Pat Quinlan and Tristan Broddus ended the Fayetteville-Manlius wrestling team’s 40-year wait for a Section III title with their victories Feb. 15 in the Division I (large school) sectional tournament at SRC Arena.
But Quinlan and Broddus will not go to Albany’s Times Union Center for the state meet by themselves, as the F-M contingent will also include Tim Byrnes, an alternate at 170 pounds who will get in the 16-man field should one of the wrestlers pull out.
Byrnes, with a 35-3 record this season, was a winner at the Fallen Heroes Tournament and Lindenhurst Invitational, and also claimed the sectional Class AA title before reaching the Division I sectional title bout, where he lost, 11-2, to Indian River’s Sonny McPherson.
Meanwhile, at 182 pounds, CBA/Jamesville-DeWitt’s Mark Friske was also a wild-card selection for the state meet, but unlike Byrnes went directly into the state tournament bracket with his 30-6 record.
Friske finished second at both the Class AA and sectional Division I tournaments, beaten in both finals by Baldwinsville’s Gunnar Sutphen, the latter of them a 6-2 decision. By reaching the state meet, Friske joins teammate Ben Honis, a favorite to medal at 195 pounds.
Wrestling at the state meet in Albany gets underway at 10 a.m. next Friday with the preliminary round and quarterfinals. Semifinals are March 1, in the morning, leading to the championship bouts that night, which start at 6:30.
In the opening round, Honis faces Michael Newman (Monsignor Farrell), from the Catholic Association, while Friske gets Isaiah Cooks (Section II, Colonie). As for F-M’s wrestlers, Quinlan faces Xavian Hughes (Section IV, Union-Endicott), while Broddus gets Kirk Feeney (Section VI, Lockport) in his opener.
