| By Jim & Tony Nordland Fourteen returning state champions head the field of 360 competitors at the 43rd annual New York State Intersectional Championships to be held at the Pepsi Arena in Albany on March 4th & 5th. Ten of the champions are entered in Division I (large schools) and four champions will compete in the Division II (small schools) tournament for the second consecutive year. Section Eleven (Suffolk County) are the defending sectional team champion and return one state champion and four runners-up. Reigning champion Alton Lucas (33-0, 162-11 career) of West Babylon at 160 pounds, was a double placer at the Junior nationals and will be tough to beat. He is currently ranked second in the nation by Amateur Wrestling News. Four runners-up that return are three-time state finalist Tom Magnani(119) of Islip, teammate Ryan Patrovich(152), John Barone(171) and Huntington's Jack Sullivan at 189 pounds. Section Four (Binghamton) finished second in the Division I Tournament and won the inaugural Div. II (small schools) competition. They are led by four-time state king Troy Nickerson (31-0, 208-6) of Chenango Forks. Nickerson, now a senior, has a chance to become the first ever five-time state champion and will compete at 125 pounds. Nickerson captured double championships at the Junior National and was also voted the OSW winner in both styles, as he coasted with two impressive 10-0 decisions in the finals. He is currently the top-ranked 125-pounder in the country by Amateur Wrestling News. Other returning titlists for the scarlet-cladded contingent are, Trevor Franklin(26-1) of Unadilla Valley at 112 and J.P. O'Connor (37-1, 193-12) of Oxford at 130, both won Div.II crowns last season, along with 2003 winner Arthur Jones of Union-Endicott at 275 pounds. Other state champions include Shawn Farnham(34-2)of B'Ville-3 at 112, former 96-pound titlist, junior Lou Ruggirello(35-1) of Valley Central-9, now at 112, and teammate Ricky Scott (35-0) at 171 pounds. Section Five has two state kings, sophomore Kyle Ingraham (32-4) of Canandaigua at 130 and 2003 winner Gregor Gillespie of Webster-Schroeder.. Gillespie (41-0, 231-11) has earned his fifth trip to the state meet and is a four-time NYS place-winner, he will compete at 145 pounds. Four state kings that look to defend their titles in the Division II Tournament are, Eric Decker ( 40-1, 176-14) of BG/Afton-4 at160 pounds, and an upperweight trio from Section Six. Leading the Buffalo area squad will be Kane Smith (40-0, 187-37) of Salamanca at 189, Matt Mazgaj (36-3, 120-21) of Southwestern at 215 and Frank Zielinski (40-6, 142-40) of Fredonia at 275 pounds. Shoreham-Wading River-11 was reclassified as a Div. II school and has seven state competitors in the tournament, including Division I 96-pound state runner-up Corey Jantzen (28-0), now at 119 pounds. Other state runners-up that will vie for titles are, Dan Bishop(30-0) at 112, of Whitehall-2, Mike McInally(119) of Byron Bergen-5 and tough Pat Hagerty(125) of Attica-5. Bishop won the Junior Greco title this past summer and Hagerty is a two-time state place-winner, both will be tough to beat. MAT NOTES... This will be the first time the NYS Intersectional meet will be held in Albany. The last time the Pepsi Arena was used for wrestling was the 2002 NCAA Championships and heralded Cael Sanderson (159-0 career mark) of Iowa State won his fourth consecutive NCAA title at 197 pounds before a sellout crowd of 13,077. Troy Nickerson (31-0) has 27 pins, 4 technical falls and no opponent has reached the third period against him, he has a chance to win his fifth straight NYS crown in that same arena and create another memorable moment in wrestling history. Section Eleven won their state leading 15th sectional team title in 2004, and now have 115 state champions, followed by Section Four with 101 individual winners and Section Eight with 92 titlists. Huntington coach Lou Giani, now in his 35th season, has a state record 23 individual state champions and has two competitors at the 2005 state meet. Look for Section Eleven and Four to battle for the sectional team championship, other top sections appear to be Section Nine, Five,Two, Eight, Six and Three. Best of Luck to all the championship competitors... |
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| 2005 NEW YORK STATE TOURNAMENT PREVIEW |
| Troy Nickerson (left) and Tom Magnani (right) are at different weights this year after meeting in the finals the last three years in a row. Nickerson will try for his fifth title. |