All Norwich wrestlers place in top five

SCHENECTADY – In what is considered a smaller Eastern States Classic – the largest in-season tournament New York State hosts every year in the first weeks of January – Norwich attended the Wrangle in the Plains, hosted by Shenendehowa. Two of the Purple Tornado team members returned home as champions of the tournament while others placed in the top five of their brackets.
Wrestlers from three states, New York, Vermont and Virginia, made up the 375 participants for the tournament and fans who stayed for the entire tournament saw over 1,000 bouts take place.
Dante Geislinger and Tyler Rice won their weight classes after earning the number one seed in the opening matches. Geislinger took the 120 pound championship while Rice earned his title at 285 pounds.
The Norwich 120 pounder received a first match bye then took two major decision wins, 8-0 and 10-2, to earn the top seed in the championship round. With a pinfall win at the 4:31 mark of the match, Geislinger was crowned the champion.
Rice also had a first match bye before winning in overtime in his second bout of the day. Rice then earned a 5-0 decision and 10-1 major before being awarded a forfeit in the final match of the round robin, taking the top seed in the 285 pound bracket and capturing the title.
The Purple Tornado wrestlers also had three walk away with the runner-up honors as Max Morris (99), Andrew Brown (126) and Mikey Squires (170) in the elite bracket while Joey Marvin finished second in the B bracket. Mason Edwards placed fourth in the 132 pound elite division and teammate Robert McIntyre placed fifth in pool B at 160 pounds.
Morris pinned for the win in the two round-robin matches, both in the first minute of the first period as well as earning a bye to take the first seed for the finals. Morris, however, fell in the championship by a 10-3 decision to take second place in the large tournament.
Norwich’s Brown captured two pinfall wins as well as a 15-5 major decision to earn the number one seed for the title bout. In the finals match, Brown lost by a 8-1 decision to finish second.
Edwards went 1-2 during the round-robin matches, winning in a 3:49 pin in his second bout of the day to earn a third seed. One of Norwich’s freshman on the team this season then went on to place fourth after falling in the finals 22 seconds into the second period.
The Tornado’s Marvin went 3-0 in the pool B bracket, winning with a pinfall and a 22-7 technical fall and was awarded a second round bye. Marvin picked up the top seed in the pool but lost in the finals in the second period to earn second place.
McIntyre received a first match bye and lost both of his matches by pins in the first period, awarding him the third seed of his pool. He ended up fifth overall in the bracket, falling in his final bout of the afternoon.
Squires took the top seed at 170 pounds after two pins and a 5-2 decision. In the finals, the Norwich senior battled with a tough match up against Tyler Albis of John Jay East/Fish Kill – who head coach Bob Hagenbuch said Squires will more than likely see again at Eastern States – but ended up on the losing end of a 6-3 decision to give the senior his first loss of the season.
Also wrestling was Norwich’s Nate Murphy in 126 pound pool B bracket. Murphy went 1-2 on the day, earning a late, third period pin for his victory. His other matches throughout the day saw him end up on the wrong side of a 7-5 decision as well as 1-0 sudden victory loss.
The Purple Tornado have a double-header dual meet on Thursday against Susquehanna Valley, which is a Southern Tier Athletic Conference divisional match, and Bainbridge-Guilford-Afton-Harpursville for a non-league meet. Action will begin at 6 p.m. for the double-header.
On Saturday, the Norwich team will head to their first dual tournament of the season in Burnt Hills as they attend the Lee Van Slyke Memorial Tournament. Wrestling is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.