LIVE: Wrestling Quarterfinals

We're set for the quarterfinals here in Albany and to start off is Corey Rasheed vs. Will Montgomery of Seaford at 96 pounds. Montgomery won a 1-0 decision to reach the quarters.

Here we go: Good match early on as both wrestlers fight for position. Rasheed gets the early two with about a minute left in the first. He's riding on top and maintains a 2-0 lead after one. An injury timeout delays the start of the second. Corey had some issue with his right hand, but it's quickly resolved. Rasheed starts the second period on bottom. Rasheed is having problems getting off bottom. He's slowly working his way toward the edge of the circle and gets out of bounds with :56 left in the second. He'll start on bottom again. A real rough period for Rasheed but he manages to gain a point. A late escape gives him a 3-0 advantage going into the second and he'll start on top for the third. Rasheed really survived a tough stretch.
A reversal makes it 3-2 with 1:13 left. We get a whistle and an injury timeout for Montgomery.

Rasheed gets another point to go ahead 4-2 but Montgomery ties it with under a minute to go. Rasheed quickly reverses to go ahead 6-4. An escape by Montgomery makes it 6-5 with :38 to go. This is quite the match. They'll have a neutral start with :38 after blood on the mat is cleaned.

They go out of bounds with :23 left and will start neutral. Rasheed is hit with a stall warning. The match is delayed again with blood on Montgomery. It was a good thing because he nearly had a takedown on Rasheed.

There's 14 seconds left. Rasheed hangs on and gets a takedown for the 8-5 win. A very impressive victory for the seventh-grader over a junior.

Meanwhile, Malik Rasheed was wrestling at the same time and pulled out a 3-2 win over Tim Schaefer, the No. 3 seed from Lancaster.

C. RASHEED, 8-5, OVER ERIC MONTGOMERY


M. RASHEED, 3-2, OVER TIM SCHAEFER


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At 119 pounds Steven Keith won a 12-3 major decision against Brentwood's Alex Gomez in a rematch of the county final. My original post on his match didn't save when I tried to publish, so I have to do this again...

KEITH, 12-3, OVER ALEX GOMEZ


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Next up is Stephen Dutton vs. Josh Halladay at 135

Before that happens, another big development to note: The No. 2 seed at 189, Christian Boley of Brockport lost in the first round. Boley placed third in the state last year at 189 and was upset by Matt Loew of Wantagh. This clears the path for Buonaiuto to reach the finals against Austin Meys, who is the top seed. Buonaiuto will face CJ Floor of Port Jervis in the quarterfinals first. If he wins, he'll get the winner of Loew vs. Ken Hamilton of Niagara Falls. A big break for Buonaiuto, we'll see if he can capitalize.

Now we're set for Dutton.

Dutton gets the quick 2-0 lead and takes control of the match. Dutton is so fast on the mat it's hard for wrestlers to react to his moves. Add in his strength and it's easy to see why he's undefeated this year and has only lost three matches since entering high school. The first period ends with Dutton ahead 2-0. It's not often he leads a match only 2-0 after one period. But this is the state tournament and nothing is easy. Dutton starts the second on bottom.

Now he goes to work in the second and grabs a 5-0 lead. He's riding on top. He's working to flip Halladay on his back but they reach a stalemate with :35 left in the second period. Dutton maintains that lead going into the third period.

In the third period Halladay gets a point after Dutton is hit for a stall, which the Rocky Point coaches don't understand. It makes it 5-1 with a minute remaining. Now it's Halladay who's warned for a stall, but no point. Dutton gets in an awkward position and gives up another point on a stall. He hangs on for the 5-2 decision.

It's been awhile since Dutton had a match that close. He was never really challenged in the county tournament.

STEPHEN DUTTON, 5-2, OVER JOSH HALLADAY


That now makes our local wrestlers 13-for-13 today.


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Next up, 145
Anthony Volpe vs. Luke Speno (Fox Lane)

Speno won a 17-1 tech fall in the first round against Tony Carlo of Monsignor Farrell. He is the four seed while Volpe is the five. Speno comes in with a 36-1 record. This could be the end of our perfect streak today.

