Norwich takes third at STACs on the back of six champions
HORSEHEADS – History was made this past weekend in Horseheads. Despite bringing home the most individual champions from any team at the 2017 STAC championships – Norwich was unable to sneak any closer to Horseheads for the team win, as the host team was able to secure the first ever STAC championship as a team in school history.
Taking home six individual champions – with one repeat champion in Ty Rifanburg at 145 pounds – Norwich secured a solid finish to the weekend as they slid their way into a tie with Elmira for third place as a team at 170.5 points.
Horseheads would advance to wrestlers to the finals round, however, would suffer two losses – therefore merely holding off Vestal by 6.5 points for the win. Vestal would take second place with a score of 189.5 team points to Horseheads 196 – as they brought home a pair of champions in Derek Osman at 138 pounds and Jordan Favela at 220 pounds.
Norwich's tournament-high six champions was rivaled by none in their show of dominance on the weekend. Norwich saw first place finishes from: Dante Geislinger at 99 pounds, Mikey Squires at 106 pounds, Eli Rodriguez at 113 pounds, Ty Rifanburg at 145 pounds, Cole Rifanburg at 152 pounds, and Brennan Slater at 182 pounds.
“Going six for six in the finals is just a heck of a job by those young me,” said Norwich head coach Bob Hagenbuch.
Norwich elected to bring a 15 man roster to the STAC tournament, to which eight placed in the tournament – six first place finishes – and perhaps most impressively on the weekend, Eli Rodriguez was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament following his finals win. Norwich saw place finishes – not championship wins – come from Jake Franklin and Nick Glanville. Franklin, who suffered an injury in the semifinals at 170 pounds, and was forced to forfeit due to said injury. Franklin was facing second-seeded Chris Eames of Horseheads at the time of the injury – which caused injury default losses as Franklin took home sixth overall. Glanville battled his way through the wrestle-back rounds to earn himself a respectable fifth place finish with a win over Pettigrew of Vestal by pin at 1:51.
99 pounds: Dante Geislinger emerged on the scene this past weekend, bursting forth from his spot seeded fourth. After earning an easy win in the opening round, followed by a 5-4 win win over Calum Houper of Horseheads in the quarterfinals – Geislinger advanced to face top-seeded Drake Dillie of Elmira.
“Dante 'the ice man' I call him now, was unbelievable this weekend. Won two matches with just seconds left. His semifinal match he was down three points with I think eight seconds left, and was able to hit a reversal and get 2 back points at the buzzer,” said coach Hagenbuch of Dante's win in the finals over top-seeded Dillie. “He avenged an early season loss to Gumble in the finals. It was a mirror score of that match.”
Earlier in the season, Geislinger had suffered a loss to second-seeded Logan Gumble of Chenango Forks – who following the 7-6 last second win over Dillie, Geislinger advanced to face once again. Geislinger went on to defeat Gumble in dominating fashion by a score of 7-0 for a STAC championship at 99 pounds.
106 pounds: Mikey Squires took advantage of his favorable seeding – second-seed – as he saw a first round bye, before destroying Gavin Secoolish of Chenango Forks in the quarterfinals with an 11-0 win. This win in the quarterfinals advanced squires to the semifinals where Squires and Nathan Lehr of Chenango Valley locked horns for a 2-0 match going in favor of Squires.
“Mikey and Eli (Rodriguez) also avenged losses in the finals. Mikey won in overtime, wrestling a very smart match,” said coach Hagenbuch.
With the one and two seed in the bracket advancing to the finals, Squires was looking to correct mistakes from the previous year – in order to defeat one-seeded Chase Daudelin of Corning and earn a STAC championship. Squires did just that with a 5-4 upset victory for his STAC championship at the 106 pounds.
