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Here's a blow-by-blow for the final match of the night for the Railroaders, Dave Richer against Zach Diekel for third place in the 171 weight division. Before it begins though, let me give some props to Bob Diekel. Before Ty White's match, Brendan Gollup came to him from the mat next to him and was scared because his coaches were no where to be found. Bob quickly called for his brother Paul, who helped Terry White coach Ty in his match while Bob sat in Gollups' corner. Something that he didn't have to do, but was a great show of sportsmanship and respect for the fellow wrestlers of Section II. And now we begin with the consolation final. First period - Richer gets a takedown with 40 seconds to go in first period. Richer rides out with a 2-0 lead. Second - Zach defers, Richer goes down. Richer gets an escape for 3-0. Diekel gets two for the takedown for 3-2. Richer gets two for a reversal, and then gets three back points for 8-2. richer comes close to getting the pin but the buzzer saves Zach. Richer leads 11-2. Third period - Zach goes neutral, looking for a pin, basically. Diekel gets the takedown, but Richer gets his back off the floor before Zach can get back points. Richer gets a reversal for 13-4. Richer ends the period with three back points to win third place by the score of 16-4. Zach finishes as the fourth place finisher with a record of 39-7.
Zach Diekel was immediately followed by Ty White, so here are the results: Zach Diekel vs. Cody Reed. The sides remained scoreless through the first period, with Zach getting a reversal in the second to make the score 2-0. Reed scored an escape before the end of the second, but there would be no scoring in the third and Diekel advanced to the consolation finals to face unranked Dave Richer, who has cruised through the second day of the tourney, even beating defending 171 state champion Cody Hutcheson. Consolation fifth place match: Ty White vs. Kevin Strong In the second period, White got a takedown for a 2-0 lead, but Strong got the reversal to make the score 2-1 heading into the final period. In the third, Strong gave White an escape for a 3-1 lead, but then made the most of going neutral in the final 10 seconds, scoring a takedown and two backpoints to finish out a 5-3 win. White finished the event in sixth place and ended the season with a record of 39-8.
In a rematch of the first round, Jared Crast took revenge as he pinned Ty White 1:03 into the second period. The duo had a good match in the first period, with the two grappling for position just before the end of teh period. Crast was able to score a reversal about 45 seconds into the second and held it for the pin about 15 seconds later. White will wrestle for fifth place in teh consolation finals, I will let you know his opponent when I do the results of the Zach Diekel vs. Cody Reed match.
Here is a recap of the matchup in the wrestlebacks between Brian Piarulli (40-2 sixth seed) and Zach Diekel (37-6 eighth seed): First period - no scoring, Diekel goes to the down position to start the second. second period - Zach scores a reverse to give him a 2-0 lead heading into the third period. Third period - Piarullu starts on the bottom and records a reversal to tie the score at 2-2. Diekel is able to get the point for an escape and then scores a quick takedown for a 5-2 lead. Piarulli was able to get a reversal as time expired in the match, but was unable to get all the way back as Zach scored the 5-2 victory. In the consolation semis, Zach will face second-seeded Cody Reed, who fell 5-2 to state finalist Vinny Gallo (that name ring a bell). Gallo will face Tyler Beckwith in the finals, who looked unstoppable in recording his third fall of the tournament, this one of the technical variety over the man who beat him in last years championship game. The only wrestler that Beckwith has not beaten by a fall is - Zach Diekel (it was a 11-1 major decision).
Here is a recap of the state semifinal 103 match between Colton Dalberth (42-0 eighth seed) and Ty White (39-5 fourth seed): first period - After trying for position and a battle between the two on the ground, Dalberth got two questionable takedown points as both he and White were well beyond the outer edge of the mat when the takedown was called. Dalberth was then able to get White on his back in the last three seconds of the period to score two back points and take a 4-0 lead into the second. Second period - White went neutral after Dalberth defered, but Dalberth was able to score another takedown and ride it out for a 6-0 lead at the end of the second period. The score should have been 6-1, because the ref called a stall on Dalberth and gave White the point. Must be the table was still digesting breakfast. Third period - Dalbnerth went down and got the escapoe point for 7-0. He then scored a takedown on White for 9-0. White was able to get one point for an escape (9-1), but Dalberth finished the match off with a late takedown to claim his trip to the state finals with a 11-1 major decision. White will face see a very familiar face in the consolation semifinals, as he will square off against South Jeffersons Jared Crast, who he just beat in the opening round of the state tournament by the score of 10-5.
The first day of the state wrestling tournament is now over, here is what the rest of the day had in store. Zach Diekel was unable to unseed the top ranked wrestler at 171, Tyler Beckwith. While I think that Zach was a better wrestler than Beckwith, he was the stronger of the two and any time Zach made a move that would have put anyone else on the floor, Beckwith stayed up. Diekel then moved on to the consolation bracket, where he matched up against Gouvvernoue's Carson Gates and made easy work of him, scoring a 9-0 major decision. He will face Brian Piarulli in the second round of the consolation brackets tomorrow. For Curt Thompson, though, his season is over after dropping an 8-4 decision to Tyler Marlow. Wrestling starts tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. with the semifinals, where Ty White will look to make the finals against eighth seed and undefeated Colton Dalberth of Marion. Wreslteback happen throughout the day, and the championship matches start at 6 p.m. tomorrow night. Good night, and good luck to Ty and Zach, and congratulations to Curt Thompson for another great season on the mats.
