Amid the starts and stops of the winter season, Morrisville-Eaton’s wrestling team made some big news off the mat.
Senior Ryan LeBlanc, the defending state Division II 160-pound champion, has announced that he is going to Indiana University next fall to continue his mat career against the top NCAA Division I programs in the country.
First, though, there was the matter of finishing his work with the Warriors. Even though M-E finished 14th out of 15 teams at Spencerport’s Teike-Bernabi Tournament on Dec. 29 and 30, LeBlanc still won the 160-pound division, beating Clay Reeb (Cheektowaga) in a 9-3 decision.
Following some rest, M-E returned to action Jan. 10, at the Warrensburg Dual Meet, where it posted a 4-1 record.
The Warriors beat Massena 57-21, Beekmantown 40-35, host Warrensburg 66-12 and Mohonasen 55-16, taking its only loss to Hudson Falls 44-33. LeBlanc went 5-0 in the meet, as did Alex Meyers at 215 pounds, while Hunter Roberts and Ethan Morley both earned 4-1 marks and Jordan Doroshenko went 3-2.
Finally, the Warriors were back in the Center State Conference last Tuesday night, going to Mohawk and earning a 42-21 victory over the Mohicans.
Alex Winham, at 119 pounds, got M-E on the board by pinning Mike Backus in 2:40. Mike Vreeland (130 pounds) then kicked off a Warrior win streak, beating Dan Gardner 9-4. Morley used a single escape to squeak past Kyle LaBarge 1-0 before Cody Frost (140 pounds) rolled past Dustin Bond 12-3.
The Warriors would win three more times on the mat. Luke Collier, at 160 pounds, earned an 8-4 decision over Eric Ulinski, while LeBlanc got a technical fall over Mike Barse midway through the third period and Meyers pinned Travis Herringshaw 14 seconds into the third period. Jon Metz (103 pounds) claimed a forfeit.
M-E is home Saturday for a non-league meet against Whitesboro.
