ALBANY – Seven wrestlers from three different local programs all made their way to Albany’s MVP Arena to take part in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships, and two would make it all the way to the semifianls.
In Division II, Jordan-Elbridge had four wrestlers on hand, from Jack Lamson at 170 pounds to Dylan Nolan at 138 pounds, Ben Lamson at 108 pounds and Mason Tanner at 101 pounds.
All four of them earned their spots through at-large berths after leading J-E to the sectional Division II team title Feb. 10 at SRC Arena, with Nolan and both Lamson brothers finishing second and Tanner taking third.
Jack Lamson was the no. 4 seed at 170, with a bye into the round of 16 where he shut out Ethan Eoanidis (Cold Spring Harbor 12-0) followed by a quarterfinal where he fought his way to a 6-1 victory over Gouverneur’s Drew Gates.
A day later, in the semifinals, Lamson was denied a spot against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill’s Charles Foster in the title bout when top seed Braidon Woodward, from Palmyra-Macedon, beat him 6-2, using a third-period takedown to thwart Lamson’s comeback attempt. Woodward went on to beat Foster 5-1 in the state final.
Bouncing back from this, Lamson pinned Neves Hoose (Southwestern) in 88 seconds to reach the consolation bracket final and, then, to get third place, won a 7-4 decision over Bolivar’s Tavyn MacDonnell.
Tanner, as the no. 14 seed at 101, faced Jonah Stevens (Salem Cambridge) to start out and earned a 15-0 technical fall, setting up an impressive quarterfinal where, against no. 3 seed John Winseman (Honeoye Falls-Lima), he earned a pin 48 seconds into the second period.
Like Jack Lamson, though, Tanner would lose in the semifinals, no. 2 seed Jakob Lucinski (Newfane) earning a 9-3 victory to earn a spot against Holland Patent’s Andrew Juliano, who upset top seed Declan Mckee (Tioga) in the other semifinal and would beat Lucinski for the state title, too.
As for Tanner, he would also get to third place. An 8-4 decision over Dansville’s Wyatt Sartori got him to the consolation bracket final where, with a single escape, he beat McKee 1-0.
Nolan had the no. 11 seed at 138 and met John Savin Ngyuen (Collegiate) in the opening round, earning a 66-second pin winning that bout to get a shot at Cade Sands (Addison), but Sands would earn a pin and Joe Filocamo (Island Trees) would beat Nolan in the consolation bracket.
Ben Lamson had to knock off no. 11 seed Cameron Carpenter (Warrensburg-Lake George) in his opening bout and did so, winning 8-3, only to fall 9-1 to Letchworth’s Joe Scott in the next round and 6-2 to Auggie Moon (Trinity School) to end his run.
They were joined in Division II by Marcellus wrestler Colin Scherer, who had finished third at 138 in the sectional Division II meet but still advanced thanks to his season-long 36-3 mark.
Against no. 7 seed Jacob McVige (Honeoye Falls-Lima) in the round of 16, Scherer, the no. 10 seed, never got on the board, falling behind when McVige escaped in the second period and never answering as a late takedown stretched McVige’s margin to 3-0.
Scherer would win twice in the consolation bracket, topping Marco Michieli (Northampton) 9-0 and Justin Dvorak (Locust Valley) with a fall at the end of the first period before he lost when Newfane’s Aidan Gillings pinned him.
Then there were two West Genesee wrestlers in the NYPSHSAA Division I meet, Logan Willis at 131 pounds and Maxx Fesinger at 160 pounds.
Willis, who made it as the sectional Division I runner-up at 131 with a 37-4 record, was the no. 18 seed, meeting no. 15 seed Leo Gao (Brooklyn Technical) and rolling to a 6-0 victory Now Willis challenged no. 2 seed Joseph Clem from Wantagh, who pinned Willis in 52 seconds and ultimately reached the championship round.
Willis beat Jacob Roger (Middletown) 12-5 and Jack DiBenedetto (Smithtown East) 9-3 in the consolation bracket before a 5-0 loss to DiBenedetto’s teammate, Tyler Visciano, cost Willis a chance at a podium finish.
Fesinger, the sectional Division I champion at 160, was the no. 8 seed with his 39-3 record, meeting no. 9 seed Joseph Cicco (Niagara-Wheatfield) in his opening bout and unable to recover from a near-fall in the second period of a 9-3 defeat, followed by a 7-4 loss to Indian River’s Cole Lynch.
