LIVE: State Wrestling Championship

******KEEP REFRESHING*******


Just arrived at the Times-Union Center where wrestling has been underway for about an hour and a half. So far four local wrestlers have competed and all have won.

The results are as follows:

96 pounds: Cory Rasheed (Longwood) pinned Derrick Gray of Indian River in :36.

103 pounds: Malik Rasheed (Longwood) won a 10-5 decision against Zack Hammell.

119 pounds: Steven Keith (SWR) pinned Jim Widger of St. Francis in 1:15.

135 pounds: Stephen Dutton (RP) won a technical fall against Brian Latham.

The quarterfinal matchups are as follows:
C. Rasheed vs. Will Montgomery (Seaford)

M. Rasheed vs. Tim Schaefer (Lancaster)

Keith vs. Alex Gomez (Brentwood)

Dutton vs. Josh Halladay (Johnson City)
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I just got to see my first match and Anthony Volpe against Mike Perry of Massena. Volpe jumped out to a fast 6-2 start and was in control throughout the match. Volpe didn't score in the second period, but was never in trouble. He got into a slightly awkward spot early in the third when Perry got ahold of his left leg. But he quickly recovered and got a reversal to go ahead 8-2. Volpe needed an injury timeout midway through the third. It looked like something with his left leg. But he appeared OK and finished off the match. Volpe gave up an escape with :42 left and then Perry got it to 8-4. Then he got a takedown with about :10 left, but couldn't add anything else with Volpe on his stomach.

Final Score: VOLPE 8 - PERRY 6


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Interesting note at the 135 bracket. Dutton was originally listed as the second seed in the bracket, but he's at the top spot now that the bracket is posted. A great quarterfinal matchup is Paul Liguori of Wantagh against Andrew Lenzi of Fordham Prep. Them facing each other in the quarterfinals seems a bit early. Lenzi won a state title last year and was the wrestler everyone expected Dutton to face before he was upset in the first round. Dutton beat both wrestlers this year and Liguori was probably the closest match of the year. He beat Lenzi at the Eastern States and didn't have too much trouble. An undefeated regular season really pays off when he gets that high seed and avoids having to beat both Liguori and Lenzi. And when he does face one of them, it'll be in the finals.


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160 Pounds: Coggins vs. Rob Grabher (North Shore)

Coggins gets a takedown with :46 left in the first period to go ahead 2-0. A late escape point for Grabher makes it 2-1 after one period. Coggins gets an escape early in the second to go back ahead by two, 3-1. He then reverses Grabher for a 5-1 lead with under a minute left in the second. He takes a 5-1 lead into the third period. An escape point gives Coggins a 6-1 lead. A takedown puts Coggins ahead 8-1 and he's in full control. Interesting note, Grabher was ranked fourth in Nassau at 152 in the rankings of Feb. 3. A nice job by him to get to the state tournament by winning the Nassau title.
Coggins held on 8-1 to make our local wrestlers 6-for-6 so far in the first round.

COGGINS 8 - GRABHER 1

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160: T.J. Neidhart vs. Darin Wignall (Depost/Hancock)

A scoreless first period, not many shots by either wrestler. Neidhart starts the second period on bottom and earns the escape point for a 1-0 lead. Neidhart goes ahead 3-0 with about 1:15 left in the second. Neidhart gets two more just before the second period ends for a 5-0 lead. A neutral start to the third period and Neidhart is being patient. He makes his move after about 20 seconds and gets another takedown for a 7-0 lead. Neidhart closes it out 9-0. And local wrestlers are 7-for-7.

NEIDHART 9 - WIGNALL 0

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Zach Buonaiuto vs. Josue Cardenas (Portchester)

Buonaiuto fell behind early 2-0 before taking a 4-2 lead into the third period. It was a slow start for Buonaiuto but he turned it on in the third period and won it 9-2. Video to follow.

BUONAIUTO 9 - CARDENAS 2

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Ernest James vs. Patrice Castor (East Ramapo)

James takes a 2-0 first-period lead. In the second James takes a shot at Castor's right leg and earns the takedown. An injury time-out forces a delay with seven seconds left in the second period. Not sure what's wrong. Actually, it looks like a problem with Castor's head gear. He's got a crazy mask on that looks like some kind of hockey goalie helmet. You can't see any of his face. Wild stuff. The period resumes and James closes it out with the 4-0 lead. James starts down for the third period. James goes ahead 6-0. James rides on top the final period and twists Castor on his back to get the pin with 12 seconds left. James in jeopardy of the rare non-pin win. He's only had a couple of those this year. But he pulls it out in 5:48.

JAMES PIN OVER CASTOR, 5:48