Evening Sun Report
OXFORD – Greene had a pair of title winners, but it was the work done in wrestlebacks, particularly by Jake Wentlent and Keegan Cerwinski, that led it to the team title at the 45th Annual Clyde Cole Wrestling Tournament Saturday in Oxford.
It was the third team title for the Trojans and first since 2001. “This was our first time on the mat this season, and it kind of showed the first night,” said Greene coach Tim Jenks, who noted Wentlent and Cerwinski’s losses. “As the tournament went on, we started to wrestle better and better.”
Cerwinski avenged a second-round loss to Averill Park’s Mike Martin pinning Martin in 1:56 in the wrestlebacks on his way to third-place finish. Wentlent, meanwhile, came back from an 8-2 loss to Pembroke’s Joe Hill to win the consolation finals over Hill, 4-3.
Greene’s returning sectional champions, Nick Wilcox (119) and Tyler Beckwith (160) lived up to their favorite status gaining decisive title wins. Overall, nine Trojans grapplers finished among the top four in their weight class. “This is great for us, and we were pretty balanced from top to bottom,” Jenks said.
B-GA did all it could to make up ground in the finals with all three finalists winning titles to share the tournament lead for winners along with Queensbury. Only a pin in the 285-pound final by Union-Endicott’s Jared Venuto kept the Bears out of the runner-up spot. “We made some mistakes, but I thought we did pretty well,” said B-GA coach Brandon MacNaught. “We have seven new starters from last year.”
Perhaps the marquee win of the day for B-GA was Kris Stafford’s 6-5 decision over Jon Glennon of Lansing. Stafford’s third-period takedown broke a 4-4 tie late. Glennon is a returning fourth-place finisher in the state a year ago at 140 pounds.
Cody Davy (103) and Kyle Davy (125) added wins for the Bears, who had eight wrestlers place among the top five.
Norwich was at the bottom of the 16-team field, but started off the finals with a bang. Tanner Cummings bounced back from a loss in the Chenango Valley dual meet earlier in the week to grab the 96-pound title. Cummings pinned Josh Garretny of Maine-Endwell in 2:51 to improve on a fifth-place finish a year ago.
Tornado coach Terry Hagenbuch was encouraged by his team’s performance. Of the 10 wrestlers that made the trip – many of whom were competing in their first varsity tournament – eight came away with victories. “The nice thing is that even though some of our kids were overmatched, none of them backed down,” Hagenbuch said.
Unadilla Valley was led by Tyler Peet, who was second at 119 pounds, and Todd Wilcox (145) along with T.J. Brownell (152) took third.
Host Oxford had a runner-up finish by Travis Frank at 160 pounds to Greene’s Beckwith.
In the highly anticipated matchup between returning state champions, Lansing’s Kyle Dake eked out a 1-0 decision over Marathon’s Devon Brown on the strength of a second-period escape.
Before the finals, the Oxford Rotary Club, sponsors of the tournament, dedicated this year’s tournament to former Greene wrestler Sherwood Fendryk. Fendryk, a multiple Clyde Cole Tournament winner and a NCAA division one tournament qualifier while at Sacred Heart, lost part of his leg in a motorcycle accident in July of this year.
Team scores: Greene 182, U-E, 173, B-GA, 172; Queensbury, 124; Monsignor-Farrell, 113; Whitney Point, 99; Unatego, 89; Averill Park, 84; Washingtonville, 76.5; Marathon, 76.5; Pembroke, 71; Maine-Endwell, 70.5; Oxford, 67; Unadilla Valley, 67; Lansing, 66.5; Norwich, 41.5.
