Number four in Section IV for Greene’s Beckwith
BINGHAMTON – It was number four in Section IV for the 2010 Section IV Small School Division’s most outstanding wrestler, Tyler Beckwith of Greene.
Beckwith won his fourth straight section championship beating Lansing’s Jon Glennon for the 171-pound championship. Beckwith’s title was one of five for Chenango County wrestlers Saturday night at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, although a few others may earn wild-card bids. Sherburne-Earlville’s Tyi Franklin captured a Section III Small School title Saturday at the Utica Auditorium.
“It was a great match wrestling (Glennon) again,” said Beckwith, who raised four fingers twice after the win to signify his accomplishment.
Beckwith was facing Glennon for the third time this season, and the first two matchups ended in one-point wins for the unbeaten Trojans wrestler. This time, Beckwith made some subtle adjustments, and closed out Glennon, 7-1.
“This time I stopped his offense,” Beckwith said. “I stuck with my game plan and rode him out. The first two times, I didn’t ride him and let him up. Now I know I can ride him. Winning the scrambles was big because he’s a good scrambler.”
Beckwith had a takedown and two back points in the opening period building a nearly insurmountable advantage for someone of his talent and experience.
Starting off the Division II championships with Norwich’s first sectional title in five years was seventh-grader Tristan Rifanburg. Rifanburg was all over Unatego’s Austin Ryan from the start picking up an easy takedown in the opening seconds, then scoring almost at will en route to a dominating 13-1 win. Rifanburg had two first-period pins and a 9-0 decision win in the semifinals to set up his championship.
“Tristan did a great job, he went out and took the kid down in the first 10 seconds and wrestled smart,” said Norwich coach Joe Downey. “He rode the guy, turned him, and tilted him every which way. He’s going to be tough (at states). We’ll work hard the next two weeks getting him ready and making him believe that he belongs up there. As long as he keeps wrestling the way he is and goes after kids like he did today, he should do well.”
B-G/Afton’s Danny Gormley gave his club its lone sectional title winning a comfortable 7-0 decision over Chenango Valley’s highly regarded Adam Greene.
Gormley, noted for his dominant game riding out opponents, had a takedown in each of the first two periods, and added some back points for good measure in the second period to take a 7-0 decision in the 125-pound division. It will be Gormley’s fourth trip to the state tournament, who did not place last year, but came in sixth as a freshman in 2008.
Nick Wilcox (130) of Greene, already a two-time state champion, was in top form throughout the tournament, and cruised to a 15-0 technical fall win over Tioga’s Kenny Manuel. Not unlike Norwich’s Rifanburg, Wilcox had his way on his feet and on the mat scoring takedowns and multiple sets of back points to close the match out at the 5:24 mark.
In what was perhaps the biggest surprise of the finals, Tyler Beckwith’s younger brother, freshman Mike Beckwith, stunned top seed Devin Soper of Waverly, 7-3. Soper, sixth in the state last year for the Wolverines, gave up a second period reversal to trail 4-1 entering the last period. Soper reversed Beckwith in the third, and pressed the action, but gave up an escape to Beckwith and a late takedown to the game Trojan.
“It was a huge win for him,” said Beckwith’s older brother Tyler, who chimed in with the Greene coaching staff offering Mike Beckwith instruction during his finals match. “It was great to win titles with him this year. Before the tournament, (Mike) told me he wasn’t letting me go without him winning too. He had a lot of tough losses this year, but he has a lot of heart, and the competition got him ready for this tournament.”
Franklin, a senior for the Marauders, made an emotional run through his last Section III tournament. He defeated the top seed, Jeron Tanner, 3-2 in the semifinals, then led the entire way against Eric Stevens of Holland Patent in the finals taking a 6-2 decision for the 103-pound title. The victory avenged a loss to Stevens earlier this season, and gives S-E its first state tournament representative in two seasons.
"It was just a great win for Tyi and he had a lot of emotion," said S-E assistant coach Brian Hicks. "We felt it could go to any one of the top three wrestlers, and we knew Tyi could do it."
