ALBANY – Adding their names to Baldwinsville wrestling’s deep and rich legacy, teammates Zach Boudreau and Cael Bruce went to Albany’s MVP Arena this weekend for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships.
Boudreau, the eighth-grader who blazed to the Section III Division I title at 101 pounds with a 42-2 record, was the no. 10 seed going into the state meet.
Showing his skill and maturity, Boudreau proved successful in last Friday’s opening round against no. 10 seed Gail Sullivan (Monroe-Woodbury), keeping Sullivan off the board while gaining enough moves to take a 4-0 decision.
The quarterfinal later that day had Boudreau challenge the no. 2 seed, Hauppauge’s Trevor Patrovich. It took just short of three minutes for Patrovich to earn a technical fall by a 15-0 margin.
As Patrovich went on to a semifinal defeat to Jon Tutku (Massapequa), Boudreau found his way to the consolation bracket where Niagara Falls’ Cameron Crumpler denied the B’ville star’s podium hopes with his own 17-0 technical fall in just 2:46.
For Bruce, starting out at 116 pounds the sophomore was an at-large entry into the state meet despite exactly matching the 42-2 record Boudreau produced.
And Bruce would also win his opening bout pinning Orchard Park’s Aiden Rodriguez early in the third period before going to the round of 16 and taking a fall to Longwood’s Anthony Logala Ryan.
Though he wanted a long run in the consolation bracket, Bruce was denied this by Albany CBA’s Luca Popolizio, who used his strength and experience to pin Bruce 28 seconds into the second period.
