A Devine upset in final
Schalmont freshman’s last second takedown wins 126-pound title
Schalmont wrestling coach Vinnie Gallo looked directly at freshman standout Dylan Devine with 39 seconds remaining in his 126-pound Section II Division II final match Saturday night against top-seeded Dylan Winchell. There was a break in the action and Gallo had Devine’s attention and simply pointed to his heart and said, “It’s all about this.”
Trailing by one point with 13 seconds remaining in the match at Cool Insuring Arena, Devine engaged with Winchell and managed to produce a two-point takedown in the waning seconds to secure a thrilling 12-11 victory over the Warrensburg-Bolton senior star — a competitor with more than 200 career victories.
“I had to keep hustling. I know I worked harder than him in the match. I did what I know I can do and never gave up,” Devine said. “This feels great. All the hard work paid off. I’m so happy. Now, I have to get back to work and get ready for states.”
Winchell, who entered the final with a 43-2 record this season, had been called for stalling and docked points attempting to maintain his lead. That meant he had to take an offensive approach at the end of the third period, even though he had the lead. The senior made a move and Devine snuck behind him to earn the takedown.
“This is a testament to his hard work and the maturity he has shown throughout the season,” Gallo said of Devine. “For a freshman to keep his composure in an environment like this is amazing. It is all credit to him
and his hard work and effort.”
Warrensburg-Bolton entered the Division II tournament with three No. 1 seeds. The other two won as Tanner McKenna (132) and Tristen Hitchcock captured titles and will compete Feb. 25-26 at MVP Arena in Albany. Warrensburg-Bolton and Burnt Hills, the teams that represented Section II last month at the state Dual Meet Championships in Syracuse, both earned team titles Saturday.
The coronavirus pandemic helped scuttle sectional and state championships last winter. Without having a 2021 sectional tournament, Saturday’s 26 title matches featured just three returning champions from two years ago and two prevailed. Shaker seniors Michael Santore (118) and Ryan Stein (215) each won Division I championships in tight matches. Santore posted a 4-0 decision over Mohonasen’s Nico Rivera and Stein edged Ballston Spa standout Darrien Insogna 6-4.
Santore and Stein each entered the event seeded No. 1. Rivera wrestled in a defensive mode. Santore scored an escape for a point in the second period and later added a takedown to go 3-0 headed to the third period.
“I had to stay patient and stay tough on top,” Santore said. “I got a takedown in and won by only a few points. That’s fine by me.”
Stein’s win was his third this season over Insogna, all by an identical 6-4 score. The senior upped his record to 28-1 and collected his 115th career win with the triumph in the final.
Shenendehowa finished second in the Division I team standings and featured two champions in Ayden Robles (125) and Jashon Holmes (138). Robles posted a 1-0 win over Liam Carlin (Burnt Hills) and Holmes posted a 4-1 verdict over Tyler Rossini (Burnt Hills).
“That felt well-deserved,” a jubilant Robles said after his match. “It felt good because I not only won, but because I settled things between us. We were 1-1 going into this.”
The other Division I teams with two champions were Burnt Hills and Ballston Spa. Gabriel Goss (132) and Josh Warland (145) earned titles for the Spartans and Ralph Keeney (102) and Connor Gregory (152) secured championships for the Scotties. All four competitors were top seeds as 10 overall from Division I earned crowns.
Queensbury senior Dylan Schell, like Holmes, entered his 172-pound Division I final undefeated and remained that way after producing a 19-6 verdict over Ryan Buthfer (Burnt Hills).
After earning his win, Schell sprinted from his mat to the one Canajoharie-Fort Plain senior Reed Douglass was wrestling on the 172pound Division II final against La Salle’s Ray Hutton. Douglass notched a 6-4 win to improve to 35-2 this season and earn his first sectional title. The two seniors shared a hug afterwards.
Douglass, who last month signed to compete in college at Division I Presbyterian, did a TV interview saying how he was like 4-15 as a freshman (he actually went 9-16). Saturday, obviously, meant a great deal to him.
“I was terrible my freshman year,” Douglass said. “I remember one time crying in the locker room saying, ‘I hate this feeling. I am not going to let this happen again,’ I dedicated the next three years of my life to training hard.”
Owen Hicks, who wrestles for Fonda-Johnstown, earned the 145pound Division II championship. Also a standout football player at Fonda, Hicks registered his 100th career victory in the title match and became the first Fonda wrestler to win a sectional title since 1977.