The Shenendehowa wrestling team proved its superiority over the rest of the area at Saturday’s Section II Duals at Colonie Central High School.
The Plainsmen were untested in all four of its bouts on the way to the title. To emphasize that point, Shen raced out to a 45-0 lead on its way to beating Amsterdam 55-26 in the championship match.
Austin Meys led off the finals with a 40-second pin against Dan McNamara in the 189-pound bout, and things only went downhill for Amsterdam from there. Hunter Meys kept his perfect record intact by pinning Orlando Pacheco in 46 seconds to win the 215-pound bout, and Adam Geleta earned a third-period fall against Joe Piasecki at 285 pounds.
Nick Kelley (96 pounds), Juliano Pabon (112) and T.J. Popolizio (119) also pinned their Amsterdam opponents to help Shen build its 45-0 lead. Brian Benton finally got the Rugged Rams on the scoreboard with a technical fall over Zach Mulderry at 130 pounds, but by then the damage was done.
Seth Hazelton (125), Lee Smith (140) and Sean Kusaywa (171) also earned victories for the Plainsmen, who have yet to lose a dual match this season.
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake placed third at the Section II Duals by beating Duanesburg 50-29.
Nick Thomas (103), Kyle Vuillaume (135), Dylan Clarke (140), Ethan Wilson (152), John Acors (189), Spencer Miller (215) and Zeal McGrew (285) all pinned their opponents, and Brendan McKeown (130) added a technical fall for the Spartans.
Shen cruised into the finals by beating Duanesburg 54-22 in the semifinals. Kelley, Mulderry, Smith, Kusaywa, Geleta, both Meys brothers and Luke Popolizio (103) pinned their opponents to lead the Plainsmen to the 32-point win.
Amsterdam defeated BH-BL 47-28 in the other semifinal. Thomas, Vuillaume, Miller and McGrew scored pins for the Spartans, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Rugged Rams, who had three pins, a technical fall and two majority decisions.
Ballston Spa reached the quarterfinals before losing to Amsterdam 37-27. The Scotties won six of the first eight bouts, but the Rugged Rams rallied with seven consecutive decisions to pull out the 10-point win.
Spencer Thomas (96), Cody Jones (103), Toby Barnes (112), Alex Steciuk (160), Kevin Taormina (171) and Van Huyben (215) won their quarterfinal bouts for Ballston Spa.`