Elsewhere, Unadilla Valley’s Tyler Peet lost a 5-1 decision at 140 pounds to defending section and state champion, Derek Heyman of Tioga. Heyman was top-notch on his feet recording a pair of takedowns for the margin of victory.
“We thought the match would be decided on the feet,” said UV coach Jim DuVall. “Heyman is just that good.”
UV’s Zach Montgomery, coming back to wrestling after a year layoff, finished third at 152 pounds with his only loss a decision to eventual champion, Darin Wignall of Deposit-Hancock. UV eighth-grader, Lucas Lyons, was fifth at 112 pounds. “We have a young team, and I knew the Class D championship last week was our team’s big hurrah,” DuVall said. “I was pretty pleased with the team overall. I knew this tournament would be tough.”
Norwich came away with two runner-up finishers in Frankie Garcia at 103 pounds and Tanner Cummings at 112. Kegan Levesque was fourth at 189.
Garcia, wrestling Windsor’s Jesse Holton for the fifth time this season, fell 2-0 in overtime. Garcia had won three of the four prior meetings including a 3-0 decision the previous weekend at the Class B Tournament.
Cummings, facing defending sectional champion Kyle Dake of Lansing, proved dominant from the top riding position, but was unable to match Dake on his feet giving up two takedowns in a 6-0 defeat. “The way I know Frankie, he’ll be with me all summer and he’ll come back next year ready to go,” Downey said. “Tanner wrestled just amazing the last two weeks. He was dominant on top, unfortunately, Dake was a little better on his feet. He’ll also be with me all summer, and he’ll work on what he needs to do to get better.”
B-G/Afton’s Paul Parsons (145) had the early advantage on Tioga’s top-seeded Josh Manuel, but did not score after the first period dropping a 6-2 decision. The Bears’ Vinnie Buttice (160) gave up an early takedown and back points to Deposit-Hancock’s Derek Wignall, and fell in the finals, 14-6.
For Greene, Jacob Shearer (119) put forth a spirited battle against defending sectional champion Colton Perry of Windsor dropping a 3-2 decision in the finals. Kurt Shear (189) traded leads with top-seeded Ryan Todd of Lansing, and came up on the short end in the championship match, 7-6. Greene 215-pounder Kyle Stanton was unable to put a stain on unbeaten top seed Noah Sibley’s mark losing 11-0.
Oxford’s top finish came from Eric Frank, who wound up fifth overall at 140 pounds.
DuVall, despite the finals loss, is a good bet to earn a wild-card entry into the state tournament. Danny Cleveland at 145 pounds finished fourth and Derrick Nelson was fifth at 285. Cleveland and Nelson each entered the tournament as drawn-in unseeded wrestlers. "We finished sixth (out of 34 teams), and that's the best we've finished since we came back to Section III," Hicks said. "We were very happy just to be in the top 10, and we finished ahead of everyone in our league."
The New York State Wrestling Tournament is scheduled Feb. 26-27 at the Times Union Arena in Albany.
Local place-winners
B-G/Afton (top four only)
125: Danny Gormley (1); 135: Chris Burnett (4), 145: Paul Parsons (2), 160: Vinnie Buttice (2)
Greene (top-four only)
119: Jake Shearer (2), 130: Nick Wilcox (1), Dan Dickman (4); 135: Mike Beckwith (1), 140: Mikail Brown (3), 160: Keegan Cerwinski (3), 171: Tyler Beckwith (1), 189: Kurt Shear (2), 215: Kyle Stanton (2).
Norwich
96: Tristan Rifanburg (1). 103: Frankie Garcia (2), 112: Tanner Cummings (2), 189: Kegan Levesque (4).
Oxford
112: Jeremiah Winter (6); 140: Eric Frank (5).
Sherburne-Earlville
103: Tyi Franklin (1); 135: Greg DuVall (2); 145: Danny Cleveland (4). 285: Derrick Nelson (5).
