By John Schiano
MaxPreps.com
Alex Ekstrom could have headed home after the semifinals last weekend with his nearly flawless record intact, and people would have understood.
Sure, there would have been many disappointed fans at the Section V wrestling finals at Rochester Institute of Technology, but the knowledgeable ones would have understood that he was nursing a sore knee. That alone qualifies as an obstacle in such a demanding sport, but to have to face Ian Paddock for the championship made the challenge all the more daunting.
“You’re always going to learn something from the match,” said Ekstrom, a Palmyra-Macedon senior who’ll attend Oklahoma in the fall. “I thought about not wrestling, but there’s no benefit from that.”
Paddock, a Warsaw senior bound for Ohio State, scored a second-period takedown and mostly rode out his rival in the third period for a 5-0 decision that served as a tease for this weekend’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships in Albany. Though there are a record 26 past champions in the field, it’s likely that these two three-time state champions will meet again in the Division II tournament in what will certainly be the state’s most closely watched and eagerly anticipating match of the season if not the decade.
Though Paddock (50-0) put on a dominating show in the Section V final, Ekstom (46-2) should be a little healthier for the rematch. On the other hand, Paddock didn’t get the chance to roll out his full arsenal. Watching a relentless technician wrestle a conservative third period of a title match is a little bit like watching David Letterman without the nightly top 10 list.
“There are always some other things you can do,” Paddock said. “I didn’t get a chance to do much on top because I was just trying to ride it out. But also just wrestling on your feet you find out some other things you can do. So there’ll be some other things I know I can put in the final. I don’t want to do something that can be risky but now I have a little better idea of what can work against him.”
Though he’s phenomenally strong and a sound defensive wrestler, Paddock is at his best when he’s attacking. And his aggressive nature on the mat is how we’ve arrived at a scenario in which just one of the two young stars can join Troy Nickerson (five titles for Chenango Forks, 2001-05), Jesse Jantzen (four for Shoreham-Wading River, 1997-2000) and J.P. O’Connor (four for Oxford, 2003-06) as the only New Yorkers to win more than three championships in the 47 years of the tournament.
Paddock (264-6 record and last year’s Division II most outstanding wrestler) could have made weight and defended at 130 pounds this season, but he opted from the start of the season to move up because his brother Burke was a candidate to make the state team right up until last weekend.
Not that he was going to run away from a challenge, but Ekstom (232-19 career record) couldn’t simply go up a class. Two-time state titlist Mike Nevinger of Letchworth isn’t even the prohibitive favorite in Division II at 140 pounds because Kyle Dake moved up two classes after losing to Paddock for the 2008 championship in Rochester and merely scored four first-period pins last weekend in the Section IV meet.
“Even at 140 it was going to be a tough weight class for someone,” Paddock said.
Here are some of the names and storylines to follow at the Times Union Arena on Friday and Saturday:
Division I
Two-time champion and reigning Division I Most Outstanding Wrestler award recipient Austin Meys of Shenendehowa has moved up from 171 to 189 pounds as he caps a career that began with the 103-pound championship in 2005. With a 41-0 record this season and 259-8 mark for his career, he’ll be the most closely watched Section II competitor for the local crowd.
In what’s believed to be a first for New York, twin brothers Max and Mike Soria of Kings Park are entered in the same weight class, and both are regarded as contenders at 96 pounds.
How tough is the 112-pound bracket? There are two returning state champs competing – Wayne sophomore Bob Dierna (up from 96 pounds) and Hauppauge junior Ken Collado (103), and neither is necessarily the favorite because of the presence of undefeated Sean Kempf (39-0) of MacArthur.
Senior Jamie Franco of Monroe-Woodbury will be defending his 125-pound crown against Syosset junior Nick Arujau (35-0), who won at 112 pounds in 2008. And Arujau may just be auditioning for a future rumble with Cody Ruggirello of Valley Central in 2010. Ruggirello won in 2007, was second at 119 last year and competes at 130 this season.
Two-time state champion Paul Liguori (34-2) of Wantagh, who was third at 125 as a junior, leads the 135 field alongside defending champ Andrew Lenzi from Fordham Prep.
Zach Clemente of LaSalle Institute, who was stellar en route to the 140 crown as a junior, is expected to battle Spencerport junior Paul Morabito, who carries an unofficial title of the best Section V wrestler without a state championship (yet), for the 145 trophy.
Something will have to give at 152 pounds, where Wantagh senior John Greisheimer carries an 83-match winning streak into his bid for a second title but Josh Veltre of Greece Olympia has gone 56-0 as a senior.
Division II
Phoenix’s Kyle Crisafulli won at 96 pounds two years ago, placed second at 103 as a sophomore and heads up the 112 field this weekend. But Joe Smaldone of Geneva was the 112 runner-up last year, and Kyle McGregor of Tonawanda and Ken Eaton of Adirondack are coming off fourth and fifth place, respectively, at 103 last year in Rochester.
The 119 field is even more crowded with place-winners. Palmyra-Macedon’s Tyler Marlow won at 103 in 2007 and Holley freshman Quinton Murphy took that class last year. Whitehall’s Curt Thompson (fourth), North Salem’s Ryan Osleeb (fifth) and Danny Gormley of Bainbridge-Guilford/Afton (sixth) made it onto the 112 awards podium last year.
At 152, Antonio Doldo of Watertown Immaculate Heart goes for his second championship (145 last year) against Fredonia’s Ken Betts, who won at 135 in 2007 and then lost to Doldo for the title in Rochester.
Defending 171 winner Cody Hutcheson of Bath got taken down by Luke Pariso of Attica in the Section V final last weekend and also may have a rematch looming with unbeaten 2008 finalist Tyler Beckwith from Greene.
Basketball: Big name scratched from record book
Kendall senior Josh Laureano capped a spectacular night with an off-balance three-pointer at the buzzer in the second overtime to carry his team to a 77-74 win over Cuba-Rushford in the Section V boys tournament. Laureano finished with a school-record 51 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. He was 17-for-19 from the field, including four three-pointers, and made 13 of 14 free throws.
His outburst broke the Kendall scoring record of Roosevelt Bouie, who went on to a stellar career at Syracuse University as Jim Boeheim’s first bonafide big man in the 1970s.
In girls action, Liz McGinley of Canastota scored eight points and had 15 rebounds during a 54-25 girls victory over Hannibal, making her the first player in school history to compile 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Alicia Hibbard paced the winners with 23 points.
Football: Uncertainty at Bishop Maginn
Joe Grasso has been the football coach at Bishop Maginn High School since 1977 and the principal there since 1984, but his future is in doubt after being offered the position of associate principal by Superintendent Sister Jane Herb.
"We could have worked together on it but the path that was taken is not one I was agreeable to," Grasso told WRGB-TV. "It's a slap in the face in my view."
Grasso said it was left to him to inform the school board of his potential demotion, although the Rev. Michael Hogan, president of the board, confirmed Herb has sole responsibility to hire and fire staff.
Grasso is second among active Section II coaches in wins with 181.
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.
