by Ryan Mosher
The Panther wrestling team has already this year won the Wasaren League title, the Ken Baker Classic title and the Class C Championship. The Panthers had four individual champions at the Ken Baker Classic and the Class C Championships as well and qualified ten wrestlers to compete this past weekend at the Section II Championships at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
[private]With ten wrestlers the Panthers had a chance to compete for the team title. Of the ten wrestlers, Hoosick Falls had seven place winners (1st through 6th place). Leading the way were the Panther’s two defending Section II Champions, Brad Burns (170 pounds) and Luis Weierbach (99 pounds). Both were seeded first entering the tournament.
Weierbach ran into little trouble reaching the finals, picking up his first round pin against Christian Peters from Berne-Knox in just :37 seconds. In the next round, Weierbach finished off Conner Hughes of Schuylerville in 1:43. In the semifinals he picked up a pin at 5:09 against Garon LeClair of Corinth.
Burns picked up his first win of the day against Jon James of Corinth in 1:32 and then pinned Zach Ernst of Taconic Hills in 3:16 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals he faced off against Kyle Derepentigny of Cohoes, winning a tough contest 9-7.
In the finals, Weierbach was met by the #4 seed Alexis Bleau of Schoharie. He started quickly, scoring a takedown in the first twenty seconds before the match was stopped briefly for a bloody lip that he received. In the second period Weierbach chose the bottom and reversed midway through the period to take a 4-0 lead. Despite being in control much of the match, Weierbach couldn’t get Bleau turned over to score backpoints. After Bleau chose the bottom to start the third period, Weierbach rode out the time, winning his second straight Section II Championship.
Burns’ final match was against Mike Green of Cobleskill-Richmondville. After a stalemated first period, Burns won the toss and chose the bottom position. Off the whistle Burns reversed positions immediately to take a 2-0 lead and then cut Green loose to make it 2-1. Starting the third period on top, Burns again cut him lose, tying the score at 2-2. Midway through the period, Burns tried to take down Green who made a run to get out of bounds. The official awarded Burns a violation point and the 3-2 lead. In the last minute neither wrestler could score, and the match ended with Burns keeping his Section II Championship.
Jeremy Barss placed third in 195 pounds, going 3-1 in the tournament. Tom Peabody placed fourth at 113 pounds while Nolan Foster, Colby Davendonis and Bryan Sherman all placed sixth in their weight categories. With seven place winners, the team scored 112 points, finishing in second place behind Hudson Falls (172.5 team points).
In two weeks Weierbach and Burns will be back in the New York State Championships at the Times Union Center in Albany. The tournament takes place all day Friday and Saturday, February 24 and 25.[/private]