Army @ NY State Championships

OSWEGO, N.Y. - Army junior Matt Kyler, junior Richard Starks and sophomore Casey Thome all won individual titles to lead the Black Knights to second place at the 40th-annual New York State Wrestling Championships, hosted by SUNY Oswego at Max Ziel Gymnasium.

Kyler, who was named the two-day event's Most Outstanding Wrestler, won his third-straight individual title by sweeping five matches, including four by pin fall, at 149 pounds. His first two titles came at 141 pounds the previous two years.

Buffalo won the team championship, coming back to beat the rest of the 18-team field with a 168.5-point total. The defending champion Black Knights were a close second with 162.5, followed by Columbia (128.5), Ithaca (103.5) and Cornell (74.5) to round out the top-five teams.

“Overall, there was effort and great intensity by our guys, but some of them still are making some mental and technical mistakes,” said Army head coach Chuck Barbee. “I'm especially proud of the way our three individual champions got after it this weekend. I look forward to getting all the guys back in the room this week and get ready for some tough dual meets that we have coming up on the schedule.”

Buffalo came away with four individual champions out of seven event finalists, while Army's three champions came out of six Black Knights who wrestled in the championship finals.

Kyler, who entered the week ranked 11th in the latest national polls, kicked off his run by pinning Jamestown CC's Max Murray (1:25), followed by falls over Hunter's Vitaly Simkin (6:17), Brockport's James Forsyth (1:04) and Ithaca's Blane Woszczak (1:08). He clinched the title with a 5-1 decision over Buffalo's Desi Green to improve his record to 27-4 this season including 15 falls. Kyler has a shot at becoming only the second wrestler ever to win four New York State individual titles next year, matching the feat achieved previously by fellow Black Knight Phillip Simpson from 2003-06

Starks, ranked 14th in this week's national polls, started the tournament with an 11-4 decision over Brockport's Tom Voorhis to reach the semifinals. Following a 10-2 major decision over Ithaca's Chris Carabello, Starks, who was seeded third for the tournament, defeated top-seeded Jim Hamel of Buffalo, 5-3 to run his record to 19-5 this winter.

Thome started by pinning Oneonta's Justin Davy (1:36) before also taking down NYU's Gregg Martino (1:15) and Ithaca's John Paxos (5:45). He completed the tournament with an 8-2 decision versus Buffalo's Mark Lewandowski in the final. Thome's season record stands at 17-10.

Junior Ryan Mergen finished second at 174 pounds. He started with consecutive falls over Brockport's Josh Lancaster (2:48) and RIT's Nick Ryan (3:50), followed by a 6-1 decision over Cornell's Colin McDonald to reach the championship match. His run came to an end after a 6-1 loss to Buffalo's Nate Rock. Mergen's season record is currently 18-10.

Senior Michael Sprigg also finished runner-up at 285. He started the tournament with a 15-0 tech fall (4:10) over NYU's Mark Shirlan and a 5-2 decision over Cornell's Taylor Moore to reach the semis. Following a 3-2 decision over Ithaca's Joe Goetz, Sprigg fell to Colombia's Ryan Flores, 5-3, in the final match to make his record 19-8 this year.

Senior captain Whitt Dunning was a runner-up at 133. He earned three-straight decisions over Brockport's Ryan Fallot (7-2), Nassau CC's Dan Audy (11-0) and Ithaca's Chad Winowich (4-1), before coming out on the short end of a 6-1 decision to Buffalo's Kevin Smith in the final match.

Other place winners for Army included senior Lance Penhale's fourth-place effort at 125, and a pair of fifth-place showings by sophomore Rudy Chelednik at 157, and senior Jonathan Drew at 184.

Army will return to action this Friday with a road dual versus Sacred Heart scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m., before hosting Brown and Harvard on Sunday in a tri-meet slated to start at 2:00 p.m. at Gillis Field House.

Columbia  @ NY State Championships

OSWEGO, N.Y. “ Derek Sickles and Ryan Flores both earned titles at the  New York State Wrestling Championships held at SUNY Oswego.  The Lions  finished third at the two-day tournament with 128.5 team points.

Columbia had eight place winners, including the two champions.

“We looked much better this weekend and gained some confidence as we head into several Ivy League and EIWA conference match-ups,” said Brendan Buckley, the Andrew F. Barth Head Coach of Wrestling.  “Sickles looked outstanding this weekend as he won in the finals by  tech fall.”

In his semifinal match, Sickles defeated Matt Magill (NYU) 6-2,  advancing him to the finals at 157 pounds. The senior co-captain took  to the mat against Eduardo Delgado (Nassau Community College).   Sickles dominated the entire match earning a 15-0 technical fall to  claim the state title. Flores picked up his third consecutive pin of tournament in his  semifinal match.  The sophomore pinned Joe Murphy (Cortland) in 5:50. 
The heavyweight defeated Mike Sprigg (Army) 5-3 in the finals to  clinch his first New York State championship.

Eren Civan defeated Jason Wake (RIT) 7-4 in the semifinals before  dropping a hard fought 3-1 decision to top-seeded Justin James (NCCC)  in the finals for 165 pounds.

Kevin Tao, Andrew Grabfelder and Lou Miller each finished third for Columbia.

Tao, wrestling at 125, defeated Quin Leith (Cornell) 5-0 before facing  fellow Lion Kyle Gilchrist.  The two battled, with Tao pulling out a  2-0 win.  Tao then faced Lance Penhale (Army), who he lost to earlier  in the tournament, 9-7.  In an exciting match, Tao pulled out a 6-4  win in sudden victory to finish third.

“One of the highlights of the weekend was Kevin Tao. He avenged an  early round loss against Army”s Penhale in the consolation finals in  what was a very thrilling match,” Buckley said. In his semifinal match, Grabfelder lost to eventual champion Kevin  Smith (Buffalo), 6-0.  The 133-pounder bounced back, defeating Glen  DiStefano (Brockport) 17-2 for a technical fall.  He went on the  defeat Chad Winowich (Ithaca) 2-0 to finish third.

Also placing third for Columbia was Miller.  The heavyweight edged  Travis Dale (Cornell) 3-2 before defeating Chris Carabello (Ithaca)  5-1 in his final match. 

Gilchrist and Mike Pushpak also placed for the Lions.  Gilchrist  finished fifth at 125 pounds while Pushpak finished sixth.

The Lions return to action on Sunday, January 25 when they take on  American and George Mason in dual action.  Columbia will square off  against American in Washington, D.C. at 1 p.m. before traveling to  Fairfax, Va. for a 5 p.m. match against George Mason.