This was not a matter of who won the game, but who lost it. The girls team was leading by as much as eight points against Canajoharie tonight, but were not able to keep the leading, losing 43-42 to the Lady Cougars. The Railroaders were not able to stand up to the Canjo pressure, and they were outscored 16-12 in the final quarter. In terms of a fatigue factor, it was canceleed out because Canjo used only one sub the entire night. While it was a tough night for the girls, it was a big night for Brittany St. Clair, who recorded the seldom seen quadruple double with 12 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists and 12 blocked shots (along with three steals). Katie Paddock and Mackenzie Trevellyan each had seven points, while Maria McKee and Carly Nichols each scored six. The team ended the season at 18-4.
The water break at the corner of Routes 22 and 4 will now cause a town-wide shut down of the water system which could last for several hours, according to ken Bartholomew. The shut down will take place at around 4:10 p.m. The shut-down is the result of a break in the line which may have resulted from a blow out due to too much air in the line, since the lines were completely emptied due to the problems at the filtration plant on Wednesday. When more is known, I'll have it here.
Here is a recap of the quarterfinal match between fifth seed derek Pfluger and fourth seed Curt Thompson at 119: First period - Pfluger gets a takedown with about 20 seconds left to make the score 2-0 after one. Second period - Pfluger gets an early escape for 3-0. Pfluger gets a takedown and back points for a 7-0 lead with 1:10 in the second. Third period - Curt chooses neutral. Pfluger scores a takedown for 9-0. Thompson gets a reverse and two for back points with about a minute to go for 9-4. Curt could not get the fall, and dropped the 9-4 match. I will have more on Thompson tomorrow morning, as I am going to the girls game which will take place during wrestle-backs. The next match-up will be Zach Diekel and Tyler Beckwith in a little bit.
The Web crashed as I was writing the blog entry, but I will say that Ty scored a 10-6 win against Lance Brown, making it two South Jefferson wrestlers to fall at the hands of Ty in one day. Ty will next face the eighth seed Colton Dalberth, who beat top-seeded Colton Perry 3-0 in the quarterfinals. The good news, Dalberth is the eighth seed. The bad news, he is 42-0, but Ty can pick up his 40th win of the season tomorrow - oh, and a trip to the state finals. Curt's up next, be back in a second.
Ken Bartholomew just reported to me that the west side of the village will be without water while crews try to repair the break on the corner of Routes 22 and 4. He said that they will minimize the problem as much as possible, but there will be no other way to repair the break other than to turn off the water to the west side of the village. When he calls to let me know the water is back on, I will post it here.
The village has water all over now, but there was one leak that could be the result of air in the pipes. The leak occured near the intersection of routes 4 and 22, and the village crews are hopeful that they will be able to make a full repair of the system without disrupting supply to anyone. I t all depends on what they find as they go along, and according to Ken Bartholomew, work will be going on for a little while longer. Ken also said that he was happy that there has only been one leak reported so far since there was so much water in the system. The boil water order is in effect, and could be there through Sunday depending on tests and water flow.
Zach Diekel recorded a pin with 45 seconds left in the second period to advance to the 171 quarterfinals against Ivan Carlson. His reward - a match-up against top-ranked and undefeated Tyler Beckwith, who took less than one minute to pin his very over-anxious opponent. Qurters start immediately following the first round, so I will be back soon with the Tyrell White Lance Brown match report for a trip to tomorrow's semi-finals.
Here is what happened in Curt's first round match: First period - Curt gets a takedown in the period, no other points scored as he takes 2-0 in to the second. Second period - Thompson starts on the bottom (his choice) and scores an escape followed by a takedown. Arnell gets a late escape, and both almost record takedowns but are unsuccessful as the period ends with Curt leading 5-1. Third period - Arnell chooses top, and Thompson quickly gets an escape followed by a takedown, which he rides out through the rest of the period for the 8-1 win. Thompson will next face the fifth seed, Derek Pfluger in the quarterfinals. As for Ty White, he will face his second South Jefferson wrestler in as many rounds as he will take on Lance Brown in the quarters. It will be a while before Zach takes the floor, but i will have it when it happens.
Here is what happened in the first Whitehall match of the day. First period - White got early take down and back points to take a 4-0 lead, but Crast got a takedown later to make the score 4-2 at the end of the first. Second period - Crast cut the difference to one point with an escpae after white defered and he choose down, but White scored another takedown to make the score 6-3. White almost had back points before the whistle, but was not able to get him over. Third period - White choose neutral and scored a takedown and back points for a 10-3 lead. Crast got a reversal for a 10-5 score, but White was able to counter any move for a potential pin or back points and advance to the second round with the 10-5 win. Do not know who ty will face in the quarters yet. will put it on with Curt's results.
