Shen grapplers best Columbia for Section 2 dual title
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. >> It has become an annual event for the top four wrestling teams in Section 2, a night where the top teams meet, compete and are rewarded with more sacrifices during the winter season as they prepare for the post-season.
For the second year in a row Shenendehowa claimed the Section 2 dual tournament title, besting Queensbury early, 49-26 and then rallying back from a 14-point deficit to take down Columbia, 47-34, and advance to the New York State Dual championships Jan. 26 in Syracuse.
“We knew Queensbury had seven kids that could win matches for them,” Shenendehowa Coach Rob Weeks said. “We didn’t match up exceptionally well minus a couple of maneuvers that we presented and at the end of the day mathematically figured we were going to advance.
“(Assistant) Coach Capezzuti said the team did not
look over fired-up or prepared, so it was nice to see them respond in the second match and wrestle as well as they did.”
In the opening round, the Plainsmen only trailed the Spartans by three points after the fifth match before reeling off four straight wins and doubling up Queensbury, 28-14. Shenendehowa would trade off the next three matches before closing out the first session with three straight wins for the 49-26 final.
On the adjacent mat, Columbia outlasted Ballston Spa for a 40-28 win to advance and avenged several matches along the way.
“Michael Yelle at 113 (pounds) lost 12-7 last and won this time 4-3 and Zachary Strope (132) got pinned against their kid and won a decision this time,” Columbia Assistant Coach Bob Kane said. “Good for those guys, definitely helps with seeding for the Class A’s.
“We were really happy with that and I think we wrestled Shen tough, we just came up a little short.”
Kane was filling in for head coach Anthony Servidone who was unavailable for Tuesday’s event due to a previous family commitment.
With the final starting at the 113-pound weight class Shen’s Pablo Delarosa opened up with a technical pin fall over Anthony Poggoli before the Blue Devils reeled off three straight wins – Aiden Scott with a 10-2 decision, Jacob Slovak with a pin in two minutes, 40 seconds and Strope earning his second win of the night, a pin at 3:20 for a 16-5 lead.
The Plainsmen responded with a technical pin fall from Seamus Leavey at 138 and Brock Delsignore earning a 14-5 decision at 145.
After Columbia’s T.J. Scaccia accepted a forfeit at 152, Jake Edwards earned his pin at 160 in just 52 seconds.
Shenendehowa’s Colden Dorfman earned a pin at 170 in 1:44 before Brandon Fahr was awarded six points with an injury default in his 182-pound match against Adam Riley, closing the gap to two points, 28-26. He was lifted by Riley, but the takedown back onto the mat was too aggressive and led to a halt of the match by the officials as Fahr needed time to recover.
“It wasn’t intentional or malicious, it was a bad mat return,” Rob Weeks said. “A good official’s call, the kid was out on his feet, it is what it is.”
The Blue Devils stretched the lead one last time on Ryan Duryea’s pin at 195 in 3:45 before Shenendehowa closed out the night with four straight wins, including three key pins.
“Sebastian Underwood pinning at 220 (54 seconds), we had it on paper that he would, but we weren’t sure that he could,” Weeks said. “Then (Kevin) Fobare winning at 285 (5-1 decision) and having two pretty good wrestlers coming behind him (David Ensminger 99, Stevo Poulin 106) we were in a pretty good position.”
Both squads looked for key match-ups and upsets to get the one or two precious points to guarantee a win and a trip to Syracuse.
“We ran the numbers both ways whether or not we put (Michael) Altomer on (Brock) Delsignore again because we weighed two guys in at 145, so we could have put (TJ) Scaccia on Delsignore, and there wasn’t a huge advantage one way or the other. We didn’t think Mikey (Altomer) would run out of blood time this time, so we figured that we would roll the dice there.”
It was a rematch of last year’s final, but everything finished closer one year later.
“Columbia, they’re just some kind of outstanding team,” Ballston Spa Coach Harvey Staulters said after the opening round 4028 loss. “We wrestled them better than the last time.”
The Blue Devils also improved their showing in the newly established event finale.
“Last time it was 54-24, so we definitely improved our situation,” Kane said. “(Cody) Deuel being injured, I think he got hurt in the first match, was a big deal for us, that slam, that’s a 12-point swing, we probably would have gotten a pin in that match, but it’s a 12-point swing, but even with the 12-points swing we would have still lost by one, 40-41.
“We still needed to pick up another point in there and there were definitely opportunities where we could have picked up another point, but it starts back at 113 (first match).”
The newly created event is an option for Section 2 teams with the top four squads that request an invitation have enough team points.
“It’s free competition, it doesn’t cost you anything,” Weeks said. “Even Ballston Spa and Queensbury, they had one dual meet tonight, so they were able to wrestle and get an additional match and some of them won matches, you may avenge a match loss you had during the season.