BINGHAMTON – B-G/Afton’s Danny Gormley placed himself among the elite wrestlers in Section IV history winning a fifth Section IV championship, while Norwich’s Tristan Rifanburg and Greene’s Christian Dietrich appear able to carry the mantle of local excellence as they added sectional championships.

Chenango County won an impressive six sectional championships Saturday night at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, and dominated the center mat with 12 overall finalists, two of which feature all-Chenango finals.

Wearing the same singlet that brought him his first title as an eighth-grader, Gormley edged three-time Section IV titlist Colton Perry of Windsor, 3-2 in the 125-pound finals. Gormley’s win helped his team to the Division II team title, and it was the second win in as many weeks for Gormley over Perry. The only thing as tight as the match was perhaps Gormley’s singlet. “My coach dug out the singlet, I just can’t believe this,” Gormley said, who raised five fingers in triumph after the final horn. “It’s unbelievable that it’s been five years. To be a five-time champ and to be compared to some of the best wrestlers in Section IV...this is just a stepping stone for me to get a state title.”

In Perry, Gormley was facing the same type of competition he’ll likely see at the Division II State Championships at the Times Union Center in Albany. Gormley’s second-period escape and takedown gave him the edge over Perry, who managed a reversal for his lone points.

“This match could very well be the state final,” Gormley said of Perry. “It’s tough to wrestle the same kid that many times in a row.”

Rifanburg was hardly tested in his road to the finals. A seventh-grade sectional and state champion a year ago, Rifanburg duplicated his win over Jesse Holton from a week ago winning 6-2. In the initial meeting, Rifanburg blew Holton out. This final score, said Norwich coach Joe Downey, was more indicative of the closeness of the two wrestlers.

“The first time (we faced Holton), Tristan was able to catch him a couple of times,” Downey said. “We knew this one would be tougher. If you look at the matches, Tristan just doesn’t make mistakes and is always where he needs to be. He had a couple of takedowns tonight, and he continues to punish people on top. That’s what got him a state championship last year.”

Rifanburg had first- and third-period takedowns of Holton, and added a set of back points in the middle period.

Dietrich claimed one of two titles for the Trojans. Off for a month recovering from an injury, Dietrich elected to bypass the Class C sectional tournament, but received a waiver into the sectional tournament. Dietrich was justly designated the number one seed in the 152-pound division topping B-G/Afton senior Daren Terpstra, 8-5 in the final.

“When he had the injury, we thought the season was pretty much over, and it was all gloom and doom,” said Dietrich’s coach, Greene mentor Tim Jenks. “But we got some good news that it was just cartilage. He took three weeks off and starting working out hard two weeks ago. We kept him out of the class tournament because we didn’t want him to re-injure himself. That extra week (off) was important. I’m not sure if we would have been here otherwise.”

Dietrich gave up an early takedown to Terpstra and was more on the defense throughout the first period. After an early escape in the second period put Terpstra in front 3-1, Dietrich completed his own takedown, and added a set of back points to open a three-point lead.

Jenks was impressed with Dietrich’s composure in his first sectional tournament, although he wasn’t surprised by the result. “He won the kids’ nationals four times, so we saw him coming,” Jenks said. “We knew he was good, but we weren’t sure if he would be at this level his first year. Other seventh-graders have won sectional titles, but not someone of his size. What Christian did was unprecedented.”

Dietrich had one of two championship wins for the Trojans, who had five wrestlers reach the finals. Following Dietrich’s win was Keegan Cerwinski’s 14-0 blowout of B-G/Afton’s Paul Parsons. The two combatants wrestled to a close final last weekend at the Class C tournament final, but it was all Cerwinski this time. The Trojans junior captured the 160-pound crown 14-0 dominating on his feet and on the mat, while also keeping Parsons off the board. Parsons was a Section IV runner-up a season ago at 145 pounds.

Vinnie Buttice of B-G/Afton completed the local list of sectional title winners. A runner-up last year in the Section IV finals, Buttice entered as the top seed in the tournament, and acted the part of a front-runner from start to finish routing all of his opponents. In the 171-pound finals, he won by technical fall over Adam Hughey of Watkins Glen.

Adding runner-up finishes were Joe Nelson (96), Oxford; Frankie Garcia (119), Norwich, Dan Dickman (140), Greene; Mike Beckwith (145), Greene; Kurt Shear (189), Greene; and Kyle Stanton (215), Greene.

Beckwith, Shear, and Stanton all entered the tournament as top seeds. Beckwith, a defending Section IV champion, dropped a wild 9-7 overtime decision to Chenango Valley unbeaten Conor Kleitz. Beckwith finished the tying takedown on the edge of the mat with one second left on the clock, but looking completely gassed, was taken down by Kleitz 42 seconds into overtime.

Shear, who dropped a close decision to Ryan Todd of Lansing last year, avenged those losses on two occasions this season – each by one point. In the third go-around, Todd nipped Shear, 4-3 with an overtime escape.

Stanton looked impressive getting to the finals spending just over 2 1/2 minutes to register three pins. In Rose, he was beaten by pinfall late in the second period. Rose reached the finals with a late takedown in the finals seconds of his semifinals match with Norwich’s Kegan Levesque.

Oxford, overall, had five of its wrestlers seven wrestlers place, a marked improvement over recent years. Nelson, a freshman in first varsity season, had just five losses – three of those to eventual sectional champion Tyler Malmberg of Marathon. Austin Crandall was fourth at 103, Jeremiah Winter overcame an early-tournament loss to place third at 112, while Clayton Audette (152) was fourth and Devin Depew (135) placed sixth.