The outcome of Saturday’s Section II, Class A wrestling tournament was decided long before the finals.
Seven out of the eight Shenendehowa wrestlers that reached the finals won their bouts to help the Plainsmen cruise to the team title with 294.5 points, 117 points ahead of runner-up Ballston Spa.
It was the fourth consecutive Sectional title for Shen and its sixth in the last decade.
One of the things I talked about to the team the other day is at what point do you become a dynasty, said Shen coach Rob Weeks. `I talked about the time (several years ago) when Niskayuna was leading by 100 points going into the finals, and coach (Joe) Bena had his grandson on his knee during the finals. I don’t think we’re at that point yet, but we’re close.`
The other class A coaches had already conceded the team title to Shen before the finals. Instead, they focused on sending as many of their kids to this weekend’s state qualifier in Glens Falls.
`I’m getting all you could ask for,` said Guilderland coach Korey Rogotzke, whose team had three individual champions. `We brought two seniors with us today. We are competing largely on the strength of underclassmen. If we have a good off-season like we did last year, we will be in a much better position to contend next year.`
The finals started with a bang for Shen, as Nick Kelley (96 pounds) and Luke Popolizio (103) pinned their opponents in the first period. Juliano Pabon followed his teammates by scoring a majority decision over Ballston Spa’s Toby Barnes for the 112-pound title, and T.J. Popolizio defeated Colonie’s Jason Chudzinski for the 119-pound championship.
Matt Cubillos and Robert Romeo then gave the Guilderland fans something to cheer about. Cubillos quickly pinned Columbia’s Lou Angelo for the 125-pound title, and Romeo scored a second period fall against Columbia’s Brian Latham to claim the 130-pound championship.
`I wanted it bad this year,` said Romeo, who claimed his first Sectional title. `It’s my senior year ` my last shot.`
After Columbia’s Zach Crain pinned Shen’s Nick Altimari for the 135-pound title, David Staulters defeated Colonie’s J.J. Anderson 6-3 for the 140-pound championship. Eliah Golding returned the favor for the Garnet Raiders by beating Cameron Staulters in the 145-pound finals, but Eric Simmons (152) and Alex Steciuk (160) won their title bouts to help the Scotties secure second place in the team standings.
The focus soon shifted back to Shen, though. First, Austin Meys earned a majority decision over Saratoga’s Adam Winnie for the 171-pound title. Then, Hunter Meys bounced back from an early takedown by Niskayuna’s Jake Newcomb to score a two-point reversal and then a pin for the 189-pound championship.
But what pleased Weeks the most was when Dan Peyron upended Colonie’s A.J. Monin 3-2 for the 215-pound title. Peyron surrendered a 1-point lead in the third period with a stalling call and letting Monin up before taking Monin down to regain the advantage.
`I just tried really hard,` said Peyron, who was seeded fourth but wound up beating top-seeded Van Huyben of Ballston Spa and Monin, the No. 2 seed. `I knew I really wanted to win this.`
`Dan Peyron is a guy who’s been consistently in my program since the beginning,` said Weeks. `He’s sacrificed for the team, and now for him to reap the benefits like that, it makes me feel good as a coach.`
Guilderland’s Devan Van Auken ended the night with a victory over Schenectady’s Andrew Jones for the 285-pound title, which ended a perfect 3-for-3 performance by the Dutchmen ` the second year in a row they accomplished that feat.
`The guys in the finals wrestled the epitome of what we look for ` superior positioning, clean technique, intensity and out-conditioning guys,` said Rogotzke.
The top six finishers in each of the 15 weight classes advance to this weekend’s state qualifier at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The winners there earn automatic berths to the state tournament March 7 and 8 in Rochester.
Sports Editor Rob Jonas contributed to this story.“