Update on the semifinal matchups tomorrow: Malik Rasheed will face the wrestler he lost against in the county final, Huntington's Damon McQueen. Rasheed struggled against McQueen and will have a hard time beating him here. His brother Corey will take on Joe Barbato of Wantagh who is also a wild card. He fell as the No. 11 seed and he beat the No. 3 Alec Dierna in the quarterfinals. Steven Keith will face John Belanger of Shenedehowa. He is the No. 4 seed.

Now we're set for Volpe vs. Speno

Volpe takes a 2-0 lead early in the first and comes real close to getting a pin. He gets three back points to storm ahead 5-0. Volpe came out this period ready to wrestle. Wow. He jumps ahead 8-0 and is dominating the action. An electric first period closes with Volpe ahead 8-0. I'm sure that has to be one of the better periods he's had this season.
Volpe got two more in the second period and he's closing in on a tech fall with a 10-0 lead. The action is stopped, though, and the score is now 10-2. Not sure where those two came from for Speno. Volpe gets an escape to go ahead 11-2. Now he's just got stay smart and close it out.

At the end of the second, Volpe leads 11-2. Now it's 12-2. Speno earned a takedown with about :33 left in the third to close it to 12-4. Volpe started to relax a bit in the final period with the big lead.

The final score is 13-5 and Volpe is definitely excited as he flexes his arms to his fans in the crowd. He's on to the semifinals after a very impressive quarterfinal win.

VOLPE, 13-5, OVER SPENO

So now we're 14-for-14 with five matches remaining in the quarterfinals.

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Next up we'll have two matches at the same time at 160 with Coggins and Neidhart.

Coggins is set to face John Paris of Amsterdam who comes in off a pin against Nick Matthews of Kingston.

Neither wrestler can take control in the first period. Coggins goes on his stomatch with about :10 left in the first and stays there to ride out the period. They're notted at zero going into the second where Coggins will start on bottom. He gets the escape for the 1-0 lead. He takes the 1-0 lead into the third period where Paris starts on bottom. He gets the escape to tie it at 1. A takedown with 1:20 left gives Paris the 3-1 lead. He closes to 3-2 with just over a minute left. A takedown makes it 5-2 and Coggins is in trouble. He starts on bottom with :42 left. Coggins goes down 6-4 for the first local wrestler's loss of the day.

PARIS, 6-4, OVER COGGINS

Neidhart is underway in his match vs. Pat Brady of Carthage. He gets a late takedown for a 2-0 lead in the first. Neidhart gets the pin in the second period to advance to the finals.

NEIDHART, PIN, OVER BRADY


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So it looks like we won't have 9 state champions.... Coggins goes down 6-4 and now Neidhart, who lost to him in the county finals, has a chance to earn the higher placing. Of course, if Neidhart loses in the semis, the two could very well face again. Coggins will have a busy schedule now to fight for third. He'll wrestle again tonight and will need four more wins to claim third. He needs to win at least his next two matches for a chance to place.



Buonaiuto is taking on the sixth seed CJ Floor of Port Jervis. Buonaiuto takes a quick 2-0 lead and then gives up and escape. He goes ahead 4-1 and as usual is riding on top. He gives up another escape, though, and he seems confident in his ability to get points. Buonaiuto gets in trouble and loses back points. It’s 6-6 after one. He nearly got pinned.
Buoanituo recovers to dominate the second and get the pin with :43 left.

BUONAIUTO, PIN 3:17, OVER FLOOR


James also got a pin, so quick that I didn’t even see it happen. YIKES! Next thing I know coach Mike Picozzi is sitting next to me. I’m here looking for James and it’s already over.

JAMES, PIN, OVER SHERIDAN


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That wraps up the quarterfinals for us. An awesome day of wrestling for local wrestlers as they combine to go 17-of-18. The only loss coming for Coggins, who was the top seed at 160. He'll try to bounce back for third place.

The semifinals begin at 10 a.m. Saturday.