Never before had the Jamesville-DeWitt/CBA wrestling program earned a state championship. Then again, it had never put five wrestlers in the state tournament before, either.
So when the state’s top grapplers gathered again at Albany’s Times Union Center, J-D/CBA had high expectations, especially for Matt Griffin, the top seed at 106 pounds.
Three times before, Griffin had reached the state meet, never finishing better than third place at 99 pounds in 2016. Having little trouble in the first round, Griffin defeated Queensbury’s Ryan Sleezer in five minutes with a 16-0 technical fall.
Then, in the quarterfinals, Griffin got challenged by North Tonawanda’s Ty Bartolomei, falling behind 4-1 in the first period. But with some brilliant moves, Griffin pinned Bartolomei early in the second period.
Saturday’s action began with a semifinal between Griffin and Monsignor Farrell’s Terry Adams, the no. 4 seed. It turned into a wild, back-and-forth classic.
Griffin led 5-0 early in the bout, gave up that lead, and then staged his own comeback to tie Adams 9-9 and force overtime. Not until deep into OT did Adams make the moves that led to Griffin’s 13-10 defeat.
As Adams went on to edge Rush-Henrietta’s Jayden Scott 3-2 to win the state title, Griffin rebounded,edging Ivan Garcia (Port Chester) 4-3 and then taking the consolation bracket final over Wantagh’s Josiah Encarnacion 4-2 to finish his season at 39-3.
At 126 pounds, Tyler Kellison was appearing in his first state meet, but his strong season had produced a no. 4 seed, and the early draw was favorable.
Going up against Brooklyn Tech’s Matthew Mina in the first round, Kellison showed no nerves in his first state meet appearance, pinning Mina late in the second period.
Now in the quarterfinals, Kellison took on Corning’s Chase Daudelin, and nearly got a pin on a couple of occasions, building a 10-1 advantage and withstanding Daudelin’s late comeback to pull it out 14-7.
While it got Kellison to the semifinals and guaranteed a podium finish, it put hin up against top-seeded, 46-0 Adam Busiello from Eastport-South Manor, and Busiello proved way too good, earning his technical fall over Kellison in 3:09.
As Busiello went on to pin Justin McDougald (Niagara-Wheatfield) to complete an undefeated run to the state title, Kellison, like Griffin, would win twice more, edging Eli Sims (Rush-Henrietta) 4-3 and securing third place by taking the consolation bracket final 7-3 over Columbia’s Michael Gonyea, the no. 2 seed. For the season, Kellison had a 51-5 record.
Garrett Bauer was also making his state tournament debut at 138 pounds, but entered as a no. 5 seed and expected a podium finish. Bauer took on Vinny Catanzaro (Williamsville North) in the first round and broke a 2-2 tie with a late-second period takedown, hanging on from there for a 4-3 decision.
Moving to the quarterfinals, Bauer fell behind Danny Jada (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) 3-0, but again got a takedown late in the second period to pull within one, tied it with a third-period escape and, with a takedown in the waning seconds, pulled it out 5-3.
With two close wins in the books, Bauer challenged the top seed, North Babylon’s Anthony Sobotker, in the semifinals, and rallied from a 3-0 deficit to force overtime, only to see Sobotker take him down to claim the 5-3 decision.
Eventually, Bauer earned a fourth-place finish, defeating Farmingdale’s Joe Simons in an 8-6 battle to reach the consolation bracket final, but falling 9-4 to Iona Prep’s Colin Realbuto. For the season, Bauer went 39-7.
Myles Griffin was there, too, an at-large entry at 120 pounds who had finished third at 99 a year ago. Despite falling to Indian River’s Logan Patterson in the sectional final, Griffin still had the no. 4 seed for the state meet.
Meeting Manhasset’s Nick Tanuzzo in the first round, Griffin led early, but surrendered that advantage when Tanuzzo nearly pinned him in the second period. Down 12-4 at one point, Griffin frantically rallied, but still lost, 12-9.
Pushed into the consolation bracket, Griffin won once there, topping Gabe Pasqualini (Arlington) 6-1, but in a rematch with Patterson with a podium spot still possible, Patterson prevailed again, this time 5-1.
Jake Wright returned for the second time to the state meet, this time as an at-large entry at 170 pounds after appearing at 160 the year before, and unlike his teammates, the bracket wasn’t favorable.
The draw pitted Wright against top-seeded, 43-0 Ballston Spa standout Tyler Barnes, and the defending state champion didn’t waste much time taking charge, eventually subduing Wright in a third-period technical fall.
Looking to recover in the consolation bracket, Wright went up against Grand Island’s Dan Emblidge, but only managed a single escape and lost, 6-1, so his season ended with a 23-8 record.
