Shenendehowa wrestlers given six No. 1 seeds

There’s one final team goal remaining for the 2007-08 Shenendehowa wrestling team.

“We want to get as many guys as we can on that podium Saturday night,” said Plainsmen coach Rob Weeks, referring to the awards ceremony that honors the top six finishers at the Section II state qual­ifier, which runs Friday and Saturday at the Glens Falls Civic Center. “That’s the goal. This is the last time this group will compete as a team. And it’s been a good group.”

That’s an understatement.

Prior to last weekend’s Class A tournament, Weeks thought there was a chance that he could have a top-six finisher in each of the 15 weight classes, which would qualify them for this weekend.

Weeks was off by one, and when the brackets were drawn up for the state qualifier, the Plainsmen had six top seeds.

“It’s a nice reward for them, a recognition for the seasons they’ve had,” said Weeks, whose team won the DI title in 2007.

Six of the seven wrestlers who won Class A titles last weekend were drawn in as a No. 1 seed in the Division I tournament.

State champ Hunter Meys at 189 pounds (39-0, 249-10 career), former state champ Austin Meys at 171 (38-0, 202-8 career), returning state finalists Luke Popolizio (33-2 at 103) and T.J. Popolizio (33-4 at 119), Nick Kelley (96), and Juliano Pabon (112) go into the two-day large-school tourney as the favorites.

Senior Dan Peyron, who came from the fourth seed to win an “A” title, got a No. 3 draw.

“Dan’s a kid who has sacrificed for this team, and now it’s his turn,” said Weeks. “He’s moved up and down in the lineup, depending where Hunter was, and now he’s enjoying a strong senior year.”

The Meys brothers (both three-time Section II champs) and the Popolizio brothers compose half of the returning champions for the tourney, all of whom got top seeds.

State runner-up Zach Clemente (44-0 at 140) and LaSalle teammate Ken Altarac (285) joined fellow Class B champs Brian Benton of Amsterdam (46-2, 246 career wins, third in the state) at 130 and unbeaten Queensbury 215 Tim Elbert are the other returning champs.

The other top seeds in the Div­ision I tourney are 2007 finalists Matt Cubillos (125) of Guilderland and Alex Steciuk (160) of Ballston Spa, Amsterdam’s Giuseppi Lanzi (135), and Colonie’s Eliah Golding (140) and Josh Simmons (152).

Steciuk, who qualified for the state tournament as a wild-card entry a year ago, is looking for his third trip to the states. Cubillos also got to the states as a wild card.

Scotia-Glenville senior Dan Riggi — a champion in 2006 and runner-up and wild card last year — was seeded behind Cubillos at 125, despite losing to Amsterdam’s Dan Palmerino in last weekend’s Class B final. Palmerino got the seventh seed.

Duanesburg, which edged Whitehall by one-half point at last weekend’s Class D tourney, had three top seeds in the DII (small school) state qualifier.

Three-time champ Brian Borst (119), 130-pounder Randy White (130) and returning finalist David Larson (171) all drew top seeds.

Two-time champ Amy Whitbeck was put second at 112 to Whitehall’s Curt Thompson, who beat her during the season and in the “D” finals.

Nick Gwiazdowski was seeded second to Warrensburg’s Ryan Black at 160, and Dana Mesick drew a two at 189 behind Jeremy Burns of Hoosick Falls.

Cobleskill-Richmondville sen­ior Robert Merchant was placed atop the strong 140-pound bracket, ahead of Schalmont’s Vincent Gallo and three-time placer Joey Mor­rison of Johnstown.

Johnstown’s once-beaten Mark Gillen is the top seed at 125.

Other defending champions drawing top seeds were Galway’s Jonn Gochenour (135), Schuylerville’s Sarah Anderson (103) and Dan Ladd (285), and Nate Cross of Hudson Falls (145).

Aaron Barber of Hudson Falls and Cody Legg of Ravena are

1-2 at 152. Legg beat Barber in the 2007 finals, reversing their 2006 final result.

