Chenango County wrestlers take 10 titles

WHITNEY POINT – For the third straight year, the Tornado wrestling team brought home the Section IV Class B Championship over the weekend with four individuals for the Norwich squad claiming their class crowns. The Purple Tornado scored 224.5 as a team for the first place finish while the Bainbridge-Guilford-Afton-Harpursville Bears came in behind them for a second place finish with 191.5. Greene-Oxford placed seventh as a team, capturing 108.5 points.
Of the 15 weight classes, Chenango County saw wrestlers vying for a Class B title in all but three. Norwich and BGAH both saw four stand at the top of the podium at the end of the day while Greene-Oxford had two wrestlers pick up titles.
BGAH’s Joey Florance started off the finals with a win in the 99 pound bout, defeating Norwich’s Max Morris by a 14-3 major decision win.
Repeating as a Class B Champion was Norwich’s Dante Geislinger. With a pinfall win in just 46 seconds against Greene-Oxford’s Owen Marcin, the Purple Tornado 106 pound junior claimed his third Class B Championship in as many seasons.
Norwich’s Andrew Brown reached the finals in the 113 pound bracket but fell just short of the champion bragging rights. Kyle Willard of Groton defeated Brown in a close 6-4 decision win.
Tornado teammate Nick Glanville repeated as a Section IV Class B champion, winning the 120 pound bracket with another fast pinfall for the Norwich squad. Needing just 51 seconds, Glanville pinned Waverly’s Garrett Skeens for his second class title.
Brady Smith of the Greene-Oxford team picked up the first champion of their two wrestlers in the 126 pound weight class, winning his finals match with a 5-2 decision over Colby Sindoni of Waverly.
BGAH’s Brody Oleksak, who missed the Class B tournament a year ago due to season-ending injury at the Windsor Christmas Tournament, returned to the top of podium as he took the 138 pound bracket with an 11-0 major decision win.
Keegan Wright of the Tornado reached the finals bout of the 145 pound weight class and matched up against Waverly’s Ethan Stotler. The two went into the second period before Stotler landed a move that set up a pinfall win.
Norwich’s Mikey Squires claimed his third straight Class B championship, winning at 152 pounds after topping Reese Lockwood of Groton with a 10-5 decision in the finals. Squires performance throughout the tournament landed him the Section IV Class B Most Outstanding Wrestler award as well.
The Bears’ Shane Hoover remained undefeated for the season while taking his 160 pound Class B title, pinning Brady Hope of Chenango Valley in the finals at the 2:51 mark of the match. Hoover also earned his third class title in three years.
After also missing the Section IV Class Championship tournament a season ago, BGAH’s Austin Eggleston claimed the crown of the 170 pound weight class in his return. He used a 12-4 major decision to earn his championship, defeating Moravia’s Joe Shoemaker.
Winning back-to-back Class B championships was Noah Kennedy of the Greene-Oxford team, taking the finals match with a 12-2 major decision of Spencer-Van Etten/Candor’s Dell Davis.
Repeating his win from last year, Tyler Rice of the Tornado brought home the 285 pound Class B title. Rice used just 27 seconds off the clock before pinning Oneonta’s Jeremaih Morris to pick up his just his second season at the varsity level.
15 other wrestlers from the area placed within the top eight, qualifying each for the Section IV Division-II Championships next weekend.
The Division-II action will begin on Friday, February 8 with preliminaries starting at 5 p.m. and quarterfinals to follow immediately after. Wrestlers will return the following day for the first round of wrestlebacks starting at 9 a.m. and semifinals beginning at 10 a.m.
The Section IV tournament will be held at Windsor High School this year. Cost of admission is $12 for all-session passes or $8 per day. The cost for the finals is just $5. Senior citizens will pay $3 per session and children under 10 are free.