ALBANY – Greene juniors Tyler Beckwith and Nick Wilcox are best friends who dreamt of winning New York State wrestling titles as youngsters. It was a Wilcox second that preceded a Beckwith first Saturday night at the Times Union Center, and those accomplishments enabled the Trojans to set a new program standard.
Wilcox won his second New York title – and first in three years – taking the Division II 125-pound crown, and Beckwith, who lost in the state finals a year ago, won his first state championship taking the D-II 171-pound championship. It was the first time the Trojans put two wrestlers in the state finals in the same year, and obviously the first time in Greene history that two young men returned to Greene with state championship medals in hand.
“When we went to MAWAs and little kids nationals, we always dreamed of being like Sherwood Fendryk and Jake Hoyt (Greene state champions),” Beckwith said after his title win. “For us to win two titles feels great.”
Wilcox set the tone for Greene’s championship double-dip with a 6-4 win over Section IV’s Sean Walton. Wilcox, who has been in the state finals after each of his three Section IV titles, picked up a four-point move in the first period, and escapes in the second and third periods.
“It feels wicked good, but I’m still upset about last year,” Wilcox said, referring to last year when he was not eligible for postseason tournaments. “I’m thinking this should have been my third (state title), but I’ll take two...two is definitely better than one.”
Beckwith, a one-point loser in the state finals at 171 pounds a year ago, had no difficulties in a 7-0 shutout over Vinny Gallo of Section II. Beckwith pinned his first opponent, and did not allow any points in any of his ensuing bouts. Included in the mix was a 15-0 technical fall of defending state champion Cody Hutcheson of Section V in the semifinals. Hutcheson was the very same wrestler who nipped Beckwith for the state title a year ago.
“People were saying last year I was supposed to be the favorite, just like this year,” Beckwith said. “This year I came into the tournament more mentally prepared, and not overconfident like I was last year. I just went in and wrestled like it was any other match.”
B-GA brought an area-high four wrestlers to the Division II tournament. Wayne Cirigliano (112), Danny Gormley (119), and Chris Burnett (135) all won matches, but failed to place. Senior Victor Coronado, a wild-card entry into the tournament, advanced to the state finals where he met up with Waverly’s Brian Sewalt for the third straight week. Like the first two meetings, Sewalt prevailed, this time by a 1-0 count at 145 pounds.
Coronado was unable to record a takedown, something head coach Brandon MacNaught thought would be critical to his wrestler’s chances, and the senior B-GA grappler was unable to escape in the final two-minute period to tie the match up. “Sewalt has got excellent defense and he wrestled a good match,” said Bears coach Brandon MacNaught. “(Victor) did a good job – he didn’t wrestle bad – he just couldn’t get that point off the bottom.”
Oxford senior Travis Frank won one of three matches in the 189-pound Division I bracket. He dropped his opening match by third-period pin, beat Josue Cardenas of Section I, 7-5 in overtime in the first round of wrestlebacks, then dropped a 3-2 decision to Marcus Spearman of Section IX.
Unadilla Valley’s Tyler Peet found himself in a tough draw finishing 1-2 in the Division I, 135-pound weight class. Peet dropped a 6-4 decision to Paul Liguori of Section VIII, who went on to place third. Peet easily won his wrestleback opener before meeting up with Section IV’s Josh Halladay of Johnson City. Peet defeated Halladay the prior weekend, but dropped a 4-2 overtime decision. Halladay went on to place fourth.
Section IV placed second in the Division II team standings, just 4 1/2 points behind Section V. In Division I, Section IV was well back in team scoring placing eighth out of 12 sections.