113 pounds: Norwich phenom, Eli Rodriguez, drew enough to gain the number one seed in the tournament – something Rodriguez waisted little time backing up. After advancing due to a bye, and pinning Tayson Evans of Susquehanna Valley at 4:41 in the quarterfinals – Rodriguez saw his first true matchup in Owen Harvey, the fourth seed from Union-Endicott. This true matchup proved to be nothing of the sort, as Rodriguez thrashed Harvey for a 14-5 win to advance to the finals where second-seeded Devin Woodworth of Horseheads awaited.
“Eli's match was a STAC final rematch where his opponent pinned him last year this time he was able to hang on to a 11-9 win,” said coach Hagenbuch.
And he did do just that, Rodriguez – one year removed from being pinned by Woodworth in the finals – was able to maneuver himself to a 11-9 win to avenge his previous loss and claim the 113 pound STAC championship. This revenge win garnered enough praise from the coaching staff, that Rodriguez was named the MOW following the tournament.
145 pounds: Top-seeded Ty Rifanburg was coming off a solid performance at the Eastern States Classic – which unfortunately for him left his body somewhat bumped and bruised. This was no excuse for Ty who took full advantage of his chance as a junior for a chance to repeat as a STAC champion. Although the scores weren’t flashy – Ty battled in each match for the win – with his first of three coming following a bye where he then took the 3-0 decision win over Jason Moelder of Susquehanna Valley in the quarterfinals. Advancing to the semifinals, Ty was able to edge out fourth seeded Jake Cardinale of Elmira for the 4-3 decision and trip to the finals once again.
“Ty is still banged up from the Eastern's, and I'm proud of how he battled all the way through the tournament,” said coach Hagenbuch.
Facing second-seeded Daclan Daudelin of Corning is no easy task for a finals match, however, a 'banged up' Ty persevered through to defeat Daudelin at a 3-0 decision for the repeat championship.
152 pounds: Older brother of Ty, Cole Rifanburg – stood tall when all was said and done, both on and off the match. Cole earned the top-seed in the 152 pound class, taking an early win in the opening round by way of pin over Kyle Leonard of Susquehanna Valley. Rifanburg went on to win three additional matches – a 4-3 decision over Anolan Rigal of Johnson City in the quarterfinals set up a finals match between Cole and fourth-seeded Hunter Stewart of Vestal in the semifinals. Cole walked away from this match in 1:39, as he crushed Stewart with a late pin in the first period, punching his ticket to the finals.
“Cole just dominated like he has all season, not only does he worry about himself but he talked to the team after our disappointing start on Friday night trying to get the team fired up,” said Hagenbuch of his leadership as a team captain.
Facing second-seeded Matt Kline of Corning, Cole walked away a STAC champion as a senior for the Tornado with the 6-1 win over Cline for the championship at 152 pounds.
182 pounds: Brennan Slater garnered a second-seed position in a depleted bracket of 10 wrestlers. This was no matter for Slater, who following an early bye was faced with Raymond Johnson of Binghamton – to which Slater embarrassed Raymond with a truly dominating showing with a 16-0 win to advance to the semifinals. On paper, a second-seeded Slater and a third-seeded Nate Aurelio of Chenango Valley, seemed to be a decent matchup, but Slaters dominance continued – dropping the Warrior by pin at 1:59.
“Brennan had a great tournament, and dominating his opponent in the finals who is ranked number one in the section,” said coach Hagenbuch.
As Hagenbuch eluded, Slater advanced to the finals where he took on number-one in Section IV Logan Wiland of Vestal. Wiland, the top-seed at the weight, saw Slater truly show his colors – a small glimpse of his potential – when Slater upset Wiland for the 3-1 win earning Slater the STAC championship crown at 182 pounds.
Norwich did elect to include some junior varsity and less seasoned varsity wrestlers in the tournament – however, save Franklin and Glanville – none were able to secure a placing spot in the STAC Tournament.
“I obviously as a coach have to do a better job getting them better prepared to wrestle in these types of tournaments,” said coach Hagenbuch.
Full results, both team and individual can be found online at cnywrestling.com.