John Delaney (96) of Waterviet and Whitehall’s Jedd Mason (215) join Barber, Ladd and Larson as ’07 finalists who drew top seeds this time.

WEEKEND SEEDS

DIVISION I

96

1-Nick Kelley (Shenendehowa) 28-5; 2-Jeff King (Averill Park) 23-6; 3-Spencer Thomas (Ballston Spa) 25-10; 4-Matt Green (Bethlehem) 17-7; 5-Lisa Anson (Colonie) 22-17; 6-Nick DiCaprio (Schenectady) 22-12; 7-Evan Burchhardt (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) 16-16; 8-Mark Hitchcock (Mohonasen) 27-14; 9-Gaetano Lanzi (Amsterdam) 21-8.

103

1-Luke Popolizio (Shenendehowa) 33-2; 2-John Belanger (Glens Falls) 28-7; 3-Connor Sutton (LaSalle) 33-8; 4-Evan Wallace (Columbia) 32-9;

5-Zach Hamell (Queensbury) 25-12; 6-Nick Thomas (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) 30-13; 7-Tyler Kessler (Bethlehem) 25-11; 8-Kevin Bates (Guilderland) 18-10; 9-Josh Mumblo (South Glens Falls) 15-23.

112

1-Juliano Pabon (Shenendehowa) 28-10; 2-Jon Clemente (LaSalle) 29-11; 3-A.J. Rue (Saratoga Springs) 25-7; 4-Toby Barnes (Ballston Spa) 34-10; 5-Mike Hewitt (Queensbury) 33-8; 6-Travis Wolanski (Guilderland) 23-14; 7-Alex Siudy (Amsterdam) 28-14; 8-Steve Anson (Colonie) 21-20; 9-Corey Southard (Columbia) 24-18.

119

1-T.J. Popolizio (Shenendehowa) 33-4; 2-Rick DuFresne (Amsterdam) 38-10; 3-Russell Radigan (Queensbury) 27-11; 4-Jason Chudzinski (Colonie) 32-7; 5-Adam Hulett (Columbia) 35-5; 6-Colin Selin (Niskayuna) 18-14; 7-Sam Pacelli (Shaker) 34-5; 8-Zack Havens (South Glens Falls) 28-10; 9-Ben Clemente (LaSalle) 20-18.

125

1-Matt Cubillos (Guilderland) 31-3; 2-Dan Riggi (Scotia-Glenville) 33-6; 3-Lou Angelo (Columbia) 29-10; 4-Eddie Davis (Saratoga Springs) 25-5;

5-Seth Hazelton (Shenendehowa) 24-14; 6-Josh Vics (Schenectady) 28-9; 7-Dan Palmerino (Amsterdam) 34-11; 8-Corey Rifenberick (LaSalle) 20-17; 9-Neal Campbell (Queensbury) 15-13.

130

1-Brian Benton (Amsterdam) 46-2; 2-Robert Romeo (Guilderland) 32-4; 3-Brendan McKeown (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) 32-12; 4-Nick Oligney (Lansingburgh) 36-3; 5-Brian Latham (Columbia) 34-5; 6-Shane Hall (Queensbury) 21-14; 7-Lamont Washington (Saratoga Springs) 27-13; 8-Zach Mulderry (Shenendehowa) 15-10; 9-Matt Rowe (Niskayuna) 22-15.

135

1-Giuseppi Lanzi (Amsterdam) 43-2; 2-Zach Crain (Columbia) 39-1; 3-Kyle Vuillaume (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) 36-6; 4-Nick Lashway (Glens Falls) 28-7; 5-Ryan Bartholomew (South Glens Falls) 29-4; 6-Nick Altimari (Shenendehowa) 19-17; 7-Ben Coco (Albany) 35-8; 8-Matt Hart (Guilderland) 20-16; 9-Ryan Bergami (Niskayuna) 16-15.

