When he finished third in Division I in the 2018 edition of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships, Jamesville-DeWitt-CBA wrestler Tyler Kellison was satisfied – and still hungry.
True, Kellison had done well, but he had not gone all the way to the top, and that was the aim when he returned to Albany’s Times Union Center to again seek the state Division I 126-pound title.
He almost pulled it off, Kellison making it all the way to the championship round before getting denied the ultimate prize.
The opening round Friday morning had Kellison against Minisink Valley’s Jordan Suarez. As the no. 4 seed, Kellison wasted no time finding his top form, pinning Suarez late in the first period.
And this set up a unique quarterfinal later that afternoon, with Kellison opposed by Cicero-North Syracuse’s Nate Osborne, whom Kellison beat in the Feb. 9 sectional final, and had topped Alexis Diaz (Clarkstown North) 10-2 in his opening-round bout.
They were scoreless until the second period, when Kellison pulled off two takedowns in between an escape from Osborne. In the third period, another Osborne escape and a stalling penalty made it closer, but Kellison held on, 4-3.
So it was on to Saturday morning’s semifinal, which pitted Kellison against the top seed, Eastport-South Manor’s Zach Redding, and in the second period Kellison fell behind 3-1, only to get a takedown to tie it, 3-3, with one period left.
Both wrestlers got a point in the final period – Kellison going ahead with an escape, but stalling to give a point to Redding – but in the final seconds, Kellison executed the most dramatic takedown of his high school career to win the bout 6-4.
And this sent Kellison into Saturday night’s championship bout against Hilton’s Ryan Burgos, the no. 3 seed. Burgos had needed overtime to get past John Jay-Cross River’s Chris Cook in the quarterfinals.
Now, a state title was at stake, and Burgos took down Kellison in the first period, then did so again in the second period to build a 4-0 advantage.
Not giving up, Kellison reversed Burgos, making it 4-2 going to the third period, and after Burgos escaped for a point, Kellison took him down again, cutting the margin to one, but it would stay there.
By a 5-4 margin, Burgos claimed the state 126-pound title, and Kellison settled for second place, finishing his season 39-6 overall.
Meanwhile, East Syracuse Minoa’s Ameer Ladd was rewarded for a 38-1 season with a wild-card berth in the state meet at 220 pounds, the first Spartan to make it this far since Dustin Moss did so in 2010.
Ladd made it clear that his goal was not just to participate or get a spot on the podium, but find a way to earn the ESM program’s first-ever state championship.
In the opening round on Friday, Ladd faced the no. 7 seed, Rush-Henrietta’s Kyle Tillich, who led 2-0 early, only to have Ladd escape twice from a down position to pull even, 2-2. But then Tillich escaped in the third period and, despite Ladd’s best efforts, held on to claim a 3-2 decision.
Relegated to the consolation bracket, Ladd beat Attica-Batavia’s Josh Barber 4-2 to advance, but fell in the next round to Midwood’s Ernie Mabocoglu 11-5. So Ladd finished his season with a 39-3 record as Cornwall’s Nick Leonard took home the 220-pound state title.
