Dwayne A. Lobdell Photo

VESTAL – Coming off back-to-back road wins – the Bears of BGAH (Bainbridge-Guilford-Afton-Harpursville), conquered another opponent – or should we say mountain of opponents as they drove their way to the top of the Section IV leader-board winning the 2017 Section IV dual meet, marking the first time ever the team has done so.
Three dual meet wins later, and BGAH – already ranked fifth for DII schools in the state by the New York Sportswriters Association – continued their climb to the top when they toppled each and every team that crossed paths with them this past weekend in Vestal.
Split into two divisions – DI (Horseheads,1, Elmira 2, Vestal 3, and Newark Valley 4) and DII (BGAH 1, Norwich 2, Chenango Valley 3, and Tioga 4) – The Bears not only claimed the DII championship with wins over CV and Tioga. BGAH solidified their state ranking with a win over DI first top-ranked Section IV team Horseheads with a 40-36 win for the outright crown.
Down 34-36 to DI top-ranked squad Horseheads and with one final match to – the grit and and perseverance shined through brighter than ever. With the clock ticking down in the final minute of the final match – 145 pounds – BGAH's Ben Bivar secures the pinning combination over Bailey Butler. Butler ultimately falls to Bivar who stuck his Horsehead opponent with :55 seconds left at 5:05 into the final match – reversing the lead for a 40-36 championship win for BGAH.
Prior to climbing the championship mountain and during the first round of the dual meet tournament on Jan. 28, the following match-ups occurred: Horseheads defeated Newark Valley 48-24 to advance; while Vestal upset Elmira 45-36 to advance – both in the DI bracket; In DII, BGAH crushed the Warriors 74-12, while a depleted Norwich roster fell to Tioga 43-32.
• BGAH saw a win at nearly every weight class – save a forfeit at 220 pounds – as 13 out of 14 BGAH wrestlers earned wins in the dual. Furthermore, 10 of the 13 wins for the Bears, came by way of pin, as the following wrestlers stuck their CV opponents: Austin Eggelston (138), Shane Hoover (152), Hayden Lewis (160), Bradley Wilson (170), Madison Hoover (182), Austin Carr (195), Mitchell Weist (285), Dylan Decker (99), Brody Oleksak (106), and Damien Knapp (126).
BGAH trounced the Warriors – finding themselves up 41-0 before surrendering the first points by forfeit at 220 pounds. In what truly was a pin-happy Bears team in the quarterfinals, it was a race for the fastest pin in the dual – as senior Austin Carr (wrestling up from his natural weight of 170 pounds), managed to maneuver his way into a pinning combination in a team best :56 seconds over Jake Aurelio at 195 pounds.
Also earning wins in the dual for BGAH – not by pin – was Ben Bivar at 145 pounds who tech-falled Nathan Aylward 16-1 at 5:23; and Cody Ferrara who won the final match of the dual at 132 pounds by major decision at 10-0 over Derek Goga.

Quarterfinals: 138 Austin Eggelston BGAH pinned Zach Scarvey CV 1:46, 145 Ben Bivar BGAH TF Nate Alyward CV 16-1 5:23, 152 Shane Hoover BGAH pinned Brady Hope CV 1:57, 160 Hayden Lewis BGAH pinned Mike Mettler CV, 170 Bradley Wilson BGAH pinned Kobie Parks CV 3:35, 182 Madison Hoover BGAH pinned Trenton Gates CV 1:01, 195 Austin Carr BGAH pinned Nate Aurillio CV :56, 220 Jack Riegal CV won by forfeit, 285 Mitchell Weist BGAH inned Will Blewett CV 5:59, 99 Dylan Decker BGAH pinned Richie Champion CV 2:44, 106 Brody Oleksak BGAH pinned Dominic Napoli CV 1:00, 113 Haiden Burns BGAH won by forfeit, 120 Caleb Wiggins CV pinned Seth Foster BGAH 1:21, 126 Damian Knapp BGAH pinned Colston Volpe CV 2:46, 132 Cody Ferrara BGAH maj. dec. Derrick Goga CV 10-0.

