Keith Lanfear Photo
3 other county wrestlers place
ALBANY – Over 30,00 New York State high school wrestlers started the 2018-219 season back in November. 496 were left at the two-day New York State Championship event held at Times Union Center in Albany Friday morning. Only 30 stood on the podium at the conclusion of the weekend.
Norwich’s 106 pound junior Dante Geislinger was one of those who held a sign that read “2019 Champion” and had two medals dangling around his neck, the second time in two years.
Geislinger, the No. 1 seed of his bracket, pinned his way into the semifinals. The Purple Tornado returned to Saturday night’s center stage with another pinfall win, this one coming with just 18 seconds remaining in the match.
Geislinger, who took on a defensive minded Maple Hill’s Caleb Svingala, scored the first point of the finals bout on an escape in the first period.
The now two-time champ set up a move that was finished with a double ankle control takedown in the second period, taking the 3-0 lead.
Starting on top in the third, Geislinger needed to keep Svingala down with heavy forward pressure.
Svingala attempted to build his way to his feet but the strength of the Tornado 106 pounder made it very tough. Geislinger looked up with 15 seconds left and knew if the hadn’t made a move by now, the wrestler from Section II wasn’t going to be able to make one at all.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, the crowd began to cheer for the repeat champion as the Norwich junior grabbed 3-0 decision over Svingala.
“It feels amazing,” said Geislinger. “All the work you put in really pays off. You put the work in and you see it pay off, it’s awesome.”
The Tornado wrestler said he knew that despite the score being 0-0 after the first, the time would come that his opponent would break.
An emotional Bob Hagenbuch, Norwich head coach, said that he was very proud of his two-time champion – both coming under his helm as the head coach.
“It’s what we talk about from day one,” said Hagenbuch. “In practice, we’re talking about getting to the state tournament and getting to the top of the podium. It starts back in November, and here we are in February. I’m proud of his work ethic he has put into the last two years as he is a constant worker and a great teammate. He’s fun to coach.”
But Hagenbuch’s night in the chair on the side of the mat wasn’t over yet.
Waiting through the next five matches in the warmup room was Mikey Squires, the 152 pound finalist of the Purple Tornado.
The Norwich junior reached the finals with an opening round second period pin. Squires then faced two familiar opponents – Reese Lockwood of Groton and Mount Sinai’s Matt Campo.
Squires defeated Lockwood with a 7-2 decision and took care of Campo in the semifinals with a 5-0 win.
Taking on the No.1 seed of his bracket, Zack Lawrence of Duanesburg in Section II, Squires knew he was going to have the be aggressor in the match.
The Norwich wrestler met Lawrence at the Eastern States tournament in January. Lawrence took the win over Squires with a 7-3 decision win.
Late in the first period, Squires was assessed a penalty point for fleeing the mat. Not a common call during a match, especially a match with Squires as he is normally lining up for the shot.
As he was trying to work his way free, Squires finally got loose and took a few steps away from his opponent. That’s when the official awarded Lawrence with the point, giving the Section II wrestler the 1-0 lead.
Squires had a take down to start the second period but Lawrence was able to come away with a reversal for a 3-0 lead. The Duanesburg wrestler held that lead entering the final two minutes of the match.
Late in the period, Lawrence – who had already been assessed the stalling warning in an earlier period – was dinged for another stalling call to give the Purple Tornado wrestler a point.
With the score now at 3-1 and 15 seconds left in the match, Lawrence was called for stalling again. Since Squires’ opponent was on top, the clock was supposed to stop and the wrestlers were due to start back in the middle.
However, action continued. Hagenbuch went to discuss with the official and the protest was correct. Adding 15 seconds back on the clock, Squires needed to at least escape out of the bottom to score the escape point and tie the match to send it into over time.
Unfortunately, the Norwich junior was unable and fell in the championship match by a 3-2 decision.
“I feel Mike’s pain right now,” said Hagenbuch later in the evening. “He’s worked really hard all year and his whole career for this. We really thought this was the year to win the state title. We had a good game plan going in and we stuck to it. It was there but just didn’t work our way. I’m really proud of him. He’s number two in the state, there is no reason for him to hang his head.”
“You gotta be 10 points better than the ref,” Squires said, restating a college coach’s famous quote. “It was my fault for letting it come down to a call at the end. I wasn’t 10 points better tonight.”
