WINDSOR – The Bears of Bainbridge-Guilford-Afton-Harpursville have now claimed the 60th Windsor Christmas Tournament as their own – making it two in a row for BGAH as they also won as a team in 2015.
Remarkably in the tournament, BGAH was named the team champion over Vestal at a score of 140-135.5, while Norwich trailed in third at 135 – all while having no individual champions.
BGAH emerged the top team at the prestigious tournament, taking first out of the 31 teams present, while a high 12 different teams saw individual champions.
BGAH tied Norwich for a Chenango County high of three wrestlers making finals appearances on Dec. 29.
At 106 pounds, number one seeded Brody Oleksak glided his way to the semifinals where he then dominated Mike McDaniels of Windsor, winning 10-0. The finals were set as Oleksak was heavily favored over 11th seeded Chase Daudelin of Corning. Daudelin climbed and clawed his way to the finals – knocking off third seeded Mikey Squires of Norwich – before handing Oleksak a 4-0 decision loss in the finals.
At 138 pounds, BGAH's second seeded Ben Bivar dropped a semifinals match to Susquehanna Valley's Padraig Lupole by a score of 7-5. Bivar did manage to avenge his lone loss in the tournament when he wrestled back to place third.
At 160 pounds, second seeded Madison Hoover earned a win over Hunter Kennedy of PV by a score of 3-0. That is when Hoover met Noah Curreri of LESW in the finals, only to drop his finals match 2-1 in overtime. The overtime loss for Hoover came off an escape from Curreri in the first of two 30-second overtime periods – Hoover was denied the escape for the Curreri win. Both Hoover and Curreri made trips to Albany for the state meet in 2015.
At 170 pounds, BGAH was looking for that elusive win in the finals, only to watch Elmira’s Charlie Mahon earn the win at the 170 pound final by way of forfeit. Austin Carr suffered an injured shoulder during his semifinal win Chris Eames of Horseheads, costing him a shot at a Windsor title.
Mitch Weist of BGAH battled back at the 195 pound weight class after suffering a 4-0 loss in the semifinals to Vestal's Sean Degroat. Weist wrestled his way into a third place finish on the day when he defeated Garrett Sayegh of Hillcrest.
Norwich claimed three of the finals spots only to see one emerge as a champion. Cole Rifanburg wrestled one of the most electric matches in the finals – filled with a high-flying scramble situation in the second period. This scramble situation did result in a Rifanburg victory due to a rolled ankle from top-seeded Shvunte Searcy of Marathon – this win marks the second time Rifanburg has beat, state placer Searcy on the year.
At 99 pounds for Norwich, it was upset wins all the way through the tournament for youngster Dante Geislinger. Geislinger came into the tournament unseeded, before grappling his way all the way to the finals. Geislinger defeated third seeded Drake Dillie of Elmira in the semifinals before being matched up against top-seeded John Worthing of Tioga. Worthing, a state runner up in 2015, earned the win by pin over Geislinger in the finals at 4:47.
Norwich's third finals match and second Rifanburg brother to walk on the mat was younger brother Ty Rifanburg. Rifanburg, the second seed at 145 pounds earned a 7-0 victory over BGAH's Shane Hoover in the semifinals, earning him a finals berth where he was faced off against top-seeded Ross McFarland of Pheonix. McFarland earned the win between the two state caliber wrestlers when he gained the escape in the second period – before riding Rifanburg out in the third to secure the win. Phoenix claimed a tournament high three individual champions in 2016, while McFarland also snagged the Most Outstanding Wrestler award.
Norwich's lone third place winner was Mikey Squires at 106 pounds. Squires suffered an early loss to eventual champion Daudelin before taking to the wrestle-backs for a long day which paid off with a third place finish. Norwich's Jake Franklin finished in fourth at 170 pounds; Eli Rodriguez finished in fifth at 120 pounds after an early loss in the quarterfinals; and Brennan Slater finished in sixth at 182 pounds.
No Greene or Oxford wrestlers claimed a placing spot in the tournament, full results can be found online at cnywrestling.com.
Place winners at each weight in order:
