Wrestling

LOCH SHELDRAKE – In a testament of the tourney’s difficulty, state champions and state finalists often found themselves wrestling in the consolation rounds at the Eastern States Classic at Sullivan Community College this past weekend.
Avoiding the upset loss was Greene sophomore Christian Dietrich. One of the top-ranked sophomores at 182 pounds in the country, Dietrich won six matches to become the lone Chenango County grappler to grab a title at the prestigious regular-season tournament.
Dietrich, a Division II state runner-up a season ago, won six matches over the two-day tourney including a 3-0 victory over South Jefferson's Daniel Smith. It was the second win over Smith this season, and the third since last year's state tournament.
Also placing were Norwich's Tristan Rifanburg and Frankie Garcia.
Rifanburg (138) won seven out of eight matches over the two days. He suffered a 6-4 quarterfinals setback to Sam Ward of Locust Valley in a rematch of last year's state semifinal. Ward earned an early takedown and two back points, and held on for the victory.
Rifanburg bounced back to win four straight wrestleback matches to place third beating fourth-seeded Matt Caputo of North Rockland, 2-0, in his final match.
"I'm not as concerned losing to Ward now as I would be in March (at the state championships), said Norwich coach Terry Hagenbuch. "It was a good match, and Tristan definitely came back to close the gap."
Garcia advanced to the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Richard Viruet of Springfield Central, Massachusetts, 6-4. Garcia then dropped a 1-0 final to Zach Lugo of Deer Park before beating Shenendehowa's Jesse Porter, 1-0 for fifth place.
"Size was definitely a factor (against Viruet)," Hagenbuch said. "He was a big kid who got out to a lead, but Frankie has really good stamina and got himself back in the match. It was just a little too late."
Norwich returns to the mat Tuesday when it visits Johnson City.

Two Bears win titles at Central New York Tournament
VERNON – At the Central New York Tournament Saturday, B-G/A/H's Chris Cirigliano and Jesse Griswold won titles to help the Bears to a seventh-place finish out of 21 entered teams.
In a matchup of returning state place-winners, Cirigliano (106) beat Mexico's Theo Powers, 8-1 in the finals. Griswold, who has dropped down to 145 pounds, won his title bout over John Mazza of Central Valley Academy, 4-3.