen Devlin were set to lead the program as of early July, but just four months before the season was set to begin, they were both let go. That’s when leaders reached out to Conti.
“Buffalo State University is committed to building a thriving women’s wrestling program, beginning with competition this fall,” interim vice president for student affairs Wayne Brumfield said in a statement at the time.
Carlene Sluberski, a 2009 Fredonia High School graduate at 2024 CSHOF inductee, is currently the head coach at D’Youville University in Buffalo. Sluberski wrestled for Conti in high school, becoming the first girl to reach the New York State Public High School Athletic Association finals in 2009.
“We’ve been working way too hard to get women’s wrestling in New York. With Section VI being the only section in the state with two women’s programs (Buffalo State and D’Youville), we couldn’t let it just fall to the wayside,” Conti said. “We couldn’t let this go away. It’s too important for every part of women’s wrestling. It’s exciting. If they follow through with the plans that they have, it’ll be the best stand-alone women’s facility in the nation — I firmly believe that.”
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Conti admitted that his recruiting class has shrunk since the coaching change, but is excited about the women he has retained to start the program.
“I’ve been in this position before running a high school program. You go out, find some athletes, and teach them how to wrestle,” he said. “The (previous) guys did a great job recruiting.”
Committed to arrive next week for orientation ahead of the first day of classes Aug. 26 are Rosaliz Aponte, Tina Evans, Sofia Ramdial, Madison Szymanowski, Hailey Hankinson, Brook Tarshis and Cecilia Williams.
Aponte hails from Fredonia and Szymanowski wrestled at Chautauqua Lake.
“To me, she has a huge upside,” Conti said of Aponte. “She’s brand new to the sport, but boy is she tough.”
Evans is from West Seneca West and “arguably the best wrestler out of Section VI,” according to Conti.
Ramdial wrestled at Shenendehowa, Hankinson at North Tonawanda and Tarshis at Pine Bush.
Williams, a 16U national champion in 2021, is from East Lansing, Michigan.
“When you have a heavyweight who learns how to wrestle as a lightweight, to me that’s the best-case scenario,” Conti said. “She’s going to open some eyes.”
Now Conti will work to build a larger team as more student-athletes arrive on campus in Buffalo.
“It’s in such an infancy across the nation that I firmly believe if we go out and find people in the commons — rugby players, softball players, soccer players — if they are willing to come out and work, I’m willing to coach them,” he said. ” … It is sometimes easier to teach somebody who doesn’t have bad habits than it is to cure some bad habits.
“People have been doing this since they were 2 years old; they grab their little brother or sister, throw them on the ground (and wrestle),” Conti joked. “If they can reach back into their childhood they can do the same thing.”
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The season opens officially Oct. 10 and carries over into the spring semester. Teams are allowed eight “flex days” to practice before and/or after the season, but with such a new team Conti is currently planning to use all of those days prior to the season.
“I will do my best to make sure this is a great year for those who stuck around. Coaching eight is a lot easier than 58. If I can get around 20 people, it will be perfect. That’s my goal,” he said. “I’m getting more excited each day that I’m working at it.”