Goss shows depth for Burnt Hills
Wrestler helps to lead Spartans to a pair of wins
The Burnt Hills wrestling team showed off its incredible depth Saturday by capturing the team title at the 21-team Schenectady Invitational with a score of 166 points. The Spartans only had one wrestler to claim an individual title in junior Gabriel Goss.
Competing at 132 pounds, Goss posted a 5-0 decision over Shenendehowa’s Vincent Grembocki in the title match.
“I think it kind of set the tone for me a little bit,” Goss said. “I got to see some of the competition I will see later in this year. I think it makes a difference, seeing that earlier in the season.”
Minisink Valley finished third in the team standings and earned every individual title from 152 to 215 pounds. Shenendehowa finished second and claimed two titles. Goss led Burnt Hills, which also had two second-place finishes, a trio of thirds and two fourths to claim the championship.
“Seeing how we play out against some of these other teams sort of sets the pace for us,” Goss said.
For his efforts, Goss has been selected as the Times Union’s Boys’ Athlete of the Week for the period of Jan. 10-16.
“It was pretty much sectionals for me,” Goss said. “I think winning that tournament was big for me. It gave me a lot of seeding and ranking points in the section. Seeing some of these faces early is going to help me game-plan and prepare better for sectionals.”
Tuesday night, Burnt Hills defeated Shenendehowa (37-30) and Shaker (45-22) to earn the Section II Division I Dual Meet title, advancing to the state competition on Jan. 29 in Syracuse.
Goss, the top-ranked Section II Division I competitor at 126 pounds, was pleased to win the 132-pound class at the Schenectady Invitational — although he wanted better from himself in the finals.
“Grembocki is a really good wrestler, but honestly, no, I am not happy with that,” Goss said. “I need to be scoring more points and keep improving.”