CENTRAL VALLEY – The Norwich Purple Tornado were busy this past weekend when the varsity wrestling team took the Leo J. Sammon Memorial Tournament by storm – claiming a four individual champions en route to a second place team finish.
Norwich ultimately edged out Camden for the second place team finish, on Jan. 7, when Norwich amassed 262.5 points taking second place only to the home team Central Valley who won the tournament with a massive 351 points.
Norwich saw champions at 120 pounds in Nick Glanville, 152 pounds in Cole Rifanburg, 170 pounds in Jake Franklin, and 182 pounds in Brennan Slater.
99 pounds: Norwich's Dante Geislinger took home a fifth place finish in the tournament. Geislinger finished the day going 3-2 in his matches, as he fell to Central Valley's Marek Bush by pin in the quarterfinals before wrestling back for a fifth place win over Joey Reed of Mexico – a win by pin at 2:23.
106 pounds: Norwich's Mike Squires grabbed a semifinal win to make an appearance in the finals at the weight class. However, fell to Jon Charles of Central Valley by a 6-1 decision in the finals for a second place finish, going 3-1 on the day.
113 pounds: Norwich's Eli Rodriguez nearly snagged a first place finish at the tournament, however, fell victim to the wrestler voted Most Outstanding Wrestler in Little Falls Neiko Scarano by a score of 3-2. Rodriguez finished with a second place finish going 4-1 on the day.
120 pounds: Norwich saw their first of four champions crowned on the day when Nick Glanville emerged to take the weight class by storm. Glanville four wins – all four by pin – en route to his finals match where he defeated Hunter Williams of Camden by a score of 3-1.
126 pounds: Norwich's Chris Cabalero saw action this last weekend, scratching and clawing his way into a respectable finish at sixth place. Cabalero finished 2-3 on the day of wrestling, while claiming wins over Poland's Garret Jones and William Clark – both pins – before suffering his last loss to Kyle Dimon of Mexico by a decision of 5-3 for the sixth place spot.
132 pounds: Seth Wessels was unable to secure a placing spot in the tournament for the Tornado. Wessels did enjoy one win out of four at the weight, defeating Nick Feasel of Little Falls by a pin at 3:23.
138 pounds: Norwich entered two wrestlers into the weight – Dakota Powers and Austyn Hatton – neither claimed a placing spot in the tournament. Powers finished the day 1-3 on on the day, taking a win over Dane George of Cortland by injury default. Hatton would finish 1-3 on the day as well – pinning his one opponent for the win in 4:49.
145 pounds: Ty Rifanburg fell short of a championship tournament goal when he lost an early back to Daniel Alberico of Camden by a major decision at 10-1. Following the early loss, Ty ripped his way back through the tournament to take a third place finish with a win 9-3 over Liverpool's Zachery Curcie.
152 pounds: Cole Rifanburg gave Norwich their second champion on the day when he dominated his weight class for a first place 5-0 day. Rifanburg enjoyed solid matches en route to the finals where he defeated Isaiah Roes of Lowville by a decision of 6-0.
160 pounds: Keegan Wright took to the mat this past weekend battling for a chance at placing – falling short while going 2-3 on the day. Wright enjoyed a forfeit win as well as a win by pin over Ryan Baron of Poland at 1:20 as his two wins on the day. Also wrestling at the weight was Dakota Hall, Hall finished the day going 2-2 – taking his two wins in fashion with a pin over Anson Curtis of Mount Markham and a major decision win over Ryan Baron of Poland at a score of 11-3.
170 pounds: Norwich's Jakob Franklin – although suffering a defeat to Central Valley's Trent Ingraham by a 5-3 decision – was afforded a shot at the first place spot on merit of it being a round robin tournament. Franklin took full advantage of this opportunity when he edged out Jaden Allen of Mexico with a 5-4 win in the placing round. This gave Norwich their third champion on the night – despite going 4-1 on the day,
182 pounds: Norwich's Brennan Slater dominated his weight – earning five wins, all by way of pins – as he marched his way to the finals where he earned his fifth win of the night over Josh O'Reilly of Mexico by pin at 4:45. Slater snagged Norwich's fourth and final first place finish on the night.
220 pounds: The Tornado's last wrestler on the mat – no wrestler entered into the 285 weight class – was Tyler Rice. Rice managed to grab a fourth place finish in the tournament, while going 3-2 on the day. With four of the five matches being decided by a pin – three pins in favor of Rice – it was his final match that dropped him to fourth and would not be decided in similar fashion as the prior four. Rice dropped to a fourth place finish after battling with Rome Free Academy's Chris Whitman – losing by a 9-0 major decision in the placing rounds.
Next up for Norwich wrestling, they will be on the road next, as they travel to Windsor on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at 7 p.m.
ONEONTA – The annual Ross Kordell Rotary Tournament in Oneonta attracted the likes of two Chenango County teams in 2017 – as Sherburne-Earlville and Unadilla Valley ventured over the hill to take part in the 16 team tournament. Notably, S-E and UV each saw one place finisher each – as S-E gained theirs in Ethan Eldred who snagged a fourth place spot at 152 pounds; while the Storm enjoyed a third place finish from Morgan Lakin at 126 pounds.
Final standings placed S-E in 13th place with 62 team points, while UV came in at 16th place with 16 team points (only one wrestler on the team).
113 pounds: Jason Price of S-E failed to find a placing spot in the tournament, going 1-2 on the day with his lone win coming over Dylan Eggleston of Chenango Forks by a score of 11-1.
120 pounds: Joe Straight of S-E made an appearance at the weight, as he battled in both of his matches – however, fell by pin to both Unatego's Noah Lowe and Burnt Hills David Hess.
