With their history of success on the mat at East Syracuse-Minoa, the quartet of Matt Letcher, Mick Letcher, Brett Adams and Dustin Moss expected to reach the medal stand at the 30th edition of the Empire State Games.
As it turned out, they all came home with gold medals after a perfect run in the ESG scholastic wrestling meet held at Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx.
Adams earned his title in the 178-pound Greco-Roman division. Going 4-0 in preliminary matches, he carried that domination over to the finals, where he beat Central region teammate Coty Cute in two periods 5-0, 4-1, to earn the gold.
Matt Letcher worked at 143 pounds in the Greco-Roman discipline. After going four-for-four in early matches, he faced Matthew White (Adirondck) in Friday’s final. Letcher won the first period 3-1, then dropped the second period to White 3-0 before rallying for a tense 2-1 victory in the third period to finish on top.
As for Mick Letcher, his early success in the 154-pound Greco-Roman division continued into the finals against Long Island’s Paul Diorio. In two periods, Letcher racked up lots of points to claim an easy 7-1, 7-2 victory for ESM’s third gold in as many events.
Moss would complete the sweep the next day, at 154 pounds in the freestyle division. Like Adams and the Letchers, he won all four of his early matches to set up the final. Unlike them, he won the title match with a pin, taking just 2:13 to finish off Chris Collura (Western) and conclude Spartan domination of the ESG mat.
Both Adams and Mick Letcher will be back on the football field for the defending Section III Class A champion Spartans when practice starts on Aug. 13.