They're getting ready to start the state tournament, and here are the brackets that the boys will face. 103 - Ty White, as the fourth seed, will wrestle Jared Crast from South Jefferson in the first round, which will happen pretty quick. He could then face a second South Jefferson wrestler in Lance Brown, who faces Brad Mayville of Bishop Kerney. If White advances past them, he would most likely face Colton Perry in the semifinals. 119 - Curt Thompson, also the fourth seed, will face Danny Arnell from Oyster Bay in the opening round. If he advances, he will face either Derek Pfluger of Sandy Creek or Vinnie Napierski of Attica. A semifinal would most likely be against top seed Matt Peters of East Aurora. 171 - This puppy is deep, and Zach Diekel will start as the eighth seed facing Ivan Carlson of Red Hook in the first round. If he advances, he will most likely face the top seed in the division, Tyler Beckwith of Greene, who faces Leonard Dul of Mineola. I'll write after each match. Here we go.
The girls won 63-29 against Waterford this evening, and will now play Canajoharie on Friday at Maple Hill High School. The team only trailed at 2-0 and 2-1, and once Maria McKee hit a shot to put the team up 3-2, they never looked back, outscoring the Fordians 18-7, 27-7, 20-8 and 9-8 in each of the four quarters. top stats for the game: the team had 56 rebounds total, led by Brittany St. Clair's 13 and 10 each from Mackenzie Trevellyan, Katie Paddock and McKee. St. Clair also led the team with 23 points, while McKee scored 17 points, Paddock added eight points and senior Shelby Cuomo scored six in her final home game (senior Brittany Sheldrick scored a pair). St. Clair also had six assists and five blocked shots along with two steals. Trevellyan, Nea Wescott, Paddock and Paige Mason also had a pair of pilfers. As for starter Wescott and reserve Mason, the duo did their job against Fordian sharp-shooter Jackie Sorenson, holding her to four free throws in the first half and not allowing her to score from the field until two minutes to go in the third quarter. Sorenson ended up with 10 points, six of which were meaningless. The Cougars are led by Emilie Liddle, who scored 26 points in their opening round game against Mayfield and is the teams leading scorer. Sarah Blood scored 16 in the game and Mackenzie Stahler added nine. Stahler is the second leading scorer on the team, with blood third and Caitlyn Mosher fourth, all over 100-points on the season. First-look ananlysis: I don't lnoe if they are as tiny as it says they are based on the stats, which list Liddle as a 5'2" sophomore center - she has not hit a three pointer all year, and if she is a 5'2" center, then the Railroaders height is a big time advantage. If she happens to be 6'2", this could be a tough one. mosher is the three-point expert as a starter, with some long range shooting coming off the bench (she's listed as a 5'9" forward, also a sophomore). Sara Blood is a 5'6" senior forward. I'd say if Liddle is little, there's your Wescott-Mason player of the night. If she's taller, the duo will have to keep Mosher from scoring outside while Britt and Katie work on the inside. I'll be at the game at Maple Hill, since it is only 10 miles between the two sites.
The water has now been restored to at least 85-percent of the village of Whitehall, and everyone should have water service by early this evening. Also, the girls game against Waterford (still a coincidence) will be played at the Whitehall High School gymnasium at 6:30 p.m. tomight, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinal round in Maple Hill tomorrow night. In terms of the boil water order, it will remain in effect until the village is able to fully fill the water supply tanks and then conduct quality tests on two consecutive days. Ken Bartholomew believes that it will be 3-4 days for that to take place.
Here are the seedings for the three Whitehall wrestlers for Friday's state tournament. All three guys were seeded in the top eight. 103 - Ty White received the fourth seed in the state tourney, right behind Noah Valastro, who beat him in last weekend's finals. The top two seeds are Colton Perry of Windsor, who finished third last year at 96-pounds; and Arik Robinson of Peru, the 2008 champion at 96. 119 - Curt Thompson also received the fourth seed in his weight class, well ahead of Evan Borst, the man who beat him last week at the Civic Center. The top three seeds are Matt Peters of East Aurora; Quinton Murphy of Holley, who is the defending state champion at 103; and Pat Hogan of Peru. 171 - Zach Diekel will enter the state tourney as the eighth seed and will have a lot of work to do in what could be the strongest bracket of the entire event. The top four seeds are last years runner-up at 171 Tyler Beckwith; Cody Reed of Walton; Kyle Roosa of Allegany Limestone; and Brian Piarulli from IHC. The 171 defending state champion, Cody Hutcheson of Bath, is ranked sixth - the defending champ is ranked sixth, and one of the best wrestlers I have seen is ranked eighth - that's depth. I'll be on site from the word go tomorrow morning and will write after each round of the tourney.
The Section II Class C first round game between Whitehall and Waterford (still coincidental, not ironic) will be up in the air until about 1 p.m., according to athletic director Keith Redmond. Coach said that he will talk to the village at that time to see how the water situation is progressing. If they come to the conclusion that the game can be played in Whitehall, then it will tip at 6 p.m. in the high school gym. If they feel the water system will not be ready by 6 p.m., then the game will be played at Fort Ann High School with a tip time on 6:30 p.m. As soon as I hear anything, I will post it here.
The village of Whitehall was still without a full water supply as of 9 a.m. this morning, according to Ken Bartholomew. The technician who came from Cortland last night arrived about midnight and was able to quickly diagnose the problem and get the computers up and running. However, the tanks were only filled to half-way as of this morning and the village was working to get as much air as they could out of the water lines before starting the system back up completely. Bartholomew said that the main concern once the water is flowing again will be the air in the pipes situation, which could lead to blow-outs and further pipe problems, but again said that they are doing everything that they can to get as much air out of the pipes as possible. Check in throughout the day for further updates.
