Norwich wins first STAC title in 24 years


Wrestling

JOHNSON CITY – Norwich is already ahead of last season's pace, and the 2013-2014 season was a pretty good one for the Tornado grapplers.
Norwich captured its first STAC championship in 24 years winning three individual titles and placing nine wrestlers among the top five.
Tristan Rifanburg (145), a finalist in all six of his STAC tourneys, won his fifth league title and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler. Rifanburg won by pin or technical fall en route to his crown, and blasted U-E's Tristan Martin, 16-0, win by technical fall in just 3:25 for the crown. "It was typical Tristan – he didn't make mistakes," said Norwich coach Terry Hagenbuch. "It was a very deserving honor."
Frank Garcia (152) captured his third STAC title, and Dalen Geislinger (113) shook off a dual meet loss from earlier in the week to nail down a trio of NHS championships.
Just a season ago, Norwich came up short in this event, but followed that up with Class B and Section IV Division II titles. The first leg of this triple crown is already in the books, and Norwich is likely the favorite to repeat the next two weeks.
"There are different dynamics between dual meets and tournaments, and things have to happen that are out of your control," Hagenbuch said. "I think this team is definitely a better tournament team than a dual meet team, but we're still a good dual meet team. (This win) is definitely satisfying, and any time you beat the Triple Cities teams, including the defending champions, it's good for our program."
Geislinger lost to Chenango Forks' Pat Borelli earlier in the week, but easily dispatched Borelli, 9-2, to reach the finals. Geislinger then upended Paddy Lupole by a wide margin for his first STAC crown. "It was an emotional night earlier in the week, not just for the seniors, but for the rest of the guys on the team. 'Gunny' is close to the three seniors, and it took its toll," Hagenbuch said. "We knew he would wrestle much better this weekend, and the Dalen that wrestled this weekend is the one that we know."
Garcia plowed forward with a technical fall win over Vestal's Rob Mastronardi for his third title. Meanwhile, Ty Rifanburg (120) had his best STAC tournament in three seasons placing second to top-seeded Derek Osman of Vestal. Rifanburg lost a 5-3 decision, but nearly earned the decisive back points in the final minute.
Five other Norwich wrestlers placed among the top five to pad the Tornado's point total.
"For the most part, I think we met or exceeded expectations," Hagenbuch said. "We had a little bit of a lull (during the season), but our goal is to peak at the end of the year, and we're starting to wrestle the way we need to for the end of the year."
Norwich is at Greene on Tuesday for its final dual meet of the season.
STAC Championships
Team scoring
Norwich, 197.5; Vestal, 185.5; Elmira, 169; U-E, 144.5; Susquehanna Valley, 141.5; Johnson City, 133.5; Windsor, 121; Chenango Valley, 116; Chenango Forks, 108; Owego, 94.5; Horseheads, 84; Corning, 77.5; Maine-Endwell, 77.5; Binghamton, 47; Oneonta, 36.5; Ithaca, 12.
Norwich results
First place: Dalen Geislinger (113), Tristan Rifanburg (145), Frank Garcia (152)
Second place: Ty Rifanburg (120)
Third place: Cole Rifanburg (132), Nick Murphy (138)
Fourth Place: Elijah Rodriguez (99)
Fifth place: Carter Hubbard (126), Zach Mills (113).

Deposit-Hancock edges Bears for MAC crown
OTEGO – Deposit-Hancock put seven wrestlers in the finals – and won three titles – to top runner-up B-G/A/H in the MAC Wrestling Championships Saturday at Unatego High School.
The Bears went unbeaten this season in dual meet competition, and that included a 36-27 victory over the Eagles on Jan. 22.
B-G/A/H captured two titles with Jake Andrews winning at 145 pounds, and Madison Hoover following that up with a win at 152.
Oxford's lone titleist was Nate Hansen (120), who earned an 8-0 major decision over Deposit-Hancock's Cooper Hall.
MAC Team scoring
Deposit-Hancock, 174; B-G/A/H, 161; Walton, 107.5; Unatego, 93.5; Oxford, 83; Greene, 75.5; Sidney, 74; Unadilla Valley, 57; Delhi, 35.
MAC Finals
99: Caleb Robinson (W) pinned Owen Wormuth (DH), 3:24. 106: Brandon Macumber (DH) pinned Brendan Gager (Ox), :38. 113: Dean Raymond (DH) pinned Devin Todd (DH), 1:54. 120: Nate Hansen (Ox) dec. Cooper Hall (DH), 8-0. 126: Austin Ryan (Un) dec. Kevin Hubbard (BGAH), 4-1. 132: Dylan Wood (Wal) dec. Ben Bivar (BGAH), 8-3. 138: Nate Banks (Gr) dec. Colby Hall (DH), 6-5. 145: Jake Andrews (BGAH) dec. Tyler Dickman (Gr), 5-2. 152: Madison Hoover (BGAH) dec. Trey Mostert (Del), 9-0. 160: Dylan Gifford (Sid) dec. Austin Carr (BGAH), 7-2. 170: Nick Jump (Sid) pinned Dawson Beers (Wal), 1:42. 182: Nate Wilsey (Un) dec. Mitch Weist (BGAH), 7-3. 195: Riley Hanrahan (Un) pinned Erik Eldred (Ox), 1:00. 220: Zach Gifford (DH) dec. Alex Avolio (UV), 3-2. 285: Austin Dean (S) pinned Richie Conklin (UV), 3:57.

Boys' Swimming

Greene 89, Norwich 85
GREENE – With the final outcome still in the balance, Greene earned just its third win of the night capturing the meet-closing 400 freestyle relay in Friday's victory over visiting Norwich.
"It came down to the last race, and I expected no less," said Greene coach Mike Platta. "Our kids swam great, and their kids swam great."
Norwich was outmanned by better than a two-to-one margin in total manpower, but had nine victories to offset that depth. Killian Benedict took the 100 and 200 freestyles; Dan Zieno won the 50 free and 100 butterly; Ricky Finnegan was victorious in diving; Bruce Winter won the 100 breaststroke; Jon Manwarren won the 200 individual medley; and Connor Supensky claimed a win in the 100 backstroke.
The Trojans won two of the three relays, and Scott Lord brought home a win in the 500 free. Lord, Ryan Markham, Gray Reid, and Craig Lord combined to win the final event.
"We just had too much depth for them, but I've been on both sides where we had a lot of quantity (in swimmers) or had to rely on quality," Platta said. "It was a competitive meet, and Norwich put up a good fight."
Greene (3-3-1) is at Oneonta Tuesday.
Results
200 medley relay: (G), 1:59.71, Liam Reid, Kurt Hendershott, Garrett Mowatt, Craig Lord. 200 free: (N) Killian Benedict, 1:59.08. 200 IM: (N) Jon Manwarren, 2:21.64. 50 free: (N) Dan Zieno, 24.69. Diving: (N) Ricky Finnegan, 190.90. 100 fly: (N) Zieno, 1:02.16. 100 free: (N) Benedict, 52.07. 500 free: (G) Scott Lord, 6:04.93. 200 free relay: (N), 1:44.15, Bruce Winter, Manwarren, Zieno, Benedict. 100 back: (N) Connor Supensky, 1:10.43. 100 breaststroke: (N) Winter, 1:13.60. 400 free relay: (G), 3:55.04, Ryan Markham, Gray Reid, C. Lord, S. Lord.

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