140

1-Zach Clemente (LaSalle) 44-0; 2-David Staulters (Ballston Spa) 35-5; 3-J.J. Anderson (Colonie) 36-7; 4-Kevin Selin (Niskayuna) 30-7; 5-Josh Cook (South Glens Falls) 26-5; 6-Eugene Sellie (Guilderland) 19-12; 7-Tony Fusco (Queensbury) 22-17; 8-Dylan Clarke (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) 26-19; 9-Dave Askew (Mohonasen) 23-13.

145

1-Eliah Golding (Colonie) 34-5; 2-Paul Martin (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) 33-6; 3-Jestin Seays (Amsterdam) 37-9; 4-Cameron Staulters (Ballston Spa) 33-6; 5-Dan Brickner (LaSalle) 31-8; 6-Julian Santos (Shenendehowa) 20-17; 7-Jesse Hutchins (Columbia) 28-11; 8-Sean Berrios (Mohonasen)

27-10; 9-Scott Cleavland (Glens Falls) 19-13.

152

1-Josh Simmons (Colonie) 34-8; 2-Rob Morey (Amsterdam) 40-3; 3-Ethan Wilson (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) 36-12; 4-Adam Ostrander (Queensbury) 29-6; 5-Eric Simmons (Ballston Spa) 34-7; 6-Ryan Bellamy (Lansingburgh) 35-8; 7-Greg Carta (South Glens Falls) 30-11; 8-Will Bryans (Shenendehowa) 18-17; 9-Chris Johnson (Schenectady) 25-11.

160

1-Alex Steciuk (Ballston Spa) 37-1; 2-John Paris (Amsterdam) 42-3; 3-Jimmy Neal (Glens Falls) 30-8; 4-Josh Comer (Queensbury) 27-8; 5-Zach Mohan (Saratoga Springs) 25-9; 6-Zach Zovistoski (Colonie) 23-14; 7-Dan Barth (Bethlehem) 27-10.

171

1-Austin Meys (Shenendehowa) 38-0; 2-Adam Winnie (Saratoga Springs) 29-5; 3-Dan McNamara (Amsterdam) 37-7; 4-Josh Sawyer (Guilderland) 30-6; 5-Chad McCray (Albany) 33-8; 6-Mike Matrazzo (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) 33-17; 7-Keegan Bailey (Scotia-Glenville) 22-16; 8-Stephan Faginas (Columbia) 26-14; 9-Nate Palmer (South Glens Falls) 17-11.

189

1-Hunter Meys (Shenendehowa) 39-0; 2-Jared Myhrberg (Queensbury) 32-1; 3-Jake Newcomb (Niskayuna) 29-3; 4-Andrew Purcell (Albany) 26-7; 5-Orlando Pacheco (Amsterdam) 35-9; 6-Brandon Hunsdon (South Glens Falls) 30-5; 7-Chris Ohnsman (Ballston Spa) 28-10; John Acors (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) 22-15; 9-Ford Plowman (Saratoga Springs) 24-12.

215

1-Tim Elbert (Queensbury) 35-0; 2-Spencer Miller (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) 41-8; 3-Dan Peyron (Shenendehowa) 22-8; 4-A.J. Monin (Colonie) 31-8; 5-Van Huyben (Ballston Spa) 26-8; 6-Aileem Penn (Albany) 29-12; 7-Matt Burchhardt (Scotia-Glenville) 23-11; 8-Brendan Ruddy (Guilderland) 25-14; 9-Bobby Fish (Columbia) 27-17.

285

1-Ken Altarac (LaSalle), 39-4; 2-Zeal McGrew (Burnt Hills) 32-3; 3-Devan VanAuken (Guilderland) 29-7; 4-Andrew Jones (Schenectady) 29-7; 5-Gary Chrys (Niskayuna) 18-4; 6-Don Hojnicki (Shaker) 27-3; 7-Adam Geleta (Shenendehowa) 21-9; 8-Nate Brown (Averill Park) 22-10; 9-Joe

Retos (Lansingburgh) 33-7.