Unadilla Valley
112: Lucas Lyons (5); 140: Tyler Peet (2); 152: Zach Montgomery (3).
Beckwith won his fourth straight section championship beating Lansing’s Jon Glennon for the 171-pound championship. Beckwith’s title was one of five for Chenango County wrestlers Saturday night at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, although a few others may earn wild-card bids. Sherburne-Earlville’s Tyi Franklin captured a Section III Small School title Saturday at the Utica Auditorium.
“It was a great match wrestling (Glennon) again,” said Beckwith, who raised four fingers twice after the win to signify his accomplishment.
Beckwith was facing Glennon for the third time this season, and the first two matchups ended in one-point wins for the unbeaten Trojans wrestler. This time, Beckwith made some subtle adjustments, and closed out Glennon, 7-1.
“This time I stopped his offense,” Beckwith said. “I stuck with my game plan and rode him out. The first two times, I didn’t ride him and let him up. Now I know I can ride him. Winning the scrambles was big because he’s a good scrambler.”
Beckwith had a takedown and two back points in the opening period building a nearly insurmountable advantage for someone of his talent and experience.
Starting off the Division II championships with Norwich’s first sectional title in five years was seventh-grader Tristan Rifanburg. Rifanburg was all over Unatego’s Austin Ryan from the start picking up an easy takedown in the opening seconds, then scoring almost at will en route to a dominating 13-1 win. Rifanburg had two first-period pins and a 9-0 decision win in the semifinals to set up his championship.
“Tristan did a great job, he went out and took the kid down in the first 10 seconds and wrestled smart,” said Norwich coach Joe Downey. “He rode the guy, turned him, and tilted him every which way. He’s going to be tough (at states). We’ll work hard the next two weeks getting him ready and making him believe that he belongs up there. As long as he keeps wrestling the way he is and goes after kids like he did today, he should do well.”
B-G/Afton’s Danny Gormley gave his club its lone sectional title winning a comfortable 7-0 decision over Chenango Valley’s highly regarded Adam Greene.
Gormley, noted for his dominant game riding out opponents, had a takedown in each of the first two periods, and added some back points for good measure in the second period to take a 7-0 decision in the 125-pound division. It will be Gormley’s fourth trip to the state tournament, who did not place last year, but came in sixth as a freshman in 2008.
Nick Wilcox (130) of Greene, already a two-time state champion, was in top form throughout the tournament, and cruised to a 15-0 technical fall win over Tioga’s Kenny Manuel. Not unlike Norwich’s Rifanburg, Wilcox had his way on his feet and on the mat scoring takedowns and multiple sets of back points to close the match out at the 5:24 mark.
In what was perhaps the biggest surprise of the finals, Tyler Beckwith’s younger brother, freshman Mike Beckwith, stunned top seed Devin Soper of Waverly, 7-3. Soper, sixth in the state last year for the Wolverines, gave up a second period reversal to trail 4-1 entering the last period. Soper reversed Beckwith in the third, and pressed the action, but gave up an escape to Beckwith and a late takedown to the game Trojan.
“It was a huge win for him,” said Beckwith’s older brother Tyler, who chimed in with the Greene coaching staff offering Mike Beckwith instruction during his finals match. “It was great to win titles with him this year. Before the tournament, (Mike) told me he wasn’t letting me go without him winning too. He had a lot of tough losses this year, but he has a lot of heart, and the competition got him ready for this tournament.”
Franklin, a senior for the Marauders, made an emotional run through his last Section III tournament. He defeated the top seed, Jeron Tanner, 3-2 in the semifinals, then led the entire way against Eric Stevens of Holland Patent in the finals taking a 6-2 decision for the 103-pound title. The victory avenged a loss to Stevens earlier this season, and gives S-E its first state tournament representative in two seasons.
"It was just a great win for Tyi and he had a lot of emotion," said S-E assistant coach Brian Hicks. "We felt it could go to any one of the top three wrestlers, and we knew Tyi could do it."