As a reminder, you might want to put a sign on your toilet saying do not flush for that half-awake middle of the night run. The village of Whitehall will be without a water supply for at least the rest of this evening and the early hours of Thursday due to a computer malfunction at the new water filtration plant. "Right now, we have a six million dollar brick," said Ken Bartholomew, village trustee. Then problem apparently started on Thursday when there was a glitch in the system, but designers said that there was nothing seriously wrong and believed they had made the fix. This morning, however, both computers that run the new water filtration system froze up, causing the entire system to stop. Bartholomew related that when the village called the Department of Health about the situation, they told the village to use the bypass line. The village responded that while that was a very good idea, the DOH themselves had told the village to remove the bypass line as part of the water system upgrade, thus causing the present situation. Village crews are working through the night to create a temporary bypass system, and a technician is on their way from Cortland to fix the computer system and should be here sometime this evening to start work. Due to the water problem, the Section II Class C playoff game between Whitehall and Waterford (not ironic, but coincidental) was cancelled for this evening. With the fact that the water may not be back until tomorrow, there is a chance that the game will be played either at home or in Fort Ann at 6 p.m. on Thursday, with the winner having to play the following day in Maple Hill. We will post again in the morning with the latest update on the situation.
The wrestlers who will take place in the state tournament in Albnay have been announced, and while there are no brackets as of yet, let's take a look at whose in the three weight classes that have Railroaders in them. 103 - Ty White in the second at-large birth in the field, with a record of 37-5 and coming off a Section II and state appearance last year. Other noteables in his bracket (record-wise) include: 40-0 Colton Dalbert of Marion (Section V, finished fourth at states last year at 96-lbs.), 45-4 Jared Crast of South Jefferson (III; at-large 3), 41-6 Lance Brown, also of South Jefferson (how did one school get two kids in at the same weight class???), 39-5 Kevin Strong of Frewburg (VI), 38-5 Austin Keough of Warsaw (V, top rated at-large), 33-0 Arik Robinson of Peru (my home Section VII and defending state champion at 96-lbs.), 33-2 Colton Perry of Windsor (IV, finished third last year at 96-lbs.) and 31-2 Brad Mayville of Bishop Kerney (V). 119 - Curt Thompson also enters the tournament as the second at-large qualifier with a record of 39-6 and is in a bracket with plenty of state championship experience, he hmself finishing fourth last year at 112-lbs. Other top qualifiers include 51-7 Vinnie Napierski of Attica (V, third at-large qualifier), 46-1 Matt Peters of East Aurora (VI), 45-5 Derek Pfluger of Sandy Creek (III, third place finisher last year at 103), 43-1 Quinton Murphy of Holley (V, defending state champion at 103), 43-3 Tyler Marlow of Pal-Mac (V, top ranked at-large and the man who beat Thompson last year for third place at 112), 39-4 Patrick Hogan of Peru (VII), 35-8 Evan Borst (II, perhaps you've heard of him), 33-1 Danny Arnell of Oyster Bay High (VIII) and 31-2 Danny Gromley of Bainbridge - Guilford/Afton (IV, finish sixth last year at 112). 171 - Zach Diekel enters the tournament as the Section II champion with a record of 35-5 and a very convincing win over runner-up Vinny Gallo (35-3, received final at-large bid to state tourney). however he also enters a bracket that returns the top two finishers from states last year in runner-up Tyler Beckwith of Greene (IV, 40-0 this season) and state champion Cody Hutcheson of Bath (V, 42-2 this season). Other record noteables include 49-4 Luke Pariso from Attica (V), 40-6 Dave Richer of Gowanda (VI, second at-large) 38-1 Brian Piarulli of IHC (III), 37-3 Cody Reed of Walton (IV, third at-large), 35-3 Kyle Roosa of Allegany Limestone (VI), 35-7 Ivan Carlson of Red Hook (IX) and 32-8 Carson Gates of Gouveneur (X). As soon as we know the draws, I will post them here. I will also be on after I get home from the girls basketball game with fresh coverage from their Section II Class C opening round game against Waterford.
The Whitehall Railroaders are the Section II Division II champions after the 141-123 team point win over Duanesburg. However, the individual finals did not go well for the team. Here is the recap: 103 - Ty White got a takedown 1:20 into the first period, with Valastro recording a reversal 15 seconds later. Valastro almost got back points at the end of the first, but it ended 2-2. White started the second quarter in the down position and stayed there throughout the period, keeping the score 2-2. In the third, Valastro started down and was given a point when White chose neutral. Valastro then got a takedown 10 seconds into the quarter to give him a 5-2 lead. White got the escape with 57 seconds left in the period to cut the lead to 5-3, and then scored a takedown with 10 seconds left that tied the score. However, Valastro was awarded a reversal and took a 7-5 lead that held to down White. 119 - In the third classic matchup of the season, Curt Thompson and Evan Borst again went through the first period with no score. In the second period, Curt started in the down position and recorded a reversal for a 2-0 lead with :50 remaining in the period. Evan got an escape with 20 seconds remaining, making the score 2-1 heading into the final period. Evan almost scored a reverse on Thompson with about 55 seconds remaining in that period, but Curt was claaed for a hand lock with 20 seconds reamining to tie the score at 2-2. Borst then scored a reversal with less than 10 seconds left, giving him the 4-2 win and pulling his team to within seven points of the Railroaders. However, the next two Duanesburg wrestlers could not pick up wins, and the team title was clinched. Borst also was named Most Outstanding Wrestler in Division II. 171 - The most anticipated matchup of the night was a laugher, with Zach Diekel scoring points left and right against Vinny Gallo. Diekel started with an escape at the 1:20 mark of the second period. He then scored a takedown with 35 seconds left in the period. Zach then gave up a point to start the third period in the neutral position, and then went to work scoring a takedown and six back points to finish off an 11-0 win and qualify for Albany next weekend. While Diekel is going to Albany for sure, many think that he will be joined by Thompson, who will receive a wild card bid. Coach Diekel is also hoping for bids to be awarded to White, John Diekel and Travis Beayon. "They all wrestle tough and deserve tp go," he said. Once again, congrats to the Railroaders.
