ILION – Currently ranked at the top spot of the New York State Divison-II rankings, the Purple Tornado wrestling team finished with a 4-3 record at the Valley Duals, taking a second place finish in the tournament hosted by Central Valley Academy.

With some of the team battling the flu and/or injuries and seeing most of the team wrestle up in weight throughout the weekend, Norwich opened the tournament with a 52-21 win over a tough Canastota team from Section III.

With round two of the tournament off, the Purple Tornado prepared for Kellenburgh in the third round. Norwich battled in the match against but lost by a single point.

The Tornado rebounded and went on a tear in the fourth round match up against Spencer-Van Etten/Candor. The match between the two Section IV teams saw four pinfall wins for Norwich, a tech fall by Ben Glanville at 126 pounds and three forfeit wins in the match.

During the tournament, Norwich saw the No. 3 Central Valley twice, losing both time but with close scores. The finals match between the two came down the last match between Ben Glanville of the Tornado and Central Valley’s Jacob Taylor.

Glanville, who dealt with sickness all weekend, wrestled strong and came away with a huge win in the match to claim five points for his team. Resting in the bleachers the rest of the day, Glanville came back onto the mat just minutes before the final match against Central Valley with the score tied.

“[Ben] showed a lot of guts and fortitude for us this weekend,” said Bob Hagenbuch, Norwich’s head coach. “I give him a lot of credit for not wanting to just let them win by forfeit.”

In the finals match, Glanville was slammed to the mat seconds before he was pinned. Hagenbuch stated his wrestler being slammed to the mat was a controversial no call that resulted in his wrestler’s pin.