By John Schiano
MaxPreps.com
When top-seeded Mike Soria beat St. Anthony's Chris Brienza and Max Soria defeated Asher Kramer of Suffern on Friday it was supposed to make state history by setting up a quarterfinal match between Kings Park's 96-pound twins at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association wrestling championships in Albany.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the mat: Max defaulted, allowing Mike to advance into the semifinals.
"We don't wrestle each other as a rule," Mike Soria told Newsday. "We work out and compete in practice every day. But we will not wrestle in a match. It would end up in a fight."
"They were supposed to wrestle three times during the season in tournaments, including the League IV tournament, and Mike forfeited to Max," Kings Park coach Jack Magnani said. "It's a family decision to keep things civil."
It was Max's turn this time; there is no provision in the state seeding criteria to move siblings into opposite sides of the bracket and perhaps avert head-to-head meetings before the final.
"They're both excellent wrestlers and very capable of winning the state crown," Magnani said. "We were just disappointed that the state committee couldn't find a way to split them in the 96-pound bracket so they didn't have to wrestle each other unless they met for the title."
Mike Soria went on to win the championship with a 7-0 decision over Longwood seventh-grader Corey Rasheed. Max Soria wrestled back to a third-place finish.
Also noteworthy from Long Island, Syosset junior Nick Arujau won his second straight title with a 4-0 win vs. Jamie Franco of Monroe-Woodbury at 125 pounds. It was the 85th consecutive win for Arujau.
The tournament was a success for veterans on the home-section team as Section II stars Austin Meys of Shenendehowa and LaSalle Institute’s Zach Clemente and Ken Altarac capped their scholastic careers by repeating as champs.
Meys earned his third state crown with a pin of Matt Loew of Wantagh in 1:59 to capture the Division I 189-pound title. He won all four matches over two days at Times Union Center with first-period pins in a combined 3:46 to pick up the division's outstanding wrestler award for the second straight year. Meys ends with a sectional-record 263 victories against just eight losses.
Also in Division I, Clemente (145 pounds) and Altarac (285) prevailed again for LaSalle. Altarac avenged a recent loss by decisioning Port Jervis' J.D. Zitone in the final, 7-5. They last clashed in the Eastern States Classic in a bout where Altarac injured his left knee.
More noteworthy accomplishments on the mats:
* Fredonia senior Kenny Betts concluded a stellar career with a 2-0 decision over Craig Scott of Lyons in the Division II 152-pound title match. Betts set a state record with 269 victories in his six-year varsity career. He surpassed Winky Shepard (Central Square, 267 wins) and finished 57-3 for the season and 269-37 for his career, including 186 pins.
* After becoming the first female in state semifinals history, Fredonia senior Carlene Sluberski went on the final, where she dropped a 7-2 decision to Jacob Goddeau from Peru. Sluberski (117-36 in her career) broke a finger on her left hand 15 seconds into the final.
* Palmyra-Macedon senior Alex Ekstrom secured his fourth state title via a 4-3 decision over three-time champ Ian Paddock in the Division II 135-pound final. It earned him the outstanding wrestler award a week after dropping a 5-0 match his Warsaw rival.
* Greene's Nick Wilcox earned his second state title and a bit of reputation rehabilitation with a 6-4 decision over Palmyra-Macedon's Sean Walton at 125. Wilcox won his first state title at 103 pounds in 2006. He was unbeaten last year and qualified for states but couldn't wrestle after being caught attending an underage drinking party.
"This should be my third title, but having two's a lot better than one," he told The Press & Sun-Bulletin.
* Ossining senior James Brundage nearly accomplished an ambitious goal. Midway through the season, he vowed to pin or tech fall his way through the entire postseason. He made it through the league and sectional meets with the goal intact and was still on course through the state semis before having to settle for a 17-10 decision over T.J. Neidhart of Shoreham-Wading River in the Division I 160-pound championship match.
Boys Hockey: Greece is the word
Sophomore J.T. Stenglein scored twice as the Greece Athena/Odyssey (24-0) defeated Fairport, 3-1, for the Section V Class A championship on Sunday. Stenglein gave the Thurnder a 2-1 lead on a power-play goal with 1:05 left in the first period.
In other Division I action around New York, Ryan Michel's power-play goal with 8:31 left stood up as West Genesee edged Baldwinsville in a Section III final, 3-2.
Rob Fine scored the winner with 7:53 left, and all three forward lines produced goals in the third period at West Point as Mamaroneck came from behind again to defend its Section I title with a 4-1 win vs. White Plains. Mamaroneck had overcome deficits earlier in the tournament by scoring six straight goals against both North Rockland and Mahopac.