It's staying close til the end, here is what happened in the consy's 112 - John Diekel was more dominate in the second time around against Abby Roth, scoring a 7-0 win. Here's a my best effort blow-by-blow of his match for third against Zach Winney - - Diekel scores a takedown 20 seconds in; gets the pin 10 seconds later to finish in third place with a record of 33-11. 130 - Eric Ripley was sent to the fifth place match after a tough match against Aaron Dudley. Once again, it was a situation where there was no score for two periods and then a move won it late - unfortunately for the other team. Blow by blow of fifth place match against Chris Holt - - (This may be hard, Grant and Rip are going at the same time - I'm writing as we go then will post all at once) No score in first, Ripley chooses down after opponent defers; Holt rides Ripley out for entire period, chooses down to start third; Holt gets reversal at 1:20 to get a 2-0 lead; Ripley gets an escape point with 13 left; this is too crazy, as Gebo has his man down, Ripley records a fall and rides out for the fifth place win and finishes at 29-9. 152 - Again, a tight match that was decided late, Nate LaGoy fell to the kid with the long last name from Johnstown. LaGoy then wrestled in the fifth place match. Blow by blow of fifth place match against Alberto Beltran - - LaGoy scores two points for a fall seven seconds in; gets two back points before Beltran gets an escape point for 4-1; Beltran defers, LaGoy chooses down to start second; LaGoy gets two points for reversal 30 seconds in for 6-1; Beltran gets an escape with 50 seconds to go for 6-2; A near fall for Beltran is ruled out oif bounds; Beltran gets his fall with nine seconds left for 6-4 as the period ends; Beltran chooses neutral to start final period; Beltran ties things up with a takledown with 1:08 to go in third; LaGoy gets an escape with 55 left for 7-6; LaGoy gets fall with 40 seconds left for 9-6; Adds three back points with 20 seconds left for 12-6; rides out to finish in fifth place with a season record of 35-8. 160 - Travis Beayon scored a fall in the second period against Kyle mcKeighan to advance to the consolation championship. Blow by blow of third consolation final against David Kohls - - Beayon scores a takedown 30 seconds in, gets the pin 32 seconds into the round to finish in third place and end the season with a record of 36-8. 215 - Grant Gebo had a great match against Granville's Walter Foster, taking a close decision against him with a late takedown. Blow by blow of consolation championship match against Luke Albrecht - - (see above for degree of difficulty) No score in the first, Grant chooses down to start second; Gebo gets an early escape to start second 1-0; No more scoring in second, Albrecht chooses down to start third; escape for Albrecht a minute in ties score at 1-1; Gebo gets fall with 20 seconds left, wins the match and third place with a season record of 30-7. That was a very exciting 30 seconds to watch. Overall, the Railroaders went 3-2 in the semis, with Duanesburg (in the lead at the start of the round) going 1-2 and Johnstown going 3-1 in the round. In the final consolation round, Whitehall went a perfect 5-0 (three thirds, two fifths), while Duanesburg went 3-0 (one third, two fifths) and Johnstown went 2-2 (one third, two fourths, one fifth). Whitehall should be in the lead heading into the championship round with their best three (White, Thompson and Zach Diekel) set to defend their spot in the state tournament. Johnstown has a pair of finalst, while Duanesburg has four, with one match-up being the Thompson-Borst showdown.