Norwich will now see action in the dual meet realm of the sport, as they will travel to Windsor – weather permitted – on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m.
Submitted Photo
Taking home six individual champions – with one repeat champion in Ty Rifanburg at 145 pounds – Norwich secured a solid finish to the weekend as they slid their way into a tie with Elmira for third place as a team at 170.5 points.
Horseheads would advance to wrestlers to the finals round, however, would suffer two losses – therefore merely holding off Vestal by 6.5 points for the win. Vestal would take second place with a score of 189.5 team points to Horseheads 196 – as they brought home a pair of champions in Derek Osman at 138 pounds and Jordan Favela at 220 pounds.
Norwich's tournament-high six champions was rivaled by none in their show of dominance on the weekend. Norwich saw first place finishes from: Dante Geislinger at 99 pounds, Mikey Squires at 106 pounds, Eli Rodriguez at 113 pounds, Ty Rifanburg at 145 pounds, Cole Rifanburg at 152 pounds, and Brennan Slater at 182 pounds.
“Going six for six in the finals is just a heck of a job by those young me,” said Norwich head coach Bob Hagenbuch.
Norwich elected to bring a 15 man roster to the STAC tournament, to which eight placed in the tournament – six first place finishes – and perhaps most impressively on the weekend, Eli Rodriguez was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament following his finals win. Norwich saw place finishes – not championship wins – come from Jake Franklin and Nick Glanville. Franklin, who suffered an injury in the semifinals at 170 pounds, and was forced to forfeit due to said injury. Franklin was facing second-seeded Chris Eames of Horseheads at the time of the injury – which caused injury default losses as Franklin took home sixth overall. Glanville battled his way through the wrestle-back rounds to earn himself a respectable fifth place finish with a win over Pettigrew of Vestal by pin at 1:51.
99 pounds: Dante Geislinger emerged on the scene this past weekend, bursting forth from his spot seeded fourth. After earning an easy win in the opening round, followed by a 5-4 win win over Calum Houper of Horseheads in the quarterfinals – Geislinger advanced to face top-seeded Drake Dillie of Elmira.
“Dante 'the ice man' I call him now, was unbelievable this weekend. Won two matches with just seconds left. His semifinal match he was down three points with I think eight seconds left, and was able to hit a reversal and get 2 back points at the buzzer,” said coach Hagenbuch of Dante's win in the finals over top-seeded Dillie. “He avenged an early season loss to Gumble in the finals. It was a mirror score of that match.”
Earlier in the season, Geislinger had suffered a loss to second-seeded Logan Gumble of Chenango Forks – who following the 7-6 last second win over Dillie, Geislinger advanced to face once again. Geislinger went on to defeat Gumble in dominating fashion by a score of 7-0 for a STAC championship at 99 pounds.
106 pounds: Mikey Squires took advantage of his favorable seeding – second-seed – as he saw a first round bye, before destroying Gavin Secoolish of Chenango Forks in the quarterfinals with an 11-0 win. This win in the quarterfinals advanced squires to the semifinals where Squires and Nathan Lehr of Chenango Valley locked horns for a 2-0 match going in favor of Squires.
“Mikey and Eli (Rodriguez) also avenged losses in the finals. Mikey won in overtime, wrestling a very smart match,” said coach Hagenbuch.
With the one and two seed in the bracket advancing to the finals, Squires was looking to correct mistakes from the previous year – in order to defeat one-seeded Chase Daudelin of Corning and earn a STAC championship. Squires did just that with a 5-4 upset victory for his STAC championship at the 106 pounds.
113 pounds: Norwich phenom, Eli Rodriguez, drew enough to gain the number one seed in the tournament – something Rodriguez waisted little time backing up. After advancing due to a bye, and pinning Tayson Evans of Susquehanna Valley at 4:41 in the quarterfinals – Rodriguez saw his first true matchup in Owen Harvey, the fourth seed from Union-Endicott. This true matchup proved to be nothing of the sort, as Rodriguez thrashed Harvey for a 14-5 win to advance to the finals where second-seeded Devin Woodworth of Horseheads awaited.
