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Steve Ciocci All-NEC, Wagner Picked Seventh

Football

Senior Offensive Lineman Steve Ciocci Named To All-NEC Preseason Team; Wagner Picked 7th In Preseason Poll

NEC PRESEASON RELEASE

Somerset, NJ –
Fifth-year senior offensive lineman Steve Ciocci (Royersford, PA / Spring-Ford) has been been named to the All-Northeast Conference (NEC) Preseason Team, it was announced by the league office today while the Seahawks were picked to finish seventh in the nine-team conference.

For the third consecutive season in 2012, the NEC champion will gain entry into the 20-team FCS Championship Game. Last year's NEC representative was Albany.  The 2012 season marks the 17th season of NEC football.

Albany was picked to win the conference, followed by Duquesne, Bryant, Central Connecticut and Monmouth. Rounding out the NEC Preseason poll was Robert Morris in sixth place, followed by Wagner, Sacred Heart and Saint Francis (PA).

The 6-4, 290-pound Ciocci has been a fixture on the right side of the offensive line the last two season and enters the 2012 campaign having drawn starting assignments in 12 consecutive games dating back to the2010 season. The battle-tested and durable Ciocci has 11 career starts at right tackle, eight at right guard and three at center. A transfer from Temple, Ciocci has started in 22 of the 30 career games that he has played.

A member of the 2011 NEC Fall Academic Honor Roll, Ciocci was a key component in an offensive line that helped spur junior running back Dominique Williams to a 1,338-yard rushing yards in 2011.

Off the field, he has made a huge impact in the Wagner and Staten Island communities with his charitable work. In July, he was nominated for the 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, a prestigious award that recognizes a select group of college football players committed to making a difference in their communities and for their commitment to volunteerism.  The 22-person 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team will be announced in September.

Last April, Ciocci was one of an elite group of six people to receive an award at Wagner's Civic Engagement Recognition Day Ceremony, which recognizes and honors exceptional individuals, departments and community partners who exemplify a sense of caring and responsibility for others that connects citizens and works to address community problems. Throughout his time on Grymes Hill, Ciocci has devoted himself to raising the profile of numerous local and national organizations within the Wagner College campus and local community. He has mobilized a host of students to participate in such events as the Relay for Life, Operation Christmas Child, visiting children in the Pediatrics Ward at Staten Island University Hospital and finding donors for the National Marrow Donor Program.

The Seahawks are under the tutelage of Walt Hameline,  who assumed the duties of athletic director and head football coach at Wagner in 1981 and begins his 32nd season in 2012 with a 204-123-2 (.622) record. Entering the 2012 season, he ranks in the Top 20 (18th) among all active NCAA coaches and was is just the eighth active Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) coach to win 200 games.

The Seahawks tied for fourth in the NEC last season at 4-4. Wagner was 4-7 overall but the Seahawks are hoping to maintain the momentum generated by a season-ending three-game winning streak, which came over Sacred Heart, Robert Morris and Monmouth.

Wagner will open the 2012 season with a road tilt at FBS member Florida Atlantic on Friday, August 31 at 7:00 pm.

NEC Preseason Poll (First Place votes in parentheses)
1. Albany (6)
2. Duquesne (1)
3. Bryant (2)
4. CCSU
5. Monmouth
6. Robert Morris 
7. Wagner
8. Sacred Heart
9.  Saint Francis (PA)
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