The state qualifier semifinals are done, and it was mixed results for the Railroaders in the semis and consolation rounds. Here we go: 96 - Al Aubin wrestled scoreless with John Mazza in the consolation quarterfinals, but it was Mazza who scored the takedown and back points to get the win and advance. Aubin went 2-2 at the tournament to finish his season at 17-16. 103 - Ty White gave up some points, but broke out of the hold of Mike McNally in the third period to nail an impressive pin and make it to the finals. With a record of 37-4, he will face second seed Noah Valastro (27-4) for the right to go to Albany. 112 - John Diekel was able to defeat Kyle Mulcahy, and will get another shot at defeating Warrensburg's Abby Roth in the consolation semifinals. 119 - Curt Thompson pinned Kyle Myers with 1:19 to go in the second period, and set up the rematch of the tournament with Thomspon at 39-5 facing 34-8 Evan Borst in the championship round. In two matches, Thompson holds a 5-2 advantage in points. 130 - In a Class D rematch, Randy White took his revenge on Ripley, scoring a 12-3 win and advancing to the finals. Ripley will face Aaron Dudley in the consolation semifinals. 152 - Nate LaGoy won his match last night and followed that up with a 15-5 win over Greg Roth to advance to the consy semis to face Johnstown's Jake (I will not even try to spell it). This is a big match as the two schools are neck-and-neck for the team title. 160 - In a match similar to Aubin's, Travis Beayon wrestled hard for two periods against Dustin Hallock, but Hallock was able to win the third period and the match. Beayon will face Kyle McKeighan in the consy semis. 171 - Perhaps the two best wrestlers in the tournament will meet in this final, as Vinny Gallo did his part and Zach Diekel earned his chance to face Gallo with a 10-4 decision. Diekel's record now stands at 34-5, while gallo sits at 35-2. 215 - Greg Mollnow at 36-1 on the season denied Grant Gebo a shot at Logan Rock in the championships, beating Gebo with a big third period. Gebo will face Granville's Walter Foster in the consolation semis. The battle for first: Whitehall and Johnstown both had six wrestlers in the semifinals, with Whitehall advancing three and Johnstown only advancing two (Duanesburg may have gotten back into the mix with three or four in the finals). Whitehall has three in the finals and five still alive in the consolation bracket, so the next two consolation rounds will go a long way to telling who will be in the lead points-wise as the championship round starts. I'll write again between consolation finals and the championship round.
The Whitehall wrestlers had a decent first day at the Section II state qualifier, with six of the nine advancing to the semi-finals, which start at 10 a.m. Saturday. Here's what went down today: 96 - Al Aubin (18-16) went 2-1 on the day and wrestled into the consolation quarterfinals. Aubin took a 3-0 decision against Kyler Harrington in the opening round before being pinned 38 seconds into the match by top seed Brendan Goldup. He then opened the consolation round with a majority over Gus McCauliffe. 103 - Smooth sailing for Ty White (36-4), who recorded a fall in the quarterfinals against Kiernan Martin. He will face 30-9 Mike McNally in the semi-finals with Kody Shaw (32-7) and Noah Valastro (27-4) in the other half. 112 - This is where the upset of the day happened for the Railroaders, as John Diekel (30-11) dropped a 9-8 decision to Tyler Pavlin in the quarterfinals. John was clearly upset at his performance and took it out on Hadley-Luzerne/Lake George's Joe Plante in the consolation round with a quick pin. 119 - Curt Thompson (38-5) won an 8-2 decision against Donovan Santisieban in the quarterfinals and will face 33-8 Kyle Myers in the semis. Evan Borst (33-8) will face Donny Ratliff (27-13) in the other. 130 - Eric Ripley (28-7) opened his day with a win by fall against Dakota Sims in the opening round. Ripley then scored a 6-5 decision over George Featherstonghaug in the quarters. Ripley's reward will be a re-match of the Class D finals against Randy White (34-8) in the semis. Top seed Mark Gillen (13-0) will face Chris Holt (32-3) in the other semi. 152 - Nate LaGoy (32-7) lost for the second time in as many weeks against Jerry Clark in the quarterfinal round. I do not know what happened in the consolation round, but will let you know first thing in the morning. 160 - Travis Beayon (34-7) looked like a man possessed with a win by fall against Tony Cook. He will face 35-2 Dustin Hallock in the semifinals, with the other bracket featuring top seed Taylor Robichaud (31-3) facing Jim Sheedy (30-9). 171 - Zach Diekel (33-5) won his quarterfinal match against Clint Dumoulin, and will face 33-3 Josh Stone in the semis. Top seed Vinny Gallo (34-2) will face Adam Biron (28-6) on the top half of the bracket. If both Diekel and Gallo advance, expect fireworks in the championship match. 215 - Grant Gebo (29-6) took a decision in his quarterfinal match against Will Schouten, and will face 36-1 Greg Mollnow in the semi finals. Once again, if Gebo can get past the next round, he will most likely get his chance at redemption against Logan Rock, 34-2, who will face 22-15 Luke Albrecht in the semis. I'll be there early tomorrow for all of the action. Six in the finals and I would guess the other three still alive in the wrestle backs. Also, if not in the lead, Whitehall is close to the overall team points lead.
Alright, so nine members of the Whitehall varsity wrestling team have a shot at states, with a 10th rumored to also get in as an alternate on Friday. Here's where they stand: At 96, Al Aubin is not one of the top four seeds in the event, while the kid who beat him, Curt Rowley of Duanesburg, is ranked third. Aubin said that his goal is to get down there and place, which would be excellent for a first-year varsity wrestler. 103: Ty White is the top seed in the bracket, with Noah Valastro from Hudson Falls being the second seed. White beat Valastro 7-4 when the two teams met earlier this year. 112: John Diekel goes into the the tournament as the No. 2 seed behind Joey Perisco of Ravena. This bracket is an every-other between north and south, with Warrensburg's Abby Roth, who Diekel beat in the D title match, ranked as the fourth seed. 119: Curt Thompson is the one seed and must face the challenge of beating the same man three times in order to get to the state tournament, where he would be one of the favorites to capture a title. Duanesburg's Evan Borst is the two seed, and in their two matches Thompson won both by a combined score of 5-2, a score that would be considered low for a single match. Needless to say, this could be the match of the tournament. 130: Eric Ripley will have to get past Johnstown's Mark Guillen, according to the seeds. Ripley is ranked second in the bracket and will be wrestling for his career as a senior captain on the team. 160: Travis Beayon will hit the Civic Center mats as the two seed, behind Hoosick Falls' Taylor Robichaud in the bracket. 171: I will admit that I do not know the rest of Section II, but I do know this - Zach Diekel is a great wrestler. Thus my surprise when I saw that he was the two seed behind Vinny Gallo of Schalmont. This could be another great match-up, then. 215: Grant Gebo will go into the Civic Center as the third seed with only one thing on his mind - another shot at Warrensburg's Logan Rock, the top seed in the bracket and the consensus pick to make it to the Times Union Center at 215. This would be a huge upset in everyone's mind - except Grant's. So there you have it. We will let you know anything about the alternates (Jake Rovelli, Matt Evans, Brett Christian and Troy Rollins) as soon as we know anything for certain (as I said, it is rumored that one of them is in, but since I do not know for sure, I am not going to say anything). Good luck, boys.
