John Glenn (Elwood) and
Spencerport are seeded into opposite ends of the bracket, setting up a possible championship-round rematch this weekend in New York's biggest dual-meet wrestling tournament of the season.
John Glenn beat Spencerport 37-10 in the 2010 final of the Union-Endicott Duals, and the squads again highlight a 15-school field confirmed for the annual event this Saturday and Sunday. They join
Shenendehowa (Clifton Park) and
St. Anthony's (Melville) as top seeds in their respective pools for round-robin competition on the opening day.
The four pool winners advance to the single-elimination championship bracket the following day.
Spencerport was the three-time defending champion before losing last season's title match to John Glenn. The Rangers find themselves with the most difficult opening-day assignment among the top seeds as they are pitted against perennial power
Brentwood in the final Saturday match.
The pools are set up as follows:
A – John Glenn,
MacArthur (Levittown),
Union-Endicott,
Brockport.
B – Shenendehowa,
Mahopac,
Chenango Forks (Binghamton).
C – Spencerport, Brentwood,
Long Beach,
John Jay (Cross River).
D – St. Anthony's,
Bodley (Fulton),
Minisink Valley (Slate Hill),
Sayville.
New York does not conduct a dual-meet state championship at the end of the season, so the U-E Duals have traditionally carried enormous weight in final rankings from the state sportswriters association.
As an aside, the growing popularity of dual-meet tournaments has changed the way people perceive records for individuals and teams over the years. As recently as 20 years ago, wrestlers rarely reached the New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament finals in March with more than 35 to 40 matches under their belts. Now, they contest seven or eight matches in a single weekend (instead of three or four from a traditional individual tournament) and often show up at states having already competed 50 times.
And
Indian River (Philadelphia) coach James Call, in just his 14th season, eclipsed 200 career victories late last week when his team went 9-0 to sweep the Mountain Duals at Dolgeville.
ODDS AND ENDS*
Suffern edged West Genesee 3-1 in the final of Massena's hockey tournament. MVP
Jake Jaeger scored twice in the second period to wipe out a 1-0 deficit against the defending state champs, and
Tyler Stark finished with 11 saves. Suffern lost to West Genesee in last season's state Division I semifinals but has beaten the Wildcats twice this season by 3-1.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at johnschianosports@gmail.com.