DOLGEVILLE – Although a team title was not in the cards this past weekend, the Sherburne-Earlville varsity wrestling team enjoyed some solid individual successes.
S-E managed to earn a respectable fifth place out of 10 teams, falling in the better half of the standings with a team score of 125.5. Taking the team win was Section III powerhouse Adirondack, as they edged out Canastota by a score of 218.5-210. Adirondack would see nine wrestlers take the mat in the finals with an impressive four emerging as champions on Jan. 28.
On the Marauder side, they would not be afforded the chance to have the sheer volume of wrestlers in the finals. However, pure grit and perseverance served S-E well as the team managed to get 11 wrestlers into the placing rounds – with two second place finishes and three third place finishes capping off a solid weekend of wrestling.
Having the most successes on the day for S-E was their two star middle-heavyweights at 170 and 182 pounds.
• 170 pounds: Second-seeded Bailey Walzer, a junior at S-E, took a first round bye only to chase down a finals appearance in the league tournament. Walzer managed to unfortunately have to wrestle his teammate Calib Hill in the quarterfinals – to which Walzer stuck Hill at 3:43 to advance to the semifinal round. Faced with Garrett Evans of Holland-Patent, Walzer looked to finesse the win in the semi's by earning the win over Evans by a dominating major decision at 14-3. Top-seeded Ben Marshall of the Canastota Raiders stood in Walzer's path of a league championship. Marshall, previously took third place in last years Section III tournament, a mark he looks to improve on in 2017. Walzer, although showing heart, was outmatched in the finals, losing by a score of 13-5.
Notably, S-E's Hill did battle his way to a win over Cooperstown's Brandon Hago by fall at 2:13 to advance to the placing rounds where Hill would take home a sixth place finish.
• 182 pounds: S-E's Alex Thompson turned some heads this past weekend with some upset wins en route to a finals appearance. Thompson, only a freshman, took his first win over Reece Johnson of Cooperstown – following a first round bye – advancing the freshman to the semifinals. Following the win by pin over Johnson at 1:32; Thompson stepped on the mat with second-seeded Nate Liscio of Little Falls. The senior was surprised to find the fight in the S-E freshman, a drive that led Thompson to a win by pin over Liscio at 3:36. However, despite the solid wrestling to reach the finals, Thompson was stopped cold in the finals when faced with top-seeded Doug Simmons of Canastota – as Thompson suffered a loss by pin at just :26.
• 152 pounds: With a young team comes young talent. The Marauders saw another outstanding performance from their 152 pound freshman Ethan Eldred. Eldred, the second-seed, advanced to the semifinals of the tournament, following a hard-fought win at 5-4 over teammate Vinny Albertina in the quarterfinals. This advancement to the semi's faced Eldred with fourth-seeded Chris Cafarella of Canastota. Cafarella was coming in hot off a pin at 1:50 in the quarterfinals; to which he used to momentum to overcome Eldred by a score of 4-1 – eventually taking home second place due to a loss by pin. With the tough loss, Eldred took little time to wallow in the loss, instead setting his sights on the wrestle-backs, where he dominated his way to a third place finish.
Notably, Albertina of S-E, did find his way through the wrestle-back rounds, managing to earn three wins en route to a fourth place finish, where he met Eldred again for the second go-around.
• 220 pounds: Sherburne-Earlville's 220 pounder – Tanner Campbell, a junior at the weight – slugged his way to the semifinals before falling. Campbell, a fourth-seed, snagged back-to-back win by pins in what looked to be a promising tournament. Campbell met Mike Leibi of Canastota, the second-seed, in the semifinals of the tournament – to which he then was faced with a true match of will, as Campbell lost a close 8-5 match to send him to wrestle-backs. Leibi did earn the eventual championship at the weight by a pin in the finals at :32. Following a pin at 2:06 into the match over Steve Smyth of Holland-Patent, a rematch from the first round. Campbell found himself with a chance to go 4-1 on the day, as he faced Gabe Nellis of Poland. With another hard-fought battle the Marauders welcomed another third place finish, as Campbell earned the win at 7-1 to stand third at the podium.
• 285 pounds: Sherburne-Earlville's lone senior for the 2016-2017 season, Walter Keihn fought his way from an unranked spot to a respectable third place finish in the weight. A battle of behemoths, Keihn managed to defeat the second-seeded Keith Coffin of Mount Markham in his first match of the day – due to a first round bye. A dominating win over Coffin, Keihn nailed the deal shut in just :40 seconds with his pin to advance to the semifinals. Keihn was then faced with Bobby Eastman of Morrisville-Eaton – to which Keihn survived the first round, only to fall by way of pin to Eastman at 3:30. Eastman would notably finish second, with a loss in the finals to top-seeded Andrew Tanner in just :17. With a goal of winning out, Keihn did just that with two wins both by pin to advance to a third place finish. Defeating Morrisville-Eaton's Aaron Combs by fall at 4:34; Keihn then took on Holland-Patent's Austin Bullock. With a hand raised just shy of the completion of the second period, Keihn stood tall with his pin over Bullock at 3:57.
Sherburne-Earlville also saw place finishes from Mike Doeberl at 126 pounds (5th); Keith Rood at 145 pounds (5th); Jordan Zimmerman at 145 pounds (6th); and Ethan Furner at 160 pounds (5th).
Full results and brackets of the 2017 CSC league tournament can be found online at cnywrestling.com. Next up for Sherburne-Earlville, they will host Oxford on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at 6 p.m., where they will hold their senior night celebrations for Keihn.