Audey Ashkar will have some company as two Liverpool wrestlers will make their way to Albany’s Times Union Center for next weekend’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship meet.
David Carnie, who finished second in the Section III Division I meet at 285 pounds, earned an at-large berth into the state tournament on the basis of a season that included several tournament titles and an overall record of 37 wins against just four defeats.
Carnie was first in his weight class at both the Herkimer Invitational on Dec. 13 and the Phoenix Round Robin a week later. From there, he lost just once the rest of the regular season and, on Feb. 7, beat Cicero-North Syracuse’s Chris St. Denny 14-4 for the sectional Class AA title.
In the overall sectional large-school meet, Carnie, the no. 2 seed, cruised until the final, when he and top seed Erik Jessell (Carthage) engaged in a close bout decided by a late Jessell takedown that gave him a 4-2 decision.
Still, that wasn’t enough to prevent Carnie from earning his spot in the state tournament alongside Ashkar, who improved to 39-3 on the season by sweeping to the sectional title in the 120-pound weight class.
All told, 20 Section III wrestlers earned at-large state meet spots, but 18 of them were on the Division II (small school) side. Aside from Carnie, only Fulton’s Travis Lake, the sectional runner-up at 170 pounds to Indian River’s Sonny McPherson, was named.
The state meet starts Feb. 27 at 10 a.m. Sixteen wrestlers comprise each weight class, with first-round and quarterfinal bouts on the opening day, followed by semifinals the next morning (Feb. 28), plus the consolation brackets, before the finals that night.