The pairings have been announced for the Section II Class C girls basketball tournament, and the Whitehall Lady Railroaders will be facing one of the best scoring guards in Section II when they open play at home as the fourth seed against the 13th seeded Waterford Fordians next Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. The Lady Fordians (7-11 according to the Times Union Web site) are led by junior guard Jackie Sorenson, who has put up some big games this season, scoring 23 points against Germantown, 22 points against Hawthorne Valley (twice), New Lebanon and Doane Stuart --- ---Alright, time for a tangent. When I went to last years boys sectionals and saw the program, I laughed for 20 minutes straight when I saw the page with Doane Stuart on it. Their nickname is the Thunder Chicken? (Does this mean that there is only one Thunder Chicken in the world since the name is not plural) That has officially replaced the South Jordan High Beetdiggers as the best nickname ever! I can just picture them coming out to play in their gym (which I hope is called the Thunder Coupe), busting through the giant paper egg that the cheerleaders are holding up (the chick-ettes, mind you) to their heavy metal theme song, "Thunder Clucked."--- --- Sorry about that, back to the preview: Sorenson also scored 20 against Berlin and Loudonville Christian. Through the 19 reported game, she has averaged 15.3 PPG and appears to do it from inside the arch, reportedly only hitting 14 three pointers all season. The other top scorers for the Fordians include junior forward Alisa Walek, who has scored 12 points against Hawthorne Valley (twice), Berlin and Heatley; junior center Lindsey Wright and junior guard Jen Heins. First glance analysis, the Fordians do not have the height to compete with the Railroaders. Their tallest player is senior center Alex Brazille - Whitehall has four of those, and they all start. What the Railroaders will need to do is contain Sorenson, which will be the primary responsibility of guards Nea Wescott and Paige Mason, who has worked her way into the rotation as the back-up defensive stopper. Getting the ball inside should not be a problem, but Whitehall should also look to get Maria McKee going. If they are going to have a long sectional run, McKee has to be able to hit the outside jumper, and a first round boost of added confidence would go a long way. Defensively, I would love to see a 32-minutes of Hades approach to the games throughout sectionals - their teenagers, they'll heal, so press from the word go and don't let up until the game is over or the route is well underway. Should the Railroaders advance, they will play the winner of the fifth seed Canajoharie against the 12th seed Mayfield, again at home in Whitehall on Friday, Feb. 27 (translation: with the expectation that the Railroaders will have at least one member of their wrestling team in Albany and Tyke's Fishing tournament on March 1, the last weekend of February could be even busier than the one we just had). Good luck, girls.
There was no half point this time around. Well, actually there was. But there were so many points in between that it didn't really matter as Whitehall captured the Section II Class D Championship on their home turf on Saturday night. I wanted to blog from the event, but there was no way to get the computer going there and Whitehall had so many grapplers going at the same time I could never get away. Heres the deal. Let's start with six individual sectional champions: Ty White (103), John Diekel (112), Curt Thompson (119), Eric Ripley (130), Travis Beayon (160) and Zach Diekel (171). Al Aubin (96) and Grant Gebo (215) were second place finishers. Nate LaGoy (152) finished in third place, rounding out the Whitehall Super-Sectional contingent at the Civic Center next week. So congrats to the wrestlers and good luck next weekend. See you at Winter Festival.
Lake George wins the League title 33-24. It wasn't a good fourth quarter.
After 3 Lake George 25, Whitehall 18 St. Cair 4 PF, Anderson 4 PF, Stover 3 PF
Well, second verse, same as the first. The girls team once again fell behind by double digits to Lake George before scoring. What is more strange this time is what happened after. The first quarter ended with an exchange of baskets and Whitehall trailing 12-4. The next two points in the game were scored at the 1:31 mark on a Katie Paddock basket. Lake George didn't score until 27 seconds lect in the half on a free throw. At halftime the score is 14-9, Lake George (that's not a typo, its 14-9). Britt has 3 fouls on her, but so does Stover and No. 22 from Lake George. The problem is, the Warriors kept the lead without Stover in the game for over five minutes. St. Clair and McKee are going to have to dominate the second half if the Railroaders stand a chance. I'll let you know when it goes final.
We are currently between Whitehall games at the Civic Center, with the boys team falling 46-31 to Johnsburg in the first game of the day here. Chris Therrien led the way with 13 points for the Railroaders, while Corey Christian had 11 rebounds in the loss. The girls team will play Lake George at about 9 p.m. tonight. The key is not to come out flat like they did the first time in January. I'll write at halftime and after the game.