DIVISION II

96

1-John Delaney (Watervliet) 38-2; 2-Kody Shaw (Fonda-Fultonville) 30-7; 3-Tyrel White (Whitehall) 32-6; 4-Brendan Goldup (Schuylerville) 19-5;

5-Noah Valastro (Hudson Falls) 27-6; 6-Curt Rowley (Duanesburg) 27-14; 7-Billy Pine (Hoosick Falls) 24-11; 8-Lucas Howland (Schoharie/Middleburgh) 24-9; 9-Greg Costello (Canajoharie/Fort Plain) 19-13.

103

1-Sarah Anderson (Schuylerville) 32-1; 2-Tom Fuller (Tamarac) 28-4; 3-Abby Roth (Warrensburg) 18-14; 4-Sammy Shields (Schalmont) 26-3 5-Josh Peabody (Cambridge) 25-6; 6-Ron Radley (Maple Hill) 30-8; 7-Kyle Mulcachy (Corinth) 16-11; 8-Kory Harrington (Hudson Falls) 16-15; 9-John Diekel (Whitehall) 25-17.

112

1-Curt Thompson (Whitehall) 38-3; 2-Amy Whitbeck (Duanesburg) 34-7; 3-Aaron Dudley (Hudson Falls) 32-5; 4-Taylor Treadgold (Voorheesville) 37-3; 5-Kyle Myers (Watervliet) 32-8; 6-Tyler Pavlin (Catskill) 24-6; 7-Joey Persico (Ravena) 22-12; 8-Donny Radliffe (Cobleskill-Richmondville) 19-13; 9-Brendan Miller (Granville) 7-2.

119

1-Brian Borst (Duanesburg) 41-1; 2-Kirk Harrington (Hudson Falls) 28-6; 3-James Baker (Corinth) 3205; 4-Tyler Delisle (Maple Hill) 35-2; 5-Len Rosa (Schuylerville) 25-11; 6-Paul Billings (Cohoes) 17-14; 7-Andrew Etman (Watervliet)

22-18; 8-Donvan Santisteban (Warrensburg) 21-20; 9-Chris Schnackenberg (Fonda-Fultonville) 24-12.

125

1-Mark Gillen (Johnstown) 33-1; 2-Andy Lyman (Ravena) 30-7; 3-J.J. Goblet (Schoharie/Middleburgh) 30-7; 4-Evan Borst (Duanesburg) 32-7; 5-Davin Leclair (Corinth) 26-16; 6-Kyle Ehntholt (Granville) 21-5; 7-Chris Holt (Schuylerville) 21-14; 8-Kyle Evans (Maple Hill) 34-7; 9-Austin Padgett (Salem) 18-10.

130

1-Randy White (Duanesburg) 39-5; 2-Jordan Lane (Ravena) 28-10; 3-Josh Rankin (Cohoes) 31-5; 4-Billy Chandler (Schalmont) 29-3; 5-Jake Oswald (Tamarac) 30-4; 6-Sean Jordan (Fonda-Fultonville) 33-7; 7-Eric Ripley (Whitehall) 25-10; 8-James Tracy (Hadley-Luzerne) 27-11; 9-Nick Hage (Maple Hill) 25-15.

135

1-Jonn Gochenour (Galway) 26-2; 2-Zachary Diekel (Whitehall) 37-7; 3-Wes Hotaling (Ravena) 26-13; 4-Mykel Foland (Schoharie/Middleburgh) 22-4; 5-Pat Marcel (Corinth) 27-7; 6-Aaron Hamilton (Salem) 26-10; 7-Karl Palmer (Granville) 28-10; 8-Sam Mabb (Schuylerville) 18-9; 9-Shawn Gillingham (Maple Hill) 27-12.

140

1-Robert Merchant (Cobleskill-Richmondville) 33-2; 2-Vincent Gallo (Schalmont) 30-3; 2-Joey Morrison (Johnstown) 28-6; 4-Tyler Nicholson (Corinth) 32-7; 5-Chris Schilling (Maple Hill) 33-4; 6-Steven Waite (Hudson Falls) 19-10; 7-Josh Glick (Berne-Knox-Westerlo) 29-9; 8-David Northshield (Salem) 23-12; 9-Lucas Budesheim (Rensselaer) 21-12.

