More Wrestleback Matches

Longwood freshman Malik Rasheed is facing Brandon Ling in the consolations for the right to wrestle for third/fourth. After the second period he holds a 2-1 lead. They had a restart with :03 left in the second and Ling got the escape point to close the gap.
Rasheed got in trouble at the start of the third and fell behind 3-2 after a takedown with just over 1:20 to go. Ling is riding on top and Rasheed is unable to get anything going as the clock ticks away. With :18 left they restart with Rasheed on bottom. He needs an escape to tie it. He can't get it and Ling hangs on to win it 3-2. Rasheed falls to the fifth/sixth place consolation final. He'll face the loser of Jimmy Morris vs. Tim Schaefer.


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An update on team standings:
Section XI is cleaning up. You'll remember the semfinals last year was a disaster for Section XI as wrestler after wrestler fell to the wrestlebacks. It's been a different story this year and Section XI could very well end up with 5-6 state champs. Section XI is guaranteed two with a pair of Suffolk wrestlers facing each other in the finals. At this points I would say anything less than five Suffolk state champs would be a disappointment.


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They just announced the team points and Section XI has 200 1/2 for first place. Section I with 158 1/2 is in second place. The last time Section XI had the most points was 2005, which was also in Albany. Section XI had 255 1/2 points that year.


Our next wrestleback should be Anthony Volpe vs. Paul Morabito of Spencerport. Volpe takes a 5-0 first-period lead against Morabito. He closes within four at 5-1 in the second. Volpe hangs on 6-2 for the victory and will wrestle for third/fourth in a little over an hour or so.


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Next up is Billy Coggins vs. John Velieri, the same wrestler Neidhart beat in the semi's. They're tied after one period. Coggins starts the second on top. Coggins gives up an escape early on to fall behind 1-0. Just like when Neidhart faced him, it's another low-scoring match with neither wrestler able to get many shots in. Coggins closed in on a shot in the final seconds of the second but ran out of time before he could convert any points. In the third period he starts on bottom. An escape can tie it. After seven seconds they start again with Coggins on bottom. Coggins gets lifted with about 1:35 left and gets put on his back. Velieri gets the pin with :56 left. Coggins goes down by fall in the third period and will have to wrestle for fifth/sixth.

Velieri pins in 5:04.


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Next up is Zach Buonaiuto vs. Christian Boley of Brockport, a matchup we thought to see in the semifinals. This will be a good test to see which wrestler can bounce back from disappointing losses against the same wrestler. After one period they're scoreless. Buonaiuto starts the second on top. Buonaiuto goes to work in the second period, picking Boley up off the ground. But it doesn't lead to any points yet with 1:22 left. Boley starts down with :50 left in the second. Buonaiuto falls behind 2-0 after two and needs to rally in the third.

Buonaiuto quickly gets one back to make it 2-1 with 1:52 left. With :40 left Buonaiuto stops for an injury timeout. It's something with his left leg. Trainers are rubbing his left ankle. Buonaiuto gets taking down at the end and falls 4-1. The best he can do now is take fifth, which he did last year. Not the finish Buonaiuto had hoped for.