126 pounds: Mike Doeberl finished the tournament going 1-2 on the day with his lone win coming over Susquehanna Valley's Sethan King, in a win by pin at 2:09. Doeberl did lose two matches, failing to place in the weight.
145 pounds: S-E's Jordan Zimmerman was outmanned in his tough -fought matches going 1-2 on the day. Zimmerman saw his lone win come over Zane Baxter of Carthage by way of pin at 4:00. flat.
152 pounds: The Marauders entered two wrestlers into the weight – Ethan Eldred and Hunter Zbydniewski. Zbydniewski enjoyed a solid day on the mat going 2-2 in his matches, however, failing to find his way into the placing rounds. Zbydniewski did secure his two wins over Seth Berge of Unatego at 7-4 and Colden Staccio of Saugerties at 7-1. Enjoying the most success in the tournament was Eldred who finished in fourth place at the tournament. Eldred finished his weekend on the mat going 4-2 with his early loss coming to Jakai Townsend of Burnt Hills by pin at 3:29. Following the loss, Eldred battled back ripping off three wins to put himself into the conversation of the placing rounds. However, ultimately losing to Dylan Breed of Oneonta for the final match which was decided by a 7-2 loss for fourth place.
126 pounds: Unadilla Valley is comprised of a one man show for the 2016-2017 season, as Morgan Lakin, a senior is keeping the program alive. With a third place finish at the weight class Lakin fought his way into the tournament with two wins before falling to Daquan Williams of Burnt Hills by a score of 10-8. The highs scoring affair fueled Lakin to continue his path to placing where he defeated Colesten Volpe by decision at 12-5 for a third place finish.
Notably, Sherburne-Earlville is coming off a dual meet loss to Canastota on Jan. 4, as S-E fell to the visitors by a score of 60-15. Winning matches on the night for the Marauders was Hunter Zbydniewski at 152 over Chris Cafarela by 9-5; Bailey Walzer at 170 with a pin over Dakota Diable at 2:28; and Alex Thompson at 182 with a pin over Brandon Otts at 1:54.
“Kids wrestled hard, they are a state ranked team and filled all but one weight class and had two or three kids in all the others. They are well coached, we had some real good things come out if it. Another great crowd was there too,” said Sherburne-Earlville coach Brian Hicks.
In the loss, S-E gave up six pins and three forfeits in route to the dual meet loss. Next up for Sherburne-Earlville, they will be on the road next on Wednesday, Jan. 11, at Holland-Patent at 6 p.m.
DEPOSIT – The annual Stan Elinsky Wrestling tournament attracted the likes of Greene and Oxford as their wrestling teams traveled to the tournament this past weekend taking home sixth and eighth place finish respectively. Notably on the day, Jordan Taft of Greene did earn a second place finish at 106 pounds.
99 pounds: Oxford's Cooper Rice found himself placing fourth overall at the weight – following semifinal loss to Chase Liardo of Massapequa. Rice battled back into the wrestle-backs for fourth place spot, where he lost to Nikko Walsh of Roundout Valley by a score of 5-4. Rice finished the tournament going 1-2.
106 pounds: Greene's Jordan Taft claimed his second place spot in the tournament with a 1-0 loss in the finals to Clint Baker of Newark Valley.
126 pounds: Oxford's Adam Brady was able to battle back after an early loss to secure his spot among the place winners as he took home a fourth place finish at the weight.
138 pounds: Greene's Harrison Stone slid his way into a third place finish in the weight. Following a quarterfinal loss to Levi Wormuth of Deposit-Hancock, Stone battled his way to the consolation finals where he defeated Oxford's Daren Law by pin at 4:33. Stone therefore took home third while the Blackhawks Law, was awarded a fourth place finish.
145 pounds: Logan Kennedy of Greene was able to scratch his way into a sixth place finish in the tournament after suffering a first round loss. Kennedy then to find himself in the loser bracket where he fell to a Newark Valley wrestler by decision at 8-2.
160 pounds: Greene enjoyed a place winner at the weight as Noah Kennedy climbed his way through the wrestle-backs for a third place finish on the day, defeating Wyatt Kiff of Sidney.
170 pounds: Greene once again saw a lot of action through the wrestle-backs at the weight as Justin Carman was able to avenge an early loss to climb to a third place finish.
220 pounds: Oxford's Dakota Friedel suffered a quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Ryan B. of Massapequa by pin sending him into the wrestle-backs. That is where Friedel battled his way to the third place spot where he defeated John Houck of Sidney by a 2-0 decision for the third place showing.
Notably, Oxford is coming off a dual meet with Walton-Delhi where they lost by a team score of 73-6. The lone win on the night for Oxford was Brady Smith at 106 pounds – as Smith was able to ensure no shutout occurred with his win by pin over Kaleb Miller at 5:53. Next up for Oxford, they will be home against Unatego at 6 p.m., on Wednesday, Jan 11.
Greene is also coming off a a close loss to Unatego during their last dual meet by a score of 26-25. Greene enjoyed wins from Jordan Taft at 106, Hunter Wells at 120, Harrison Stone at 138, Noah Kennedy at 160, Ty Nolan at 220. Next up for Greene, they will also be home for their next dual meet when they take on Sidney on Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 6 p.m.
Stay tuned for a recap of the Union-Endicott duals and the Port Byron Mid Winter Tournament, as well as further coverage of your Chenango County wrestling teams' as the season continues to progress. All results were obtained through the coaching staff and information found on cnywrestling.com. Full results of the above tournaments can be found on cnywrestling.com.