Andy Malnoske, sports director of WETM-TV (NBC 18 in Elmira, NY), has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Eastern Athletic Communications Association (EAST-COMM) Monahan and Wallace Media Award.
 

The Monahan and Wallace Media Award is bestowed upon an individual or organization in either print or electronic media "for outstanding coverage of eastern intercollegiate athletics." The award is named after longtime sportswriters Bob Monahan of the Boston Globe and Bill Wallace of the New York Times, both former winners of the award.
 

Malnoske is a two-time Emmy Award-winning journalist – having won in October 2024 with WETM-TV (Sports Story of The Year (News Single Shift) and in May 2015 with WENY-TV (Best On-Air Camera Talent Reporter for Feature Stories). Both Emmy Awards for Malnoske are the first and only in Elmira market history which spans nearly 70 years.
 

Overall, Malnoske is a seven-time Emmy Nominee who has won multiple Edward R. Murrow Awards for regional sports reporting – including in four of the last seven years putting his work up for national story of the year.
 

At this past year's New York State Emmy Awards ceremony in Manhattan, Malnoske describes the emotion of taking home one of the biggest honors in the television industry.
 

"You're sitting down there, and you don't know if you're going to win or not, just sitting in the crowd, and you see your name against SNY, and WPIX, MSG, and then there's WETM, you know?" Malnoske said. "I just think it doesn't matter where you're at, it's how good can you tell the story."
 

A 2002 graduate of Horseheads (N.Y.) High School, Malnoske has the honor of being the sports director at a station that serves his hometown. He has earned several broadcasting awards from the New York State Associated Press, Syracuse Press Club and NYS Broadcasters Association.
 

In 2023, Malnoske was inducted into the Chemung County Sports Hall of Fame. One year later, he was inducted into the East Coast Professional Wrestling (ECPW) Hall of Fame.
 

A standout wrestler in high school, Malnoske has made multiple appearances as an announcer for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and is currently the play-by-play announcer for Cornell University wrestling.
 

Malnoske is a 2007 graduate of Ithaca College who received the school's Young Alumnus of the Year award in 2016. He earned his master's degree from Shippensburg University in 2008.
 

"It's hard to believe this is my 17th year of doing this, and there's still not a day when I don't come through these doors and feel inspired to come here," Malnoske said. "I'm ready to work."
 


Included below excerpts of a conversation with Malnoske conducted earlier this year.
 
EAST-COMM: What allures you to television storytelling versus another medium?
 
ANDY MALNOSKE: Television is still a window to the world. (It allows us) to tell great stories – compelling stories that connect with viewers and connect with people. You become a conversation piece forever. What better way to live your life than to be somebody who someone can look to and say, 'Hey, he knows his stuff, but also he's going to do it the right way.' There's no greater honor than that – to be a part of someone's history when you see it visually. We are a visual society. I think everyone expected this downfall like other mediums, but we're lucky in the sense that the audience is very loyal and very dedicated. We still have strong numbers here in local news and there always will be a place for it, I think. We're lucky to be able to serve as that place.
 
EAST-COMM: What keeps you going?
 
ANDY MALNOSKE: The desire to tell a great story. Because that, if you do it right, is timeless. I'm so lucky. If you don't practice your life with gratitude, it's not going to be great for you. I'm just so lucky to be here and have the opportunities that presented themselves, I don't take it for granted. I think that's really important. You always have to be thankful for what you have, because it could be gone in a day. This all could change tomorrow, so live in the moment, and just keep being you – being authentic.
 
Professionally, beating a deadline every single day. In the podcast culture, in online digital journalism, a lot of places deadlines don't exist anymore. We still have that. There's certain days where, as you know, it can be more challenging than the next one. But we want to make sure we keep it rolling, and we do.
 
EAST-COMM: Can you describe your interactions with sports information professionals at the collegiate level through your work as a reporter and as a broadcaster?
 
ANDY MALNOSKE: Here in Elmira, we're in a unique spot that we're 20 minutes away from Pennsylvania, so we have quite a coverage area. For us, it's realizing and doing your homework. With a smaller staff, you just can't cover it all. You want to – you really do – but practicality has to settle in at some point. It's a business where you just can't please everybody. You try every day to do so.
 
But for us, in our DMA, we have Cornell University, Ithaca College, we have Corning Community College, there's Mansfield, there's Elmira College, Binghamton is only about an hour away, there's Alfred University. All of these schools we have covered at some point. There are great stories everywhere. They're all around us. That's our job is to stay hungry as storytellers to put out this timeless and compelling work, and we rely heavily on those staffs. The old rule of thumb is that you can't cover what you don't hear about. It definitely complements each other, so we're very thankful and we've been very fortunate to have a lot of great people up here. You rely heavily on those individuals, and I like to think most of them are great people to the point that they want to help you.
 
EAST-COMM: What has the experience been like handling the wrestling play-by-play at Cornell?
 
ANDY MALNOSKE: Cornell Wrestling on ESPN+ has been special for me. The Big Red finished second in the country behind Penn State just a couple of years ago and had a Top 10 finish again this year. Cornell has been very good to me. They know that when I get up there, I get in my element, and it's showtime. I put the headset on and I'm ready to go. College sports has obviously changed so much in just the last couple of years, for all of the obvious reasons, but the Ivy League is also trying to stick to its traditions as best as it can and maximize its future.
 
EAST-COMM: What motivates you?
 
ANDY MALNOSKE: I think for me, it was always having big goals and big aspirations. It was never to do something just for the sake of doing it. If you're going to do it, you want to excel. And you want to put everything you've got into the tank. I think it's all about paying your dues and making sure that you're going to be the one that's going to pay a higher price to do those things. WWE was always my dream, ever since I was a little kid. I've been very lucky over the years to make some appearances for them, some co-announcing, promotion, but I've never felt like that was 'making it.' There's always the next story or the next thing to do. To get there and to even get a look by that company, I'm very thankful for the opportunities.
 
In television, I had one goal in mind – to come back here – if I was ever going to get that shot to be an on-air sports anchor – I wanted to be the greatest of all time. That was my goal. That's not for me to decide, that's for people to decide. Because it's their sports desk – the community – it belongs to them. It's such a subjective term, being the greatest, that's not why you do it – that's a goal in mind. It's more of a mindset that you have to have. There are times where I'm pretty exhausted, like we all are, and it's 2 AM, and should I pump this web article out? If you want to be the greatest, you should probably do it. That's where I'm at – even to this day.
 
EAST-COMM: What perspective can you take from your work?
 
ANDY MALNOSKE: You love it so much, but it doesn't always love you back. I think about the years of when I was doing ring announcing, play-by-play and college wrestling, and this job – I was doing four or five different things for years. When our two kids started to get a bit older, I started to say, OK, what do I really need? It's not fair to my children or my wife for that matter. Always give your kids the time that they deserve, they are only young once. Everything else since then has shifted my priorities and I look at things professionally as icing on the cake.