Svingala, Poulin defending titles
Section II sends 48 to state tournament at Times Union Center
The New York state wrestling tournament runs Friday and Saturday at Times Union Center.
First-round matches begin at 10 a.m. Friday with the quarterfinals slated to start at 2.
The semifinals are at 10 a.m. Saturday, then the afternoon will include all the place-finisher (top-six) matches before the 6:30 p.m. finals.
It appears, on paper, to be a relatively quiet year for Section II.
Maple Hill senior Trent Svingala is seeking his third consecutive state title (Division II, 132 pounds) while Shenendehowa sophomore Stevo Poulin (D-I, 106) is seeking his second. Other than that, there are very few guarantees.
Section II has 48 entrants, including 19 wild cards who didn’t win sectional titles (Niskayuna’s Peter Meshkov won the 160-pound crown but is injured. He was replaced by Golden Dorman from Shenendehowa — who he beat in the sectional final — and Albany Academy’s Drew Bogdan, who is a No. 5 seed).
Historically, the top four seeds at states tend to have a significant edge on winning titles.
Besides Poulin and Svingala, there are three in the largeschool competition (Division I):
Saratoga’s Eric Griskowitz (No. 4 at 138); Shenendehowa’s Brock Delsignore (No. 3 at 145); and Jake Stangle of Ballston Spa (No. 2, 285).
There are eight in Division II: Maple Hill’s Caleb Svingala (No. 3 at 106); Joey Scheeren of Galway (No. 4, 113); Zack Lawrence from Duanesburg (No. 1 at 152); Charlie Grygas of Duanesburg (No. 2 at 160); Hadleyluzerne’s Cody York (No. 4, 182); Devon Shader (No. 4 at 195) of Coxsackie-athens and Nolan Mcneill (No. 3 at 195) from Warrensburg; and Hoosick Falls’ Craig Sawyer (No. 3, 285).
Section II has never had a wild card win a state title, though six since 2009 have made a run to the finals — including one last year. Unseeded Cohoes senior 220-pounder Reggie Poulin made it all the way to the final last February in his first appearance at the state tournament.