LIVE: State Finals

215 pounds
ERNEST JAMES (LW) vs. STEVEN BUTLER (PORT JERVIS)



1st Period
Scoreless period
2nd Period: James gets two on back points.
3rd Period: James gets a reversal for a 4-0 lead and he hangs on to win it.
James wins his first state title. James was in control throughout the match and Butler never got a good shot in. A great way for James to end his high school career, bringing back a state title to a school that was won a ton over the years.


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160 Pounds
T.J. NEIDHART (SWR) vs. JAMES BRUNDAGE (OSSINING)



1st Period:
Neidhart falls behind 6-1. He got taken down plus two back points. Then a reversal at the end.
2nd Period:
Neidhart falls behind 13-3 and is in serious trouble. He needs a dramatic turnaround in the final period.
3rd Period:
Neidhart rallies late but it's not enough. He falls 17-10 to place second, his best finish in his career.

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135 Pounds
STEPHEN DUTTON vs. ANDREW LENZI

1st period:
Dutton jumps out to a 7-1 lead.
2nd Period:
He maintains the 7-1 lead going into the third.
3rd Period:
Delayed because of some blood on the mat. But Dutton is in full control of the action. He'll star the third on bottom.
Dutton pulls it out with no problem, 10-1, for his first state championship. He caps off his season with an undefeated record and beats the defending state champion in the finals. After after disappointing state tournament last year, Dutton makes no mistakes this year. He is the 2008-09 135-pound State Champion.


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119 Pounds
STEVEN KEITH (SWR) vs. JUSTIS FLAMIO (MAHOPAC)



1st period:
Keith gets a takedown for a 2-0 lead.
2nd Period:
Not good for Keith. He gets reversed and it's 2-2.
3rd period:
Keith goes ahead late 4-2 but gets reversed with :07 to go forcing overtime.
OT:
Keith gets the two with :31 left in OT for the State title. Wow. A very, very close match and Keith pulled it off to become a two-time state champion.

Keith finishes off the year undefeated and avenged his loss last year in the state semifinals. While Keith and Flamio don't see each other that often, the stakes are always extremely high when they do and it leads to some dramatic moments. Two years ago it was Keith. Last year it was Flamio. And now in the rubber match it was Keith.



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At 103 Huntington's Damon McQueen lost a wild match, 9-8, for his first loss of the season. He fell against Brian Realbuto of Somers (Section I). That's McQueen's first loss of the year.

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OK, we're ready for action.

96 POUNDS
COREY RASHEED (LONGWOOD) vs. MIKE SORIA (KINGS PARK)



1st period.
Rasheed falls behind 2-0.

2nd Period.
It's a 5-0 deficit for Rasheed who hasn't gotten anything going.

3rd Period.
Soria hangs on and wins it 7-0 for the state title. Rasheed settles for second. The only two losses for Rasheed this year go to Soria. Rasheed never could any offense going once Soria took the lead in the first period. He was on bottom most of the time. The first period started with a lot of dancing, but about midway through Soria took a good shot and got a takedown. From there it was all Soria.

Still, a tremendous season for Rasheed. No doubt he'll be back here again.

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We're still waiting for the festivities to finish before we get to wrestling.


The Parade of Champions is underway!


I'll be shooting video as well of the five local matches and I'll have them up in their entirety sometime tomorrow. So if you're not here, or you want to see it again, log back in sometime tomorrow.


I'm going to do this blog of the finals a little different, so the most recent info is at the top of the post. I think it'll make it a little easier to follow along.


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OK, looks like we're up and running again.

We're minutes away from Parade of Champions and the beginning of the 2009 State Championship. This promises to be a good show, especially from our local wrestlers. Of the five local wrestlers competing, all have a good chance to win. Corey Rasheed at 96 will look to avenge his only loss of the season against Mike Soria of Kings Park. Soria is a junior while Rasheed is just a seventh-grader. Rasheed did put up a good fight against Soria in the county finals and it's not unreasonable to think he can win in the finals. Either way, a fantastic performance by Rasheed as a seventh-grader to place this high in the state tournament.


At 119 Steven Keith is the favorite to win against Justis Flamio. I'd be very surprised if Keith were to go down. He's been so strong and consistent this year, you have to like his chances to close it out with an undefeated season.

At 135 Stephen Dutton has already beaten Andrew Lenzi this year and I like his chances to do so again. Like Keith, Dutton is undefeated this season. He's looking for his first state title. He's only lost three matches in the last three years.

At 160 T.J. Neidhart should have a tough match ahead of him. Neidhart hasn't dominated his matches, but has done enough to win. And that's ultimately all that matters. But I'd expect another very tight, low-scoring match in the finals against James Brundage.

At 215 Ernest James has already beaten the top seed and defending state champion. In the semifinals he had the very rare win that didn't come via pin. It should be an equally close match in the finals when he faces Steven Butler, who survived a 4-2 overtime decision against Zeal McGrew, the one wrestler to beat James this year. James is a senior, so this is it.