• Norwich suffered through terrible timing to be missing wrestlers from their lineup – as they fell to Tioga by a score of 43-32.
A powerful Norwich squad was crippled in the dual – due to numbers – surrendering two forfeits and a no match at 195 pounds, 120 pounds, and 220 pounds respectively.
The Tornado enjoyed six wins in the dual, one of which cam by way of forfeit to Brennan Slater at 195 pounds.
Already down 10-0 after two losses to start the dual, the Tornado made the best of the situation when they ripped off four straight wins to take the team lead 24-10. With nine potential matches remaining in the matchup – and a chance at a rematch of against the Bears (lost 37-36) Norwich could only muster two wins to close out the dual.
Alongside the earlier wins from Cole Rifanburg (152), Keegan Wright (160), and Jakob Franklin (170) – all pins – Norwich's lightweights attempted to keep pace with Tioga with a Dante Geislinger win at 99 pounds, followed by a Mikey Squires win at 106 pounds. Geislinger simply toyed with Mason Welch for a 15-0 win when time expired; while Squires was locked into a much more competitive match, winning 5-3 over Brady Worthing.
Following a Tyler Rice loss at 285 pounds – wrestling up from his natural weight class – and the two wins at 99 and 106, Norwich dropped the remaining four matches to take the team loss to Tioga at 43-32. This loss knocked them out of contention of the crown as they fell to the consolation dual against Chenango Valley.

Quarterfinals: 138 Owen Wanck (Tioga) pin Austyn Hatton (Norwich) 1:12, 145 Emmett Wood (Tioga) maj dec Dakota Powers (Norwich) 10-0, 152 Cole Rifanburg (Norwich) pin Zach Warner (Tioga) 0:24, 160 Keegan Wright (Norwich) pin Jason Spear (Tioga) 3:08, 170 Jakob Franklin (Norwich) pin Joe Lloyd (Tioga) 0:39, 182 Brennan Slater (Norwich) fft, 195 Quintin Yaple (Tioga) fft, 220 No Match, 285 Stephen Taylor (Tioga) dec Tyler Rice (Norwich) 6-4, 99 Dante Geislinger (Norwich) tf Mason Welch (Tioga) 15-0 6:00, 106 Mikey Squires (Norwich) dec Brady Worthing (Tioga) 5-3, 113 Jacob Welch (Tioga) pin Izaiah Cabalero (Norwich) 0:58, 120 David MacWhinnie (Tioga) fft, 126 Austin Lamb (Tioga) pin Chris Cabalero (Norwich) 1:01, 132 Collin Elston (Tioga) pin Seth Wessels (Norwich) 4:43.

• As Norwich fell from the graces of the tournament, BGAH had other plans as they marched toward the championship round. A rematch of the Jan. 22, dual between Tioga and BGAH (BGAH previously won 44-42) yielded a much different result the second time around, as BGAH handily defeated Tioga 47-28 in the DII semifinals.
On the DI side, Horseheads and Vestal were locked into a dual which saw Horseheads earn three straight pins in three of the last four matches to pull ahead for the 37-36 win over host team Vestal.
BGAH would jump out to an early lead over Tioga following wins from Ben Bivar (pin at 145), and Shane Hoover (tech-fall 152).
Following two Tioga wins at 160 and 170 pounds – BGAH went on a four match run which began at 182 pounds when Madison Hoover stuck Trey Floyd for the six point swing. A Austin Carr forfeit win at 195 pounds, and back-back-wins from Micthell Weist and Nick Decker at the heavyweight slots – had the Bears sitting pretty over Tioga at 32-7.
BGAH would be outmatched in the final seven go -arounds of the dual – losing four of seven matches. However, a huge win Brody Oleksak, wrestling up to 113 from his 106 pound spot, to defeat Jacob Welch 8-1; couple with pins at 132 pounds and 138 pounds – ensured a BGAH advancement to the championship round.

Semifinals: 145 Ben Bivar BGAH pinned Zach Warner Tio 5:00, 152 Shane Hoover BGAH TF Vinny Sullivan Tio 15-0 2:15, 160 Max Johnson Tio dec. Hayden Lewis BGAH 2-1, 170 Jason Spear Tio maj. dec. Bradley Wilson BGAH 13-1, 182 Madison Hoover BGAH pinned Trey Floyd Tio 3:31, 195 Austin Carr BGAH won by forfeit, 220 Mitchell Weist BGAH pinned Quinton Yaple Tio 1:10, 285 NIck Decker BGAH dec Trey Howey Tio SV 2 3-2, 99 Mason Welch Tio pinned Dylan Decker BGAH :48, 106 Brady Worthing Tio pinned Teague Rezucha BGAH :34, 113 Brody Oleksak BGAH dec. Jacob Welch Tio 8-1, 120 David MacWhinnie Tio TF Haiden Burns BGAH 19-3 5:45, 126 Austin Lamb Tio Maj. dec. Daimian Knapp BGAH 12-0, 132 Cody Ferrara BGAH pinned Collin Elston Tio 2:48, 138 Austin Eggelston BGAH pinned Owen Wanck Tio 3:32.

