If you're a wrestler, the combination of young and big is not a recipe for varsity success. As an eighth-grader, Sherburne-Earlville senior Garrett DuVall made the lineup at 171 pounds, and he would occasionally move up a weight class depending on the matchup.
Most wrestlers in those weight classes have matured and grown into those divisions, and are typically juniors and seniors. "If you look at 99 and 106 pounds, most of the guys wrestling there are really good pee wee wrestlers," said Sherburne-Earlville head coach. "Garrett was young, and he was starting out in a man's weight class. From 145 pounds and up, that's the big boys."
DuVall has spent his entire career wrestling with the big boys, and he took his lumps that first season. He finished with a losing record that first year, just under the .500 mark. Now, as a senior, he's the number one seed at 220 pounds in the 2015 New York State Division II wrestling tournament.
DuVall is one of six area wrestlers competing today and tomorrow at the Times Union Arena vying for a state championship. DuVall is making his second appearance on the grandest stage for high school wrestlers, and is coming off a third-place finish at last year's tournament.
"He was the 16th seed (out of 16) in his weight class last year," Palmer said. "He lost his second match, then he never lost again."
That perseverance is a defining attribute for DuVall, who comes from a wrestling family. Palmer recalled walking on to a wrestling mat for the first time in 1976 as a young pee wee wrestler. Along side Palmer was DuVall's father, Paul DuVall. The two have remained lifelong friends, and Paul DuVall volunteers on Palmer's coaching staff. Garrett DuVall is the last of Paul's s three sons to wrestle – Gary and Greg being the first two – and will likely step away from coaching this season, something that may be a bit easier if his son is standing on top of the podium Saturday night.
"I'm glad Paul came back to Sherburne-Earlville to finish out his coaching," Palmer said. "It was great for the kids, and it's helped keep the program afloat."
Wrestlers like DuVall – and teammate Jack Buell, also a state tournament participant – are the ideal recruiters for a wrestling program. Buell has overcome numerous injuries, while DuVall has had to patiently wait for his turn.
One of the best wrestlers in Section III the past three years, surprisingly, DuVall's Section III title two weeks ago was his first. "When you're wrestling in Section III against 40 other schools, you're in a meatgrinder, and the top two or three guys are always very good," Palmer said. "The past two or three years, there has always been that outstanding senior that was ahead of Garrett."
Now Garrett DuVall is that outstanding senior. After wrestling 40-plus matches a season ago, DuVall is fairly fresh with only 22 matches this season and a 20-2 record. One of those losses came early in the season when he was under the weather, and the second was three weeks ago in the Section III Class C final when he struggled to get off the bottom in a two-point loss to Elijah Sampo of Canastota.
DuVall didn't get to avenge that Section III loss to Sampo, but DuVall did beat the kid – William Hilliard of Phoenix – who decisively defeated Sampo in the sectional tournament. That trio of 220-pounders is chock full of talent, and landed the top three seeds in the state tournament.
By Palmer's account, DuVall matches up well with anyone in his bracket, but the S-E coach will not spend a lot of time analyzing potential opponents. His thought is that it will all be settled on the mat. "A lot of people thought Garrett was the underdog against Hilliard. I didn't, as a coach, because they hadn't wrestled before," Palmer said. "Matches aren't decided by talk, they're settled on the mat."
Preliminary wrestling matches begin today at 10 a.m. and semifinals are slated Saturday at 10 a.m. with finals scheduled at 6 p.m.