SARATOGA – The Norwich Purple Tornado wrestling team emerged as the Saratoga Invitational champions Saturday afternoon, compiling 157 points as a team to bring home the trophy.
The Tornado saw three in the finals with two earning tournament titles while all but four of the wrestlers who attended the event placed in their respective weight classes.
Max Morris, Norwich’s 99 pounder, reached the finals for the first time of his young career after a semifinals win over Windsor’s Nick Swartz. Morris’ first match of the tournament ended with a 7-0 decision win over Saratoga Springs’ Kyle Griskowitz.
Morris fell in the finals, however, after a 14-5 major to Ballston Spa’s Connor Gregory. The second place finish is the best for the Norwich youngster, who is in his first year as a varsity competitor.
The Tornado’s Dante Geislinger and Mikey Squires brought home tournament titles, their third of the season, with each winning in convincing fashion.
Geislinger needed just 1:17 to pin Nick Plaso of Ballston Spa to earn his championship. The Norwich 106 pounder pinned his way through the field, seeing the second period in only one of his four bouts.
Squires took the 152 pound bracket after three matches, winning his finals bout with a 19-2 tech fall over Jakob Edwards of Columbia. The Tornado stand-out defeated a familiar opponent in his first match of the day, pinning Windor’s James Hoover at the 4:14 mark of the bout.
Norwich also had Nick Glanville, Andrew Brown, Angel Francis, Izaiah Caballero, Tyler Rice and Kegan Wright wrestle their way back to stand on the podium.
Glanville and Rice finished third after losing for the first time in the tournament in the semifinals. However, both bounced back quick to win the consolation semis and the consolation finals to claim their place.
Brown placed fourth in the 113 pound bracket while Wright finished fifth and both Caballero and Francis snagged sixth in their weight classes.
Norwich returns to the mat for a dual match against Oneonta at home. The meet is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start time on Wednesday.
Vikings place one at Mid-Winter Classic
PORT BYRON – Otselic Valley finished the Port Byron Mid-Winter Classic with 50 points as a team, placing 16th at the tournament held on Saturday.
The Vikings Creed Ossont won his first three matches by pinfall in the 195 pound bracket, landing in the finals against Red Creek’s Alex Eich.
Eich also reached the finals by pinning his opponents, setting up the championship bout between him and Ossont.
Making his move early, Eich was able to take down OV’s Ossont and pinned the Vikings’ wrestler in 46 seconds. Ossont finished second and was the only Otselic Valley wrestler to place at the Mid-Winter Classic.
Ashvil Rood, Dakota Hackett and Robert Dougherty each won the first match of the day in their respective weight class brackets but all fe;l in their next bout, sending the three to the wrestleback rounds.
Winning both of the next two matches, the Vikings’ threesome had just a single match in each bracket left before the placing rounds. Unfortunately, all three OV wrestlers lost the next match, missing their chance to stand on the podium.
The Vikings are on the mat again on Wednesday at 6 p.m. when they travel to Onondaga-Tully for a league meet.
Greene/Oxford has big day on mat as 12 place to finish second
DEPOSIT – The Greene/Oxford team saw two of their wrestlers in the finals with one coming out as a champion at the Stan Elinsky Tournament Saturday, a tournament hosted by Deposit/Hancock.
Greene/Oxford had 12 wrestlers end the day with a spot on top of the podium to capture 137.5 points, securing second place in the tournament.
Noah Kennedy of the Greene/Oxford team earned his second tournament championship of the season, winning the championship after claiming victories in all four of his bouts throughout the day.
Kennedy pinned his way into the finals and finished his showing off with a 13-1 major decision win. So far this season, the 195 pound wrestler has lost just four matches of the 25 he has wrestled.
Landing in the finals as well was Greene/Oxford’s 99 pounder Kaden Wakefield. Securing his spot in the finals by picking up a 9-2 decision in his first bout and a 12-2 major in his second, Wakefield met Jashon Holmes of Shaker in the finals.
Lasting almost the entire first period, Holmes was able to pick up the victory by pinfall at the 1:16 mark, handing Wakefield a second place finish.
Owen Marcin, Abram Parsons and Brady Smith came home with third placed finishes in their respective weight classes while the Greene/Oxford team had four place fourth, two wrestlers finish fifth and a single wrestler claim sixth.
Greene/Oxford head to Walton/Delhi on Tuesday for dual meet action. The league match is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
Bears bring home two individual titles as they place fourth as a team
ONEONTA – The Bainbridge-Guilford-Afton-Harpursville (BGAH) Bears and the Sherburne-Earlville Marauders were part of the 16 team field at the Ross Kordell Rotary Touranment, held in Oneonta on Friday and Saturday. The Bears finished fourth with 159 total team points while S-E ended the weekend with 33 points.
BGAH had four wrestlers reach the finals with two returning home as champions. Both Brody Oleksak and Shane Hoover of the Bears continued their strong season showings as both took the tournament titles in their brackets.
Oleksak pinned Greg Holtaling of Cobleskill-Richmondville in the second period, securing his third tournament championship this season. In all of his matches this year, the 138 pound sophomore has lost just one bout.
Hoover also picked up his third tournament title of the year with a pin, defeating Elmira’s Luke Stoner at the 3:02 mark. Hoover is currently undefeated for the season with 24 wins, 13 coming by pinfall.
Dylan Decker of BGAH placed second, falling in the finals to Cody Merwin of Walton/Delhi by a close 5-2 decision. Decker reached the finals by pinning Elmira’s Mason Cardinale at the 4:46 mark. In his first match of the tournament, the Bears’ 113 pounder pinned S-E’s Selina Moore in the first period.
Their Bears teammate Austin Eggleston reached the finals after a major decision win over Burnt Hills’ Jakai Townsend. Facing Cobleskill/Richmondville’s Ethan Cooper, Eggleston was beat in the championship bout by a 13-2 major.
Eggleston met Sherburne-Earlville’s Ethan Eldred in the quarterfinals of the 170 pound bracket Friday night. The Bears wrestler squeaked out the win over Eldred, who then went on to wrestle his way back to place.
The Marauders’ junior lost in the consolation semifinals, setting him up for either fifth or sixth place. There, he beat Chenango Valley’s Nathan Alyward with a 10-5 decision to place fifth.
S-E’s Morgan Lakin was the other Marauders wrestler who stood on the podium at the tournament, returning home with a third place finish.
Lakin lost his first match of the weekend in the semis to Ethan Stotler of Waverly by pinfall at 2:30. The Marauders’ 145 pound junior then pinned Susquehanna Valley’s Edwin Lavin in the consolation semifinals and took down Chenango Valley’s Colsten Volpe to finish his tournament appearance.
Joey Florance, Hayden Lewis, Jacob Terpstra and Rocco Arduini also came home with podium finishes for the Bears, helping BGAH team secure the fourth place spot.
BGAH hosts Unatego on Tuesday at 6 p.m. while the Marauders take on Cooperstown at home on Wednesday at 6 p.m. as well.