ONEONTA – The host Oneonta jumped out to a fast start, winning three of the first four matches at the dual meet started at the 152 pound weight class. But the Purple Tornado wrestlers weren’t about to let a STAC Division championship slip away from them by their longtime school rival Wednesday night.

Oneonta’s Dylan Breed beat Norwich’s Dakota Powers by a 4-1 decision, to give the Yellowjackets an early lead. Minutes later, Oneonta’s Jude Valk then pinned Dakota Hall in 1:12 in the next match of the night.

Norwich’s Ty Rifanburg put the Tornado on the scoreboard as he pinned his opponent, Jovany Hernandez, at 3:00 to close the nine point lead by Oneonta down to three quickly.

But Oneonta’s Jerry Wells took the 182 pound match by pinning the Purple’s Joel Madore in 1:35, extending the lead back to nine.

That’s when Norwich took over, winning the 10 matches on the mat to control the match on their way to the division crown.

“We had [Eli] Rodriguez and [Angel] Francis out so we had to move guys around and set up some good matches,” said Norwich’s head coach Bob Hagenbuch.

Hagenbuch’s moves paid off. Brennan Slater moved up to the 195 pound weight class. He has had success at both the 182 pound and 195 pound classes this season. And that didn’t change last night as Slater pinned Oneonta’s Richie Serafin in 2:45.

Tornado Keegan Wright pinned Joe Bassett in just :27 seconds as moved up to the 220 match. Of his 12 wins this season, Wright has won by a pin in nine of them after his pin Wednesday.

The biggest move of the night was placing Tyler Rice in the 285 pound match. Facing the number one ranked wrestler in Section IV, Oneonta’s Leroy Williams, Rice had his work cut out for him. Trailing 6-4 heading in the final period, Rice knew he needed to land a move to take down the heavy favorite.

Nearing the end of the third, Rice took control and got Williams in a pinning position. At 5:20, the ref slapped the mat and Rice added six points to Norwich’s total, upsetting Williams.