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Split Decision

Falconer/CV Rebounds After Morning Loss With A Victory

By Jay Young 7 min read

SYRACUSE -- The opportunity for Falconer/Cassadaga Valley wrestling to advance past the first three rounds of the first-ever New York State Public High School Athletic Association Division II Dual Meet Championships was there on Saturday morning inside SRC Arena, but No. 2 seed and eventual team champion Mount Sinai was able to do too much damage in the opening match of the day before the Golden Cougars could get into the heart of their roster.

After Corey Keefe began the morning with a 10-2 major decision of Jake Croston to earn Falconer/Cassadaga Valley its first points of the championships, the Mustangs were able to rattle off three consecutive pins to wrap up a 42-35 victory before Dylan Ingrao, Bryce Baglia, Dan Torres and Robbie Penhollow were able to take to the mat.

Holding an 42-11 margin with Ingrao poised to do battle at 160 pounds, Mount Sinai was able to forfeit its way through the final four bouts to pick up the win.

"I just told the guys that we got exactly what we wanted. We won the coin flip and got to decide what we wanted to decide," said Falconer/Cassadaga Valley coach Drew Wilcox. "That match should have been much closer, we should have been down 15, 16 points with our best four kids coming up. You gotta like your odds in that. No sense harping on it now."

Following Keefe's win, which began courtesy of a second-period escape, Dave Mazella picked up a pin on Chase Johnson at 285 pounds to get Mount Sinai on the board, while Brandan Goodrich earned a fall on Brodie Little at 99 pounds in 1:23 and Jack Tyrell pinned Brayden Newman in 3:01 at 106 pounds.

Falconer/Cassadaga Valley was finally able to return fire when Trenton Colburn took to the mat at 113, earning an 8-1 decision over Joe Sabella after a series of takedowns, but the Mustangs quickly added to their margin with a major decision at 120 and a quick pin by Matt Campo on Tony Fiasco at 126.

"They're a good team, they have four or five real good kids and then, obviously, as you saw the rest of their kids are pretty tough and they refused to get pinned," said Wilcox.

Joe O'Brien earned a pin on Nick Saeger in 2:43 at 138 to keep the Mustangs in the driver's seat, but Jimmy Kramer did his best to battle back for the Golden Cougars with a 9-1 major decision over Ryan Shanian at 132.

In the end, it was a technical fall by Mike Zarif at 145 and a decision from Yusuf Azeem at 152 which gave the Mustangs an insurmountable margin.

Following its opening-round victory, Mount Sinai posted a 45-30 win over unseeded Gouverneur in the second pool match of the day to seal up a spot in the fourth round of play while Falconer/Cassadaga Valley was forced to rest on a bye.

That meant that the third and final pool match between the Wildcats and the Golden Cougars would be a battle for second place on mat No. 8.

Even with its hopes of advancing dashed early in the morning, Wilcox's team took to the mat with determination against Governeur, claiming a 46-30 win on the back of four wins via fall.

"Gouverneur, they're a tough team you know, Section X," said Ingrao after pinning Tyler Tupper in 1:23. "Coming off a loss, a match that was really close that we should have won, but we got our stuff together and went out and took care of business. The whole team came together and finished on our win on the last dual meet."

Competing for pride, the Golden Cougars wasted no time in getting off to a hot start in their second match of the day, as Newman was able to rebound from his prior loss, pinning Trayton Tupper in 2:51.

After the Wildcats picked up a pair of wins at 120 and 126, Jimmy Kramer took to the mat at 132, earning a 10-1 major decision win over Joseph Cummings.

Following Nick Saeger's technical fall win over Julien Storie at 4:25, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley was finally able to field the teeth of its lineup as Ingrao earned his pin, Baglia pinned Jacob Shippee at 170, Torres rolled past Nick Jenkins in 1:14 at 182, and Penhollow earned a win by fall over Kyle Jenkins in 2:14 at 195.

"It was a nice way to send the seniors out. The three seniors, Keefe, Ingrao and Torres, have been around for four or five years and like I just told the team, maybe five to 10 dual meet losses between them," said Wilcox. "Those guys just don't get beat and they're going to be really hard to replace. It was a nice way to send them out and a nice way to end the season on a winning note.

"It's tough to lose this morning in a match you felt you could win, but they rebounded and they got a win out at states. They proved they deserve to be here."

While the earlier loss was certainly a disappointment for a team of grapplers that had set its sights high, in the end Wilcox's team was able to leave Syracuse with another win.

"It's the first dual states, so it's an honor to represent our section. It's awesome and I'm just glad we got a chance to come. It would have been nice to place top four or win it, but I'm glad we had a chance to come," said Ingrao. "Everyone wants it. We have a great coaching staff, they are there day and night working for us and we all push ourselves in the room. We all just push each other."

Regardless of results, the Golden Cougars coaching staff is pleased with the addition of a team dual championship to the postseason schedule.

"This is something New York wrestling needed to do, and it's an exciting event. You can feel the energy in here. Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the energy, but it's something I hope is going to stick and going to last. I think you'll see it get bigger and more popular," said Wilcox.

With the team season in its rear-view mirror, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley will now turn its sights to the NYSPHSAA individual championships, which will be begin on Feb. 23 at the Times Union Center in Albany.

Mount Sinai 42, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley 35

220: Corey Keefe (F/CV) md. Jake Croston, 10-2.

285: Dave Mazella (MS) p. Chase Johnson, 3:58.

99: Brendan Goodrich (MS) p. Brodie Little, 1:23.

106: Jack Tyrell (MS) p. Brayden Newman, 3:01.

113: Trenton Colburn (F/CV) d. Joe Sabella, 8-1.

120: Mike O'Brien (MS) md. Hunter Teboe, 16-4.

126: Matt Campo (MS) p. Tony Fiasco, :30.

132: Jimmy Kramer (F/CV) md. Ryan Shanian, 9-1.

138: Joe O'Brien (MS) p. Nick Saeger, 2:43

145: Mike Zarif (MS) tf. Hudson Johnson, 20-5.

152: Yusuf Azeem (MS) d. Jordan Dustin, 4-2.

160: Dylan Ingrao (F/CV) win via forfeit.

170: Bryce Baglia (F/CV) win via forfeit.

182: Dan Torres (F/CV) win via forfeit.

195: Robbie Penhollow (F/CV) win via forfeit.

Falconer/Cassadaga Valley 46, Gouverneur 30

99: Brayden Newman (F/CV) p. Trayton Tupper, 2:51.

106: Carter Baer (G) p. Brodie Little, :11.

113: Trenton Colburn (F/CV) win via forfeit.

120: Ricky Nichols (G) d. Hunter Teboe, 7-5.

126: Joe McIntosh (G) p. Tony Fiaszo, 1:49.

132: Jimmy Kramer (F/CV) md. Joseph Cummings, 10-1.

138: Mitchell Shippee (G) id. Mack Mikula.

145: Nick Saeger (F/CV) tf. Julien Storie, 4:25.

152: Mitchell Tyler (G) d. Jordan Dustin, 4-1

160: Dylan Ingrao (F/CV) p. Tyler Tupper, 1:23.

170: Bryce Baglia (F/CV) d. Jacob Shippee, 12-9.

182: Dan Torres (F/CV) p. Nick Jenkins, 1:14.

195: Robbie Penhollow (F/CV) p. Kyle Jenkins, 2:14.

220: Corey Keefe (F/CV) md. Tanner Donaldson, 12-1.

285: Zach Macaulay (G) p. Chase Johnson, 4:38.

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