The Suffolk County delegation matched the 1963 performance of Section VIII with its victories in the finals. Buoyed by solid showing from its county champions and 10 wild-card entries, Section XI scored 280½ points and eclipsed the 2007 record of Section V by six points.
Rocky Point's terrific trio of seniors, Steve Dutton at 140 pounds, Anthony Volpe at 160 and Billy Coggins at 171, all earned Division I crowns. Huntington doubled up with Nigel McNeil (112) and Damon McQueen (119) and would have had a triple crown of its own had Volpe not decisioned Louis Puca in the 160 final at Times Union Center.
Dutton, Nick Arujau (Syosset, 125), Andy Rodriguez (Central Islip, 145) and Kyle Colling (Pioneer, 215) all defended their championships of a year ago.
Sections IV and V controlled Division II with four individual champions apiece, and Palmyra-Macedon (junior twins Owen Scott at 152 and Craig Scott at 160) and Greene (senior three-timer Nick Wilcox at 130 and two-time winner Tyler Beckwith at 171) went home with two titles apiece. Section V placed 10 wrestlers in the finals en route to the points crown.
Beckwith was named the Division II outstanding wrestler following a pin in 36 seconds vs. Ryan Darch of Batavia to cap his career. For all the accomplishments in his past, Beckwith might like to have Tristan Rifanburg's future. The Norwich 96-pounder earned a 10-6 decision over Drew Longo of Ardley in the final to apparently become the first seventh-grader to capture a NYSPHSAA championship.
The only other 2009 champion who returned to the top step of the awards podium this weekend was Arik Robinson (Peru, 112), who picked up his third title.
Swimming: Fairport diver defends in Buffalo
Fairport's Dhruv Tyagi, a Stanford recruit, became the third Section V diver in 15 years to earn back-to-back championships in the NYSPHSAA swimming and diving championships. His score of 600.95 at Erie Community College was No. 2 in meet history and far ahead of the rest of the field.
"This was probably his best meet ever," veteran Fairport coach Mike Kennedy told the Democrat and Chronicle. "What was really cool was the margin of 92 points he won by because, at the state level, that's really impressive."
Webster's Marc Carlton (1997-2000) and Steve Segerlin (2001-03) previously gave Section V a run of seven straight championships in the event in recent years. Jack Wagner of Holy Trinity, Frankie Dyer of Shaker and Phil Aronica of Orchard Park were the top performers in the swimming events. Dyer, a senior who'll attend Notre Dame in the fall, swept the distance freestyles at the 50th annual meet for his first state crowns.
"I didn't go quite as fast as I wanted to, but I won and swam great times," Dyer told The Times Union after clocking 1:38.31 over 200 yards and 4:30.78 in the 500 to lead a list of six winners from Section II.
Senior Jake Johnson, a Georgia Tech recruit, anchored Shenendehowa to its third straight 400 free relay championship and also took NYSPHSAA honors in the individual 100 freestyle by placing second to Wagner. Aronica, competing in his fifth and final state meet before heading off to the University at Buffalo, placed first in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke.
Wagner doubled in the 200 IM and 100 freestyle. In the 200 free relay, Clarence's quartet of Andrew Barden, Charlie Rommel, Andrew Case and Adam Urschel went 1:24.54 to crush the state record of 1:25.80.
Skiing: Emotional triumphs for Honeoye Falls-Lima
Honeoye Falls-Lima athletes overcame their sorrow to score big in the NYSPHSAA skiing championships.
Cougars senior Steve Mangan defended his title in the boys 10-kilometer race and Amanda Moreland earned her first crown in the 7.5-kilometer girls race in the first day of the cross country championships at Harriet Hollister Spencer State Recreation Area two days after the death of teammate Peter Cannon, 18, following a car crash.
Cannon's siblings Matt, 26, and Emily, 23, attended the race to lend support to the HF-L team.
"Matt came and talked to us and said that the biggest honor we could give Peter was to come out here and just do our best," Cougars coach Bernie Gardner told the Democrat and Chronicle. "We should ski because that is what he would want us to do."
The following day, the Cougars’ boys and girls relay teams each fought off Queensbury to win the relay events and finish off their sweep. In the alpine competition at nearby Bristol Mountain, Taylor Burgart of HF-L won the girls combined title and Jesse Anser of Warwick pulled down the top boys honor. Each scored a sweep of the slalom and giant slalom.
Gymnastics: A repeat performance
Tappen Zee senior Jillian Hudson became the first gymnast in Section I history to win consecutive all-around championships in the NYSPHSAA gymnastics meet at Cold Spring Harbor. Hudson, who placed first in the vault, balance beam and floor exercise, compiled 37.85 points to hold off junior Nicole Radon of Hamburg Frontier (37.35) and lead Section I to its fourth team title in five years.
Hockey: Sectional champions crowned
The NYSPHSAA quarterfinals take place Saturday, and West Genesee (Division I) and Webster Thomas (II) remain right on schedule to contend in the final four March 13-14 in Utica. West Genesee blanked Baldwinsville 4-0 in the Section III Division I final for its 14th shutout of the season. Zach Lewis had a hat trick to move the Wildcats, who had three power-play goals, into the state quarterfinals against the Section X representative. Goalie Anthony Militello stopped all 12 shots and recorded the shutout.
