ALBANY – Judson Ferris added his name to the long and storied list of Baldwinsville wrestlers that have taken part in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships.
Ferris, through his second-place finish in the Feb. 10 Section III Division I meet, earned an at-large spot in the 195-pound field for the state meet that took place last Friday and Saturday at Albany’s MVP Arena.
It was also merited for a season where Ferris, a senior, accumulated 37 wins and improved from the third-place Class AA and fourth-place Division I showing at 189 pounds he had during the 2022-23 season.
Back in December, Ferris opened his season with a second-place showing in Cicero-North Syracuse’s Andersen Tournament, after which he was third in the Phoenix Round Robin.
In January, Ferris pinned Kenyon Davidson (Johnson City) to win the 190-pound title in the River Hawk Round Robin at Owego, having won 10 in a row and had two different nine-match win streaks during the winter while wrestling at both 190 and 215 pounds.
Syracuse City’s Ryan Brown ultimately kept Ferris from the Class AA and Division I sectional titles, claiming decisions in both finals, the latter of them a tight 7-5 battle.
Still, Ferris earned his spot at the state meet, where in the opening round at 190 he faced Lockport’s Liam Whalen, needing to win to insure at least one more bout – which he did with ease, pinning Whalen late in the first period.
Then, in the round of 16, Ferris met St. Francis (Buffalo) wrestler Zach Caldwell, and it proved to be a classic.
An early reversal helped Ferris erase a 2-0 deficit and go up 3-2, and the two continued to go back and forth until, with the scored tied 5-5 late in the second period, Caldwell executed a go-ahead takedown.
In the down position, Ferris would escape in the third period to cut it to 7-6, but a late takedown allowed Caldwell to pull it out 9-6 and send Ferris into the consolation bracket. Caldwell eventually reached the state final before Hilton’s undefeated standout, Elijah Diakomihalis, beat him 13-0 to complete a perfect 50-0 season.
Winning his other two bouts on Friday, Ferris pinned Jacob Bennett (Horseheads) in 72 seconds and then edged Tanner Scaccia (Columbia) 6-4 to advance to Saturday’s competition with a chance at a podium finish.
Against Canandaigua’s Mason Depew, Ferris lasted more than two minutes before Depew earned the pin on his way to a sixth-place finish.
