TRENT SVINGALA SHINES IN STATES
ALBANY, N.Y. >> It was a night of champions at the Times Union Center Saturday night as three Section II wrestlers were crowned New York State Public High School Athletic Association champions.
Maple Hill sophomore Trent Svingala along with juniors Orion Anderson of Schuylerville and Ballston Spa’s Tyler Barnes all stood at the top of the podium for high school sports ultimate honor, a state champion.
No. 2 seeded 106-pound lightweight Trent Svingala advanced to his first-ever NYSPHSAA championship and went right to work, scoring six points in the first period against defending NYS champion Central Valley Academy’s Jon Charles (Section III).
“I think I caught him offguard there, it was a great feeling just to get that first take down out of the way and suck the life out of him almost because as soon as I hit it he has to come up and fight for me,” Trent Svingala said. “It’s not an even match anymore, he has to come from behind, so that was good to get and I’d take it again if I could.”
He was awarded two points before the first move of the second period as Charles looked to move quickly, too quickly and Svingala was awarded a point on two straight re-starts. Once the period began he escaped and had a commanding 9-1 lead before looking to finish out the final two minutes of wrestling and be crowned a state champion.
“I knew he was going to go right off the whistle so I guess those were just like gimme points, thank god for those I guess,” Svingala said.
Svingala had already defeated Charles on three other
occasions before taking the fourth match-up Saturday night.
“I know he’s a tough opponent, wrestled him four times, I prepare for every match like it’s a national top-ranked guy, I just want to knock off the top guys and I think I did that today,” Svingala said.
He was also used to the big stage at the Times Union Center, finishing fourth-last year, but unable to spend the night on the main floors two championship mats.
“I came here last year and placed, so I was familiar
with it,” Svingala said. “This year was a little different because at this point last year I sitting up in the stands eating fried dough instead of wrestling so I think I like this a little bit more.”
The Maple Hill sophomore paid a price for the close combat win, sporting a bump above his forehead, redness around his left eye and a cut lip with blood inside his mouth.
“I think I’d break my leg for this sport, I did in eighth grade, I’d do anything for it,” Svingala said. “It’s kind of my whole life, so I think going in I’d do anything to win I guess.”
Schuylerville junior Orion Anderson became just the third back-toback
wrestling champion from Section II, following Shenendehowa’s Kevin Parker and Duanesburgh’s Nick Gwiazdowski.
The Black Horse state champion also jumped out on his opponent, Mattituck’s (Section I) junior Luke Bokina.
“It’s awesome, I just wanted to wrestle aggressive and wrestle my match,” Orion Anderson said. “I was trying to not keep it close and try to build a lead.
Anderson defeated Bokina 10-7 at the Eastern States Classic earlier this year with both wrestling at 120-pounds and last year sent the Section I wrestler to the wrestle backs with an 8-3 win in the state quarterfinals.
Beating someone before I think gives you a little bit of a mental advantage, I was kind of happy with where I was,” Anderson said.
Ballston Spa junior Tyler Barnes kept the family tradition alive, advancing to the NYSPHSAA finals Saturday night, the same place his father, Terry, did in 1995 as a Scottie senior.
In front of a capacity crowd and a fan base of more than 40 people from Ballston Spa, Tyler Barnes earned a 5-2 win over No. 3 seeded Zach Ancewicz from John Glenn High School (Section XI) in the 170-pound Division I finale.
“It’s something that I’ve been working for my whole high school career and so it’s finally done, it feels
good to have it done,” Tyler Barnes said.
Ancwewicz didn’t want to engage Barnes throughout the first period, pushing him away at each turn and was even given a free escape by the Ballston Spa grappler to open the second before Barnes took him down midway through the second. In the third Barnes was given the free escape, but took down Ancwewicz once again with 40 seconds to go and kept him on the mat for the first title in the family.
“I felt in control the whole time, I didn’t ever feel like it was out of hand, just felt confident about it,” Barnes said. “’You have to keep going at them and keep going towards them to put some
pressure on them.”
With a chance to become the first-ever Ballston Spa wrestler crowned as a state champion, Barnes wore his purple and gold singlet for the finale, foregoing the picture-laden Section II garb uniform adopted last year.
“There was no doubt in my mind, I wanted to wear it,” Barnes said.
Hadley-Luzerne senior Jason Hoffman was pinned by Alexander junior Matthew Gaiser in the Division II 170-pound final at 1:52 and Shenendehowa sophomore Kiernan Shanahan lost a 7-2 decision to two-time NYS champion Frankie Gissendanner from Penfield (Section V) in the 145-pound Division I championship final.