By Jim and Tony Nordland
Due to the new two-divsion NYS Tournament format a total of thirteen defending champions and two former state winners are eligible for the 43rd annual New York State Intersectional Championships this season. The new site is the Pepsi Arena in Albany and a total of 360 grapplers will congregate for the two day competition scheduled for March 4th and 5th, 2005.
Defending Division I champion Section Eleven (Suffolk County) will be led by defending champion senior Alton Lucas (30-0, 158-11 career mark) of West Babylon at 160 pounds. Lucas was a double place-winner at the Junior Nationals and will be tough to beat. Four runners-up also return; sophomore Corey Jantzen (82-5) at 119, of Shoreham Wading-River, senior Tom Magnani (29-0, 142-13), a three-time runner-up at 119 of Islip, teammate Ryan Patrovich (27-2, 152-23), a junior at 152, senior John Barone (26-1, 134-27) at 171 of William Floyd and Huntington senior Jack Sullivan (16-2, 106-14) at 189 pounds. Section Four (Binghamton) will be led by four-time champion Troy Nickerson (28-0; 24 pins, 4 tech falls, 202-6 career mark) 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 Nationals and was also voted the OSW winner in both styles, as he coasted with two impressive 10-0 decisions in the finals. He helped to pace the Empire State to a top ten finish in Freestyle and a championship in the Junior Greco. He is currently ranked number one by the Amateur Wrestling News. Section Nine power Valley Central returns two state kings; junior Lou Ruggirello (106-8) at 112 and senior Ricky Scott (178-29) at 171 pounds. Other defending champions in Division I include; senior Shawn Farnham (132-18) of Baldwinsville-3 at 112 and sophomore sensation Kyle Ingraham (84-13) of Canandaigua-5 at 130 pounds. State champions from 2003 are senior Gregor Gillespie (35-0, 222-11), a four-time NYS place finisher of Webster-Schroeder-5 at 145 and Arthur Jones (275) of Union-Endicott-4. State finalists that could return are Matt Mariacher (92-20) of Iroquois-6 at 112, sophomore Kevin Smith (138-12) of Mexico-3 at 119, Steve Brown (164-23) of Canton-Potsdam-10 at 135 and tough senior David McCarty (160) of LaSalle-2. Both Gillespie and McCarty were medalists at the Junior Nationals in Fargo, ND, this past summer. Third place finishers that will vie for titles will be sophomore PJ Gillespie (34-3) at 103 of Long Beach-8, junior Kyle Borshoff (125) of Pittsford-5, freshman Hunter Meys (125) of Shenendehowa-2, senior Nate Patterson (140) of Wayne-5, senior Albert Gianforti (140) now at Canandaigua-5, Mark Bloom (152) of Geneva-5 and Jon Jones (189) of Union-Endicott-4.
Defending Division II champion Section Four returns three champions including two-time champion junior J.P. O'Connor (180-12) of Oxford at 130 pounds. O'Connor is a three-time NYS place-winner and claimed a medal at the Junior Greco this past summer. He will compete in Division I at the state meet. Other highly regarded grapplers from the scarlet cladded contingent are Trevor Franklin (82-10) of Unadilla Valley at 112 and two-time place-winner junior Eric Decker (172-14) of Bainbridge at 160. That section will be tough to upend in the Div. II competition. Other returning titlists are, senior Nick Price (77-11) of Pembroke-5 at 112, senior Kane Smith (184-37) of Salamanca-6 at 189, senior Matt Mazgaj (116-21) of Southwestern-6 at 215 and senior Frank Ziolinski (138-40) of Fredonia-6 at 275 pounds. That upperweight group from Section Six (Buffalo) will bolster a formidable squad. State finalists that will challenge for the coveted state crowns include; sophomore Justin Lister (94-17) of South Jefferson-3 at 119, tough senior Dan Bishop (154-17) of Whitehall-2 at 119/125, who won the Junior Greco title this past summer, junior Mike McInally (102-16) of Byron-Bergen-5 at 119, two-time place-winner Pat Hagerty (138-31) of Attica-5 at 125, senior Brendan Hill (104-22) of Cooperstown-3 at 215 and junior Dan Randall (87-11) of Salem-2 at 275 pounds. Continued...MAT NOTES...(click here) |
