Area trio captures titles at Mid-Hudson tourney
Onteora High’s Dillon Ross, Nikko Walsh of Rondout Valley High and Red Hook’s Liam Dietrich all won championships Thursday, leading 11 area athletes who placed at the 52nd annual Mid-Hudson Invitational Wrestling Tournament at Arlington.
Walsh, who was named the Most Outstanding Freshman, went 7-0 en route to winning the 99-pound title. He had a technical fall, three pins and three decisions. He had a pair of 6-0 triumphs and capped it with a 2-1 victory over Cornwall senior Christian Prokosch in the finals.
Ross went unscored upon in his eight victories as he won the 170 crown. He had five pins and a pair of shutout major decisions, including a 9-0 win over Gevorg Arakelov of Maspeth in the cham-
pionship match. Onteora’s winningest grappler had his 150th victory during the tourney.
Dietrich pinned Ossining’s Diego Orellana for the 285 crown.
Saugerties’ Anthony Owen and Red Hook’s Tristen Schiafto also made the finals, but were pinned. Owen went 6-2 in the twoday event.
Two other Sawyers placed. Craig Laurey edged Max Haegele of Ward Melville 3-2 for third place at 195. Matt Bucci lost in the consolation final, falling 4-3 to John Jay’s Derek White and placing fourth. Laurey and Bucci both went 5-2 overall.
Three other Ross brothers also placed for Onteora. Nate Ross went 6-2, while Pat and Nick both went 5-2. Nick (126) and Pat (120) was fourth, while Nate (138) took fifth.
Rondout’s Ian Houck went 6-2, including earning his 150th career victory. He was fifth at 145.
Onteora had the best showing of Hudson Valley schools, placing 12th in the 25-team event with 89.5 points. Red Hook (74) was 15th, Rondout (73) took 16th and Saugerties (69) was 17th.