Other Division I highlights
* Williamsville North beat Niagara-Wheatfield 2-0 in the Section VI final as sophomore Jake Rosen, the son of veteran coach Bob Rosen, fought through a sinus infection to score two first-period goals and junior goalie Parker Gahagen turned back all 21 shots.
* Willie Backer scored two goals to lead Suffern to the Section I with a 6-1 win over Lakeland/Panas at West Point. Jake Jaeger and Kevin Norwin added a goal and an assist apiece for the Mounties. In the semifinals, Robert Caffrey scored a hat trick to highlight Lakeland/Panas’ 5-4 upset of Mamaroneck, the two-time defending sectional champ.
In Division II, Thomas plowed through Victor by scoring three times in the first nine minutes and earning a 4-0 victory in the Section V final, giving the Titans a three-peat. Goalie Joe DiRose made 21 saves in his third straight postseason shutout, and Tyler Smedley put up a goal and two assists.
Other Division II highlights
* Queensbury captured its fourth-straight Section II championship with a 4-2 upset of Bethlehem at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The Spartans recorded the first 10 shots on goal, the last Anthony Langevin's goal at 8:33 of the first period. Brian Frederick's goal 1:19 later made it a 2-0 lead.
* Amherst, which began the season on a streak of 19 straight losing seasons, continued its unlikely run in Section VI with a 3-2 win vs. cross-town rival Sweet Home. T.J. Kaszubski had a goal and an assist for the Tigers (12-9-2), who beat the Nos. 1, 2 and 5 seeds in sectionals.
Basketball highlights and heroes
* Junior guard Corey Edwards' baseline floater sealed Christ The King's 66-61 victory over Bishop Loughlin, giving the Royals their second straight Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan boys championship. Sophomore Omar Calhoun (game-high 23 points) and Edwards (14 points) led the way for CTK.
* Ogdensburg's run of seven straight Section X Class B championships ended with a 69-41 loss to Potsdam in the title game. Potsdam shot 28-for-56, led by 19 points from Scott Bartenstein and 17 from Chris Whispell. In the Class D final, Chateaugay made it five straight championships with a 50-42 win over Edwards-Knox. Alex Stalter finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four steals for Chateaugay.
* Niagara Falls’ string of 20-win seasons has ended at nine after the Wolverines (15-5) lost to Clarence in the Section VI Class AA quarterfinals..Niagara Falls is 218-23 in 10 seasons since being formed by the merger of two district high schools.
* A triple-double by Mike Sugamosto carried Syracuse Bishop Grimes past Skaneateles 70-66 in double overtime in the Section III Class B semifinals. The junior forward finished with 23 points, 17 rebounds and 10 blocked shots. His 3-pointer with nine seconds left in the first overtime tied the score at 60.
* West Canada (21-0), the state’s No. 1 Class C team, edged Onondaga 59-57 behind a career-high 40 points from all-state forward Jared Suderly.
* East Aurora eliminated Eden 75-74 in overtime in Section VI Class B-1 girls action despite making only 15 of 41 free throws. The Blue Devils forced 32 turnovers and got 18 points from Shelby Ramsdell to help offset 23 points by Hailee Herc and 19 boards by Hannah Herc.
* Ashley Zahn ended her senior season with a 23-point outing for Canandaigua to complete her career with 2,399 points, fourth in Rochester-area history. The Braves fell to Rochester Mercy 54-39 in the Section V Class AA semifinals.
* A 58-18 drubbing of Attica was the 300th career win for Livonia girls coach Karen Schuster.
* Pal-Mac coach Chip Tatro’s final game before retirement was a 68-63 loss to Rochester Charlotte in the Section V tournament, leaving him at 399 career triumphs.
* Shenendehowa (Clifton Park)'s Ken Strube collected career victory No. 547 in the girls team's 58-22 win over Troy, making him the winningest basketball coach in Section II history. The 2008 New York State Basketball Hall of Fame inductee moved past George Mardigan, the former Watervliet boys coach.
* Notre Dame (Batavia) beat Bolivar-Richburg in the Section V boys quarterfinals for Mike Rapone’s 545th win, pushing him into a tie with Ed Nietopski for the area's all-time record.
Odds and ends
* The Section VI indoor track meet experienced a glitch at SUNY Fredonia when officials accidentally signaled the bell lap one lap early in the girls 3,000-meter run. It caused all the runners to stop a lap short, though coaches for three runners encouraged their girls to run one more lap. But organizers called the race final minus the lap. Lake Shore senior Kim Vona and North Tonawanda freshman Madison Wawrzynek advanced to the state meet next weekend at Cornell University.
* Brentwood senior midfielder Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Newsday's Long Island boys soccer player of the year, has committed to play at UConn, coached by 1978 Brentwood graduate Ray Reid.
* Don DeBadts, 72, a member of the New York State Wrestling Hall of Fame and former Section V coordinator, has been hospitalized since suffering a stroke Jan. 17.
* Richfield Springs intends to leave Section III and the Center State Conference in favor of membership in Section IV and the Tri-Valley League. The Indians are also dropping their football program.
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
