WRESTLE, WIN, REPEAT
Ballston Spa wrestlers Barnes, Cook and Stangle repeat as SII champs
GLENS FALLS, N.Y. » Wash, rinse, repeat.
As much as things change, sometimes they stay the same.
Ballston Spa coaches Harvey and Gene Staulters sitting in two red cushioned chairs in the corner of a mat, watching a wrestling match in front of them. Scotties grapplers competing at the thenGlens Falls Civic Center, now the Cool Insuring Arena, a whistle from the referee for the start or pause to a match.
Much of the six minutes, if that is all that is needed are often spent observing and in front of them, in wrestling terms – poetry in motion Saturday night at Tyler Barnes captured his fourth-consecutive Section II D1 wrestling title, Jake Cook and Jake Stangle followed with their second.
Ballston Spa is known more for its car racing at Albany-Saratoga Speedway and betting isn’t allowed, but for Staulters it was a night of chalk, three Scottie finalists, three Section II titles – A Scotties trifecta.
“That was very nice to see,” Harvey Staulters said. “I was happy that we got through that and I was happy that the kids could come back and repeat.”
He had no qualms with again being a spectator to the Ballston Spa products on the mat in front of him.
“They do all the work in the practice room and they’ve done off-season stuff, they’ve done so much work that it’s really nice to sit there and watch and not coach a lot,” Staulters said.
Barnes spent 26 seconds total to advance towards his fourth-straight Sec-
tion II final and then took his time, less than 90 seconds to pin Colonie’s Liam Mooney who even earned point against the defending New York State champion Friday night.
“I mean I just wanted to wrestle around a little to be honest with you,” Tyler Barnes said.
Mooney earned points on a rare takedown, taking a leg of Barnes and to the mat, but mostly because Barnes worked on putting his own leg into Mooney’s stance, looking for a trip, but also willing to wrestle on one leg.
“I wrestle a lot in that position, so I feel pretty comfortable when they have my leg,” Barnes said. “I don’t get too worried when they have it.”
After his pin in 87 seconds at 170-pounds, Cook followed with his own quick pin, a win over Queensbury’s Dom Nassivera in 65 seconds.
For the two Ballston Spa co-headliners of Saturday’s wrestling show it wasn’t hard for the two to deliver a memorable performance.
“I don’t see it as pressure, I see it as an expectation that people around me expect me to win and I do my best to make it happen,” Jake Cook said.
If any fans felt cheated from the short shows from Barnes and Cook, heavyweight Jake Stangle made up for it a 285 pounds, holding off Mohonasen’s Paul Brown during the entire six minute set.
Stangle attempted to use his strength to lift Brown just enough to get him unsettled on his feet and throw him, but Brown was familiar with that move and looked to prevent a takedown and turn the tables on Stangle.
“It was mass, but from our last match here he remembered,” Jake Stangle said. “It proves to me that I have to change up throughout the matches, make sure my opponents don’t know my whole rulebook. I have to open my span of ideas.”
Last year it was a late takedown that secured the title for Stangle and this year it was keeping himself upright and avoiding a last-second takedown by Brown.
His second Section II title was just as special for him and his teammates.
“It shows how hard we work, how hard we work in the room, just the atmosphere in the room shows out here from what we do in there,” Stangle said.
Another automatic was Schuylerville’s Orion Anderson who captured his own fourth-straight Section II title Saturday night for the Black Horses along with Shenendehowa’s Kiernan Shanahan at 145 pounds. He was joined by Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake’s John DeConno at 113 and Shen’s Stevo Poulin at 99 as first-time winners in the D1 tournament.
Galway’s Joey Scheeren captured the 106-pound title with MechanicvilleStillwater’s Daniel Motta winning at 132 and Hadley Luzerne/Lake George’s Logan Duers winning the Division 2 title at 285-pounds, respectively.