In Division II, New Hartford and Queensbury stayed on course for a potential clash in the state final in Utica in two weeks.
Mike Zalewski scored four goals as New Hartford blasted Syracuse Corcoran, 9-0.
Queensbury earned its third straight Section II hockey championship with a 3-2 triumph over Glens Falls. Kevin Valenti's second goal of the game, off a rebound with 1:11 left in the second period, was the winner. Queensbury had won the clubs' two regular-season games by a 12-2 total margin but gave back a 2-0 lead by surrendering a pair of power-play goals.
Boys Basketball: Mount Vernon breezes, Buffalo Nichols tumbles
* The Section I Class AA final turned out to be a huge mismatch Sunday as Mount Vernon tore apart Poughkeepsie, 77-47. Mount Vernon, which began the school year surrounded by doubt when the athletic budget was wiped out in an austerity measure, blew open a 14-13 game with a 24-10 run in the second quarter.
Sherrod Wright earned MVP honors by scoring 24 points to lead Mount Vernon, ranked fourth by the New York State Sportswriters Association, to its ninth title in 10 years and 26th in school history. Poughkeepsie is ranked seventh.
* Buffalo Nichols, which had as good a shot as anybody in the CHSAA to make it into a loaded Federation Class A field, suffered a 69-60 loss to Canisius on Sunday in the Manhattan Cup championship game.
Canisius jumped to a 17-13 lead after a quarter, fought off a Nichols surge in the second quarter and avenged two regular-season losses.
Iona Prep and St. John the Baptist now assume the role of favorites to earn the CHSAA bid, Long Island Lutheran (with a healthy Tobias Harris) is in line for the AIS slot and any number of contenders could represent New York City’s PSAL. The final rep figures to be the survivor of Jamesville-DeWitt vs. Peekskill in the NYSPHSAA tournament in Glens Falls.
* Buffalo East, which had been regarded as a decent bet to reach the NYSPHSAA semifinals in Glens Falls in Class A, saw its dreams come crashing down with a 50-49 loss to Cheektowaga (9-12) in the Section 6 playoffs.
Senior Damond Rainey's jumper with seven seconds to play proved to be the winner moments after Domonique Jackson's layup had put East ahead. Rainey finished with 17 points.
* Niagara Falls, top-ranked in Class AA, played minus suspended senior starters Mike Crumpton and Wayne Ollison in a 70-38 rout of Niagara-Wheatfield. In addition, junior C. J. Cox, suffered a broken jaw in practice last week and is out for the season.
Girls Basketball: Haldane continues its domination
* Even in a sub-par season, Haldane continues to amaze. Saturday’s 56-51 victory against Alexander Hamilton gave the Blue Devils their 19th Section I championship in 21 years. Haldane is 443-84 over the past 22 seasons.
By avenging a 56-35 loss in which it fell behind by 21-2 after one quarter two days before Christmas, Haldane (14-8) moved into the NYSPHSAA tournament first round March 11 at SUNY New Paltz against a Section IX opponent to be determined.
* In an anticipated Section V Class CC semifinal between state-ranked foes, Porsche Gavin scored 21 as No. 2 Nazareth ousted No. 4 Marion, 70-56. Harley Cleary recorded 21 points, seven assists and seven steals for the Lasers.
* Our Lady of Lourdes, ranked 13th by the NYSSWA, dropped a 72-61 decision to Ossining in the Section I Class AA semifinals after being limited to just 24 points in the second half.
Lourdes committed seven fouls in the first quarter, putting Ossining in the bonus for the rest of the first half. For the game, Ossining made 34 of the 47 free throws compared to Lourdes' 7-for-13 total; Alex Venuto (27 points) was 10-for-13 from the line and Hayley Awerdick went 14-for-20.
Odds and Ends
* Cazenovia won a Class B regional championship in girls volleyball with a three-game sweep of Plattsburgh. Lakers coach Brian Ellithorpe picked up his 200th career win in 13 seasons.
* Citing a decrease in participation and a tight school budget, Panama Superintendent Carol Hay said boys soccer is the first of what may be several sports teams to get the ax beginning next fall. Hay said the soccer team limped by with just 12 players last season.
* Liverpool voters approved a proposition to renovate the high school stadium and install new artificial turf after twice rejecting similar proposals last year. The $5.8 million undertaking will take up to a year to complete, meaning the traditional Section III football contender will play home games at nearby schools for the second straight season.
* Maurice “Marty” Keating, the Livonia boys and Pittsford girls swimming coach, has been named the recipient of the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association's Outstanding Service Award. Keating, who has been the New York State Swim Coaches Association president for 37 years, will receive the award on March 28 in College Station, Texas.
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.