“Eli's match was a STAC final rematch where his opponent pinned him last year this time he was able to hang on to a 11-9 win,” said coach Hagenbuch.
And he did do just that, Rodriguez – one year removed from being pinned by Woodworth in the finals – was able to maneuver himself to a 11-9 win to avenge his previous loss and claim the 113 pound STAC championship. This revenge win garnered enough praise from the coaching staff, that Rodriguez was named the MOW following the tournament.
145 pounds: Top-seeded Ty Rifanburg was coming off a solid performance at the Eastern States Classic – which unfortunately for him left his body somewhat bumped and bruised. This was no excuse for Ty who took full advantage of his chance as a junior for a chance to repeat as a STAC champion. Although the scores weren’t flashy – Ty battled in each match for the win – with his first of three coming following a bye where he then took the 3-0 decision win over Jason Moelder of Susquehanna Valley in the quarterfinals. Advancing to the semifinals, Ty was able to edge out fourth seeded Jake Cardinale of Elmira for the 4-3 decision and trip to the finals once again.
“Ty is still banged up from the Eastern's, and I'm proud of how he battled all the way through the tournament,” said coach Hagenbuch.
Facing second-seeded Daclan Daudelin of Corning is no easy task for a finals match, however, a 'banged up' Ty persevered through to defeat Daudelin at a 3-0 decision for the repeat championship.
152 pounds: Older brother of Ty, Cole Rifanburg – stood tall when all was said and done, both on and off the match. Cole earned the top-seed in the 152 pound class, taking an early win in the opening round by way of pin over Kyle Leonard of Susquehanna Valley. Rifanburg went on to win three additional matches – a 4-3 decision over Anolan Rigal of Johnson City in the quarterfinals set up a finals match between Cole and fourth-seeded Hunter Stewart of Vestal in the semifinals. Cole walked away from this match in 1:39, as he crushed Stewart with a late pin in the first period, punching his ticket to the finals.
“Cole just dominated like he has all season, not only does he worry about himself but he talked to the team after our disappointing start on Friday night trying to get the team fired up,” said Hagenbuch of his leadership as a team captain.
Facing second-seeded Matt Kline of Corning, Cole walked away a STAC champion as a senior for the Tornado with the 6-1 win over Cline for the championship at 152 pounds.
182 pounds: Brennan Slater garnered a second-seed position in a depleted bracket of 10 wrestlers. This was no matter for Slater, who following an early bye was faced with Raymond Johnson of Binghamton – to which Slater embarrassed Raymond with a truly dominating showing with a 16-0 win to advance to the semifinals. On paper, a second-seeded Slater and a third-seeded Nate Aurelio of Chenango Valley, seemed to be a decent matchup, but Slaters dominance continued – dropping the Warrior by pin at 1:59.
“Brennan had a great tournament, and dominating his opponent in the finals who is ranked number one in the section,” said coach Hagenbuch.
As Hagenbuch eluded, Slater advanced to the finals where he took on number-one in Section IV Logan Wiland of Vestal. Wiland, the top-seed at the weight, saw Slater truly show his colors – a small glimpse of his potential – when Slater upset Wiland for the 3-1 win earning Slater the STAC championship crown at 182 pounds.
Norwich did elect to include some junior varsity and less seasoned varsity wrestlers in the tournament – however, save Franklin and Glanville – none were able to secure a placing spot in the STAC Tournament.
“I obviously as a coach have to do a better job getting them better prepared to wrestle in these types of tournaments,” said coach Hagenbuch.
Full results, both team and individual can be found online at cnywrestling.com.
Norwich will now see action in the dual meet realm of the sport, as they will travel to Windsor – weather permitted – on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m.
Submitted Photo
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