VERONA – The Red Devil Invitational – a 23 team wrestling tournament in Vernon-Verona-Sherill – saw the Bears of Bainbridge-Guilford-Afton-Harpursville Bears claw their way to a one-point team win over Mexico – while sending six wrestlers to the finals with four emerging as champions.
The tournament held on Saturday, Jan. 14, saw BGAH take the team win over second place Mexico by a winning score of 168-167. Notably, fellow Chenango County team Otselic Valley finished as a team in 17th place with 29 points.
13 BGAH wrestlers stepped onto the mats at VVS, with four walking off champions of their respective weights – Brody Oleksak, Ben Bivar, Madison Hoover, and Austin Carr – with two wrestlers falling short in the finals taking home a second place finish – Austin Eggelston and Mitchell Weist. Failing to take a third place finish home in the wrestle-backs, BGAH also saw Hayden Lewis and Damien Knapp earn a placing spot at 5th, bringing the total number of place winners for the Bears to eight of the potential 13 total athletes. Notably for BGAH, Ben Bivar at 138 punds, along with Marek Bush at 99 pounds of Central Valley each were recognized with the award of Most Outstanding Wrestler.
• 106 pounds: Brody Oleksak, an eighth grader, cruised his way to a first place finish in the weight – taking down four opponents. Oleksak defeated Mike McDaniels of Windsor by a score of 4-0 before dropping Cody Greene of South Lewis and Corey Okem of Liverpool, both by way of pins. In his finals match, Oleksak took a 3-2 decision win over Dean Shambo of Mexico. According to cnywrestling.com Oleksak currently holds a 2016-2017 record of 19-2.
• 138 pounds: Ben Bivar, a BGAH junior, took his weight class by storm marching to a 4-0 finish on the day much like Oleksak. Bivar saw a 6-1 decision go his way over Tybarius Harter of Camden, followed by pins over Dan Tauroney of New Hartford and James Ossont of Otselic Valley. In the finals, Bivar snagged a tight win over Dillan Palaszewski of Galway by a score of 10-8. According to cnywrestling.com Bivar currently holds a 2016-2017 record of 20-4.
• 160 pounds: Madison Hoover, a senior wrestler for the Bears, claimed his championship weekend as he subsequently pinned his way through the tournament to the finals. Hoover dropped Gavin Vera of Camden at 1:11, Dylan Mannise of Mexico at 3:10, and Zachery Goolden of Massena at 1:54 – en route to the finals. Hoover was unable to secure a fourth pin, but would walk away a champion after defeating Seth Gilbert of Phoenix by a decision of 8-2. According to cnywrestling.com Hoover currently holds a 2016-2017 record of 21-1.
• 170 pounds: Austin Carr, a senior wrestler for BGAH, enjoyed a much different route to his first place finish, in comparison to his teammates. Carr earned an early pin over Trent Ingraham of Central Valley, before showing his dominance in the weight with a tech-fall win over Richard Baylor of Little Falls in just 2:00. Carr then enjoyed another pin in his semi final match with Jared West of Warrensburgh setting up a final between Carr and Connor Fredericks of Chittenango. Carr would prevail in the final with Fredericks, taking the win by decision at 3-1. According to cnywrestling.com Carr currently holds a 2016-2017 record of 17-1.
• 145 pounds: Austin Eggelston, just an eighth grader, managed to climb his way through the bracket to make a finals berth. Taking two wins – 11-7 win over Gavin Perrine of Massena, followed by a tech-fall win over VVS's Hunter Rascoe – Eggelston was unfortunately forced to forfeit in the finals due to a injury default, essentially surrendering the potential championship. According to cnywrestling.com Eggelston currently holds a 2016-2017 record of 12-4.