Elsewhere, Unadilla Valley’s Tyler Peet lost a 5-1 decision at 140 pounds to defending section and state champion, Derek Heyman of Tioga. Heyman was top-notch on his feet recording a pair of takedowns for the margin of victory.
“We thought the match would be decided on the feet,” said UV coach Jim DuVall. “Heyman is just that good.”
UV’s Zach Montgomery, coming back to wrestling after a year layoff, finished third at 152 pounds with his only loss a decision to eventual champion, Darin Wignall of Deposit-Hancock. UV eighth-grader, Lucas Lyons, was fifth at 112 pounds. “We have a young team, and I knew the Class D championship last week was our team’s big hurrah,” DuVall said. “I was pretty pleased with the team overall. I knew this tournament would be tough.”
Norwich came away with two runner-up finishers in Frankie Garcia at 103 pounds and Tanner Cummings at 112. Kegan Levesque was fourth at 189.
Garcia, wrestling Windsor’s Jesse Holton for the fifth time this season, fell 2-0 in overtime. Garcia had won three of the four prior meetings including a 3-0 decision the previous weekend at the Class B Tournament.
Cummings, facing defending sectional champion Kyle Dake of Lansing, proved dominant from the top riding position, but was unable to match Dake on his feet giving up two takedowns in a 6-0 defeat. “The way I know Frankie, he’ll be with me all summer and he’ll come back next year ready to go,” Downey said. “Tanner wrestled just amazing the last two weeks. He was dominant on top, unfortunately, Dake was a little better on his feet. He’ll also be with me all summer, and he’ll work on what he needs to do to get better.”
B-G/Afton’s Paul Parsons (145) had the early advantage on Tioga’s top-seeded Josh Manuel, but did not score after the first period dropping a 6-2 decision. The Bears’ Vinnie Buttice (160) gave up an early takedown and back points to Deposit-Hancock’s Derek Wignall, and fell in the finals, 14-6.
For Greene, Jacob Shearer (119) put forth a spirited battle against defending sectional champion Colton Perry of Windsor dropping a 3-2 decision in the finals. Kurt Shear (189) traded leads with top-seeded Ryan Todd of Lansing, and came up on the short end in the championship match, 7-6. Greene 215-pounder Kyle Stanton was unable to put a stain on unbeaten top seed Noah Sibley’s mark losing 11-0.
Oxford’s top finish came from Eric Frank, who wound up fifth overall at 140 pounds.
DuVall, despite the finals loss, is a good bet to earn a wild-card entry into the state tournament. Danny Cleveland at 145 pounds finished fourth and Derrick Nelson was fifth at 285. Cleveland and Nelson each entered the tournament as drawn-in unseeded wrestlers. "We finished sixth (out of 34 teams), and that's the best we've finished since we came back to Section III," Hicks said. "We were very happy just to be in the top 10, and we finished ahead of everyone in our league."
The New York State Wrestling Tournament is scheduled Feb. 26-27 at the Times Union Arena in Albany.
Local place-winners
B-G/Afton (top four only)
125: Danny Gormley (1); 135: Chris Burnett (4), 145: Paul Parsons (2), 160: Vinnie Buttice (2)
Greene (top-four only)
119: Jake Shearer (2), 130: Nick Wilcox (1), Dan Dickman (4); 135: Mike Beckwith (1), 140: Mikail Brown (3), 160: Keegan Cerwinski (3), 171: Tyler Beckwith (1), 189: Kurt Shear (2), 215: Kyle Stanton (2).
Norwich
96: Tristan Rifanburg (1). 103: Frankie Garcia (2), 112: Tanner Cummings (2), 189: Kegan Levesque (4).
Oxford
112: Jeremiah Winter (6); 140: Eric Frank (5).
Sherburne-Earlville
103: Tyi Franklin (1); 135: Greg DuVall (2); 145: Danny Cleveland (4). 285: Derrick Nelson (5).
Unadilla Valley
112: Lucas Lyons (5); 140: Tyler Peet (2); 152: Zach Montgomery (3).
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