145

1-Nate Cross (Hudson Falls) 24-3; 2-Travis Beayon (Whitehall) 35-5; 3-Mat White (Duanesburg) 36-8; 4-Austin Irish (Cobleskill-Richmondville) 32-8; 5-Joe Still (Hadley-Luzerne) 36-4; 6-David Adams (Salem) 27-7; 7-Josh Harrison (Mechanicville) 21-8; 8-Andrew Chirico (Tamarac) 32-7; 9-Tyler Needham (Warrensburg) 28-15.

152

1-Aaron Barber (Hudson Falls) 31-2; 2-Cody Legg (Ravena) 25-4; 3-Wes Coppolo (Duanesburg) 37-6; 4-Jake Arrunategui (Johnstown) 10-6; 5-David Kohls (Mechanicville) 22-8; 6-Nate LaGoy (Whitehall) 18-14; 7-Ben Carlini (Corinth) 18-17; 8-Taylor Robichaud (Hoosick Falls) 22-7; 9-Chad Obzud (Cohoes) 22-9.

160

1-Ryan Black (Warrensburg) 37-1; 2-Nick

Gwiazdowski (Duanesburg) 34-8; 3-Chris Tommasino (Hoosick Falls) 27-4; 4-Rocco Nicoletta (Ich­abod Crane) 25-6; 5-Grant Ostrander (Coble­skill-Richmondville) 32-7; 6-Kyle McKeighan (Salem) 25-11; 7-Heath Colvin (Hudson Falls) 23-15;

8-Nolan Diamond (Berne-Knox-Westerlo) 23-14;

9-Clint DuMoulin (Corinth) 17-18.

171

1-Dave Larson (Duanesburg) 31-8; 2-Tom Barber (Hudson Falls) 27-9; 3-Mike Welcome

(Cohoes) 35-4; 4-Mike Magazu (Hoosick Falls) 27-6; 5-Josh Stone (Schuylerville) 30-5; 6-Craig Cook (Johnstown) 21-11; 7-Ricky Connell (Ravena) 21-13; 8-Dan Roth (Maple Hill) 31-9; 9-Mike Rubel (Corinth) 15-16.

189

1-Jeremy Burns (Hoosick Falls) 29-3; 2-Dana Mesick (Duanesburg) 32-11; 3-Jon Bucher (Hudson Falls) 11-9; 4-Louis Emden (Johnstown) 30-8;

5-Corey Caulkins (Fonda-Fultonville) 28-5;

6-Greg Mollnow (Cohoes) 29-10; 7-Mike Kinowski (Broadalbin-Perth) 15-10; 8-Grant Gebo (Whitehall) 271-5; 9-Tom Hamel (Mechanicville) 10-3.

215

1-Jedd Mason (Whitehalll) 35-4; 2-Logan Rock (Warrensburg) 27-7; 3-Janse VanAlstine (Broadalbin-Perth) 25-6; 4-Ross Pardy (Granville) 26-9; 5-Zachary Brady (Rensselaer) 29-6; 6-Jon-Paul Muller (Johnstown) 18-8; 7-Elias Carlton (Hudson Falls) 20-17; 8-Ethan Ekstrom (Catskill) 18-13;

9-Corey Wysocki (Hoosick Falls) 16-11.

285

1-Dan Ladd (Schuylerville) 28-0; 2-Ron Daigle (Granville) 20-6; 3-Tim Hammond (Hudson Falls) 30-4; 4-Derek Mollnow (Cohoes) 21-10; 5-P.J. Urban (Catskill) 19-4; 6-Sam Chase (Mechanicville) 16-9; 7-Pat Owen (Maple Hill) 24-13; 8-Anthony D’Antonino (Johnstown) 21-16; 9-John Allen (Corinth) 28-9.

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