Three previous times, Marcellus wrestling star Cahal Donovan had made his way to Albany’s Times Union Center, bent on claiming a state wrestling championship.
In each of those instances, Donovan reached the podium, but not the top spot, settling for a third-place finish in 2018 at 132 pounds after finishing second at 106 pounds in 2016 and third at 120 pounds in 2017 while still at Phoenix.
Now came 2019, and as a senior, Donovan had one more chance to win it all, entering as the top seed in 145 pounds as Central Valley Academy’s Hunter Shaut, who earned a state title at 138 pounds two years ago, was the no. 2 seed.
Against Newfane’s Ryan Nugent in the first round, Donovan was his usual dominant self, racking up points and, though it nearly took the full six minute, Donovan got a 21-6 technical fall over Nugent.
Hours later, it was Donovan against Warrensburg-Bolton’s Hunter McKenna in the quarterfinals. Already with a 4-1 lead thanks to a pair of takedowns, Donovan put McKenna’s shoulders on the mat 38 seconds into the second period for a pin.
Meanwhile, Shaut had defeated Tristan Richardson (Ogdensburg) with a technical fall and Malachy Farrell (Avon-Geneseo) 7-4 in his early-round bouts, so the title clash was still lined up.
In Saturday morning’s state semifinal, Donovan squared off against Letchworth’s Chase Runfola, who brought a perfect 46-0 record into the contest.
But it was Runfola, the no. 4 seed, getting the early takedown, and though Donovan escaped, he trailed, which required another escape in the second period to pull things even 2-2.
At the start of the third period, Donovan had to ride Runfola, but the Letchworth senior escaped, and over the last minute Donovan tried every possible move, yet could not take Runfola down.
It ended 3-2, a bitter defeat made only more so by Shaut beating Austin Lamb in the semifinals and then, later that night, topping Runfola 3-2 to earn his second state championship.
Still, Donovan was able to recover long enough to go into the consolation bracket and win a rematch with Farrell 5-0 before turning around and, with a single takedown, beating Tioga’s Austin Lamb 2-0 for yet another third-place state finish.
Meanwhile, in Division I (large schools), West Genesee had Devin Earl pick up an at-large in the state meet at 160 pounds, his 30-4 record deemed good enough for a second appearance in the state meet despite a sectional finals loss to Fulton’s Camrin Galvin.
But while Galvin had the no. 6 seed, Earl got the no. 8 seed, involved in a first-round bout against Olean’s Icar Simon, and in an impressive effort Earl pinned Simon before the first period ended, a victory attained in one minute, 49 seconds.
However, it put Earl in the quarterfinals against the top seed, Penfield’s Cooper Kroman, and it was close for a while, the bout tied 2-2 before Kroman’s second-period takedown began a getaway as he went on to win 7-2.
Now Earl was in the consolation bracket, where on Friday night he pinned Centereach’s Jeff Tanscik in 2:54 and, on Saturday morning, guaranteed himself a place on the awards podium by shutting out Albany Academy’s Drew Bogdan 4-0.
That was the last victory of the season for Earl, who then lost, 9-3, to Grand Island’s Adam Daghestani and then got pinned by Shenendehowa’s Colden Dorfman.
Still, with a sixth-place finish, Earl was the first WG wrestler on the podium since Jason Mowers finished third at 215 pounds in 2005. Galvin beat Daghestani 10-2 to finish third as Kropman went on to lose the state final 8-0 to South Side/East Rockaway’s Kyle Mosher.