• The finals of the Section IV Dual meet, a place BGAH had been the previous year when they fell to Vestal in the championship round by a score of 46-19. Now in 2017, and currently boasting a 15-4 overall record, the Bears of BGAH solely can claim the title of best varsity wrestling team in Section IV – having won the dual over Horseheads (18-3 overall), while suffering no losses to any in-section teams.
A true battle of superpowers, and a tale of two different halves of the spectrum – BGAH used a quick start with some key match-ups throughout to propel them past the Blue Raiders of Horseheads by a last match, last minute, lead change score of 40-36.
BGAH opened up with three straight pins over HH, as Hayden Lewis (152), Shane Hoover (160), and Madison Hoover (170), each earned key pins to jump the Bears to the early 18-0 lead. With one hiccup at the mid-upper weights at 182 pounds, Horseheads fired back at the Beats with a pin of their own at the weight when Bradley Wilson suffered a loss by pin to defending Section IV DI champion Chris Eames.
This loss at 182 was quickly avenged by a swift strike from Austin Carr at 195 pounds. Carr a normal 170-pounder moved up from the weight to better fit a scheme for success for BGAH in the dual – only to snag a pin over Andrew Early. This early pin over Early at :37 handed a comfortable lead of 24-6 to the Bears. Micthell Weist grabbed a decisive 5-4 victory – with a last second takedown for the 5-4 win – a huge swing of three points for the eventual champion Bears.
Up big at 27-6 over DI Horseheads, that is when the comeback started for the Blue Raiders. Horseheads managed to use their powerful lightweights – following a big 1-0 win at 285 pounds – to sway the match back toward their favor.
Winning six of the last nine matches from 285 pounds through the final match of 145 pounds – Horseheads surmounted 30 point comeback – as BGAH would win 106, and 132 for seven points.
Horseheads led the Bears 36-34 heading into the final matchup – junior Ben Bivar against HH junior Bailey Butler at the 145 pound weight. Bivar – just like all the previous matches in the finals dual – would use key moments to move ahead in the match. Up 9-1 over Butler – and only needing a win to close out the team win – Bivar shoots for the moon and lands it. Hitting the pinning combo for the pin and six point swing for the Bears at 5:05. A statement win for a statement team that used a complete team effort to unseat the DI team to solidify their mark on the New York State Rankings – as the six points that won the dual finals could be found in any of the 15 match-ups.

Finals: 152 Hayden Lewis BGAH pinned Sunny Patel HH :45, 160 Shane Hoover BGAH pinned Korbin Islett HH 2:37, 170 Madison Hoover BGAH pinned Matt Merill HH :12, 182 Chris Eames HH pinned Bradley Wilson BGAH 3:28, 195 Austin Carr BGAH pinned Andrew Early HH :37, 220 Mitchell Weist BGAH dec. La Darron Tutton HH 5-4, 285 Andrew Panaski HH dec. Nick Decker BGAH 1-0, 99 Calum Hooper HH pinned Dylan Decker BGAH :54, 106 Brody Oleksak BGAH maj. dec. Tim McCarthy HH 11-1, 113  Devin Woodworth HH pinned Haiden Burns BGAH :49, 120  Jacob Scibek HH pinned Seth Foster BGAH 2:44, 126 Jarrett O'Connell HH pinned Damian Knapp BGAH 3:26, 132 Cody Ferrara BGAH dec. Devin Woodworth HH 4-0, 138 Jesse Johnson HH dec. Austin Eggelston BGAH 8-6, 145 Ben Bivar BGAH pinned Bailey Butler HH 5:05.

Norwich did drop to the consolation dual with CV following their early exit after they lost to Tioga. Norwich defeated CV by a score of 46-39 to ensure a third place finish on the DII side.
Full results can be found online at cnywrestling.com.
Next up for BGAH, they will remove themselves from the live matches for a week of preparation before they next head to the Class C tournament on Saturday, Feb. 4, in Afton. Next up for Norwich, they will be afforded two days of practice before taking to the road on Wednesday, Feb. 1, when they travel to Windsor for a dual at 7 p.m.