Thanks to my new toy, I can now blog from pretty much anywhere, including the Civic Center for tonights games. Right now I am at the boys game, with the Railroaders trailing to Johnsburg 18-11 with 5:04 to go in the first half. I'll write more at the end of this game plus pre-halftime and postgame for the girls champiohsip against Lake George. Tomorrow, I will post before and during the wrestling finals.
There are going to be a bunch of things coming up the rest of this week which will keep everyone on their toes. Tonight, you have the town board meeting set for 7 p.m. at the Pavilion. At the same time, the girls varsity basketball team will play their final regular season home game against Fort Edward with tip set for about 7:45 p.m. This will be senior night for a pair of the Lady Railroaders in guard Shelby Cuomo and forward Brittany Sheldrick. On Friday, the girls team will play Lake George for the Adirondack League title at 8:30 p.m. at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The boys team will also be at the Civic Center, with a tip time against Johnsburg set for 4 p.m. Saturday is the day-long Section II Class D wrestling championships, hosted this year by Whitehall. Weigh-ins are at 7:30 a.m., with events starting at around 9 a.m. and the championship matches set for 6 p.m. Sunday is the Bigfoot Winter Festival, with the chamber hosting a breakfast at 8 a.m. and activities running throughout the rest of the day. I will probably bring my kids with me to enjoy that event. So here's to a busy weekend, a good luck to the Whitehall sports teams, including the indoor track team, who will compete at the Section II championships this weekend.
The Whitehall girls basketball team won a nail-bitter tonight, scoring a 40-36 win over the Hartford Lady Tannagers. The team trailed at the conclusion of the first three quarters, 11-6, 20-18 and 28-26, but outscored Hartford 14-8 in the fourth. Despite being under the weather coming off a flu bug, Brittany St. Clair led her team to the title, recording her fourth triple-double of the year with 20 points (that's half of 40), 15 rebounds, 10 blocked shots, five assists, one steal, four bags of popcorn sold and escorting several people to their seats. Maria McKee added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Katie Paddock added 11 rebounds, six on the offensive glass. Overall, the Railroaders out rebounded the Tannagers 40-27 (yes, as many rebounds as points), had 10 assists to the opponents 7, and blocked 13 shots compared to three. On the other hand, Hartford held a 13-6 edge in the steals department. The win captures the Adirondack League Eastern Division title, which means a rematch with Lake George next Friday at the Civic Center. For Hartford, Miriam Nestle had 12 points and six steals, while Lydia Jones and Kaitlin Tripp each had eight rebounds and Lindsey Davis scored eight off the bench. The Railroaders now have two not-as-competitive games against Fort Ann and Fort Edward, both are at home, and the team needs to not worry about hurting feelings and start getting ready for the post-season. If that means a 60-point victory instead of a 30-point one, then that's what they need to do to make sure that they are physically and mentally ready for Lake George and the Class C tourney.
The main line between the Water Filtration Plant and the village of Whitehall has once again broke, this time just off of North Street. Jiem Rozell and the Department of Public Works employees were on site when I went through on my way home tonight. They are going to be working through the night, and once people get water back in their pipes, a boil water order is in effect for the village. I will sign on again and let you know when it is lifted. This is the second time in three weeks that this line has fractued, the first happening at the County Shed on Route 22. One other thing, I do not envy Jiem and his crew tonight. First off, the main part of their job is to fix it: roads, pipes, ditches, machinery - their the fixer-uppers. Second, I was out there taking pictures for five minutes, and my nose was about ready to fall off. It was single digits out there, and below zero when you factor in the wind. Kudos to them all.
Well, the family is back from Utah and well rested, so it’s back to the reporting gig. Overall we had a good trip. Just a couple things went wrong – being all day the first Thursday and the following Wednesday evening. On the first Thursday, we were late to Chicago-O’Hare and that led to nothing but headaches, even getting thrown off a plane that we had already boarded because the lady “guessed a connection was going to be missed.” Fun, fun. On the Wednesday, it was the revenge of the Brazilian food. Worse part was, the family went off to Olive Garden with all-you-can-eat breadsticks and I’m sitting at home getting re-acquainted with dinner from the previous night. However, it was a good trip overall. We saw the sites, went to Brett’s wedding and had a great time. Now back to reality. How ‘bout them boys. The basketball team was able to pick it up on senior night and get their first win of the season. It will be tough to get win number two against Fort Ann or Fort Edward, but they will have a very good chance to beat Johnsburg at the Civic Center next Friday. While Johnsburg is one of the top three teams in the Mountain and Valley Athletic Conference, the MVAC is probably the weakest it has been in a long, long time, which hurts to say because I am an alum of the most dominate school in the league right now in both boys and girls hoops. The girls go for the Eastern Division crown and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, they want this crown for one reason only – to make amends for their poor first quarter against Lake George in the rematch at the Civic Center in the league championship game next Friday. While some people saw it one way, the game I saw had the Railroaders as the better team for the last 20 minutes of the game. The problem was that they played the worst basketball of the season for the first 12. I will get back on tonight or tomorrow morning after the game with the coverage of what will be either a championship winning performance or the second league loss of the season.
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