Wrestling: See the path three Section 1 teams face at upcoming state Dual Meet Tournament
The countdown to the NYSPHSAA Dual Meet Tournament is almost complete.
It's been more than a month since Fox Lane and Edgemont won their respective divisions and enjoyed their crowning moments as champions. Now, they'll get their chance to compete in the state tournament on Saturday.
"On the one hand, we really need to embrace this amazing opportunity and just take a minute to enjoy this awesome opportunity that many others don't get," Edgemont coach Peter Jacobson said. "Just enjoy it, make the most of it, and have fun with it. At the same time, we're walking the line of saying, 'Hey, we're going up there to compete, and we're going there to win. We're not satisfied with just going up there.'"
Rankings: After county championships, see how weight class rankings reshuffled
Inspirational coach: Section 1 mourns loss of longtime coach, inspirational figure Matt Moore
The two Section 1 Dual Meet Tournament champs won't be alone at the SRC Arena in Syracuse. For the first time in Section 1 wrestling history, there will be a third team making the trip after earning a wild-card spot.
Arlington, the Section 1 Division I runner-up, learned Sunday afternoon that it was awarded an at-large bid. The Admirals quickly arranged travel plans soon after.
"Everybody was super excited, mainly because they've had the right mindset," Arlington coach Dave Grafmuller said. "When we lost to Fox Lane, our only dual-meet loss this year, that didn't sit right with anybody. We sat there and watched their celebration and rightfully so, they got to celebrate on their home mat. It killed us, and that motivated us more and more. Everyone's excited for that shot at redemption."
There are plenty of different criteria weighed in the wild-card selection process. Two aspects that helped Arlington's cause was its impressive dual-meet record of 19-1, plus having nine different wrestlers who have already amassed 20 or more wins this season.
For the Admirals and the Panthers, this will be their first trip to the NYSPHSAA Dual Meet Tournament.
Fox Lane is no stranger to the SRC Arena. Saturday marks the Foxes' fourth consecutive appearance.
"It's always special. You don't ever take it for granted," Fox Lane coach Anthony Rodrigues said. "This year was probably the most special one that we've won considering it was COVID and everything, and we came back with a new team. Going up there, never take it for granted, and I enjoy it. It's great for the program, and I try to bring as many kids as I can bring so that we can show them this is what we're doing it for."
The one-day event begins with opening ceremonies at 8:45 a.m. Matches begin at 9 a.m. For the teams that advance to the final four, semifinals are scheduled for 3 p.m., followed by the championship round at 6 p.m.
Ticket sales are online-only and can be purchased from NYSPHSAA. Per the NYSPHSAA, masks are required at all times regardless of vaccination status at the SRC Arena.
Fox Lane's path
Like their previous trip in 2020, the Foxes hope to at least get out of pool play and reach the final four. This year, Fox Lane has the fourth-seed and is joined in a pool by Section 3's Indian River and Section 6's Starpoint.
The Foxes open against Starpoint in the first meet of the day. Starpoint earned a wild-card bid with a 14-4 record. The Spartans have plenty of promising, young talent and are led by sophomore Gage LaPlante (145/152 pounds) and eighth-grader Griffin LaPlante (126/132), as well as juniors James Leuer Jr. (110) and Landon Grainy (172). The strength of their lineup appears to be in their light-to-middleweights, but perhaps this is the stage where some of their lesser-known talents make a name for themselves.
Afterwards, Fox Lane will face an Indian River team that has been on the rise the last couple of years. It finally broke through and unseated three-time defending Section 3 champion Fulton to punch its ticket to its first state dual-meet tournament. The Warriors will look to extend their unbeaten streak this weekend. They're headlined by 132-pounder Alex Booth, a returning section champion.
They also have Manuel Gonzales (145 pounds) and Jake Whitmore (215), who have already eclipsed the 30-win mark this season. Meanwhile, Brady Lynch (138) and Gabe Lynch (152/160), as well as Tomah Gummow (110) have enjoyed breakout seasons.
Should Fox Lane reach the semifinals, it will face the winner of the pool that includes top-seeded and defending NYSPHSAA Dual Meet Tournament Division I champion Minisink Valley (Section 9), fourth-seeded Pittford (Section 5) and Horseheads (Section 4).
"I think sometimes we lose touch with the fact that we're doing this for the kids and their experiences," Rodrigues said. "This is a great experience. Win, lose or draw, it's a great experience, and for us to be there a year after COVID, it's a great achievement. I couldn't be more thrilled."
Arlington's path
The Admirals will get an opportunity to scout their opponents, third-seeded Wantagh (Section 8) and unseeded Lancaster (Section 6). The Warriors and Legends will wrestle each other in the first meet of the day, while Arlington prepares to take on Lancaster first, then Long Island power Wantagh in the final meet of pool play.
"You come into a season thinking we're pretty good, but we don't know how pretty good we are," Grafmuller said. "We don't know what that is compared to teams in our league, our section, or teams in the area, Section 9 or teams in the state. We're going to find out, and we're going to find out right away."
Lancaster hopes this trip to Syracuse will bring better fortune than its last two. The Legends were bounced out of the tournament in 2019 and 2020, going 0-2 in both appearances. Lancaster is led by two top 10 state-ranked wrestlers in senior Myles Gronowski (126) and sophomore Mike Schaefer (160). The Legends also have three other Section 6 place-finishers, with Carter Tadusz (138), Ethan Monin (145) and Evan Stencel (172) also powering the Legends' lineup.
After Lancaster, Arlington faces another team that's no stranger to the tournament. Wantagh won the 2018 title and has had plenty of individual section and state place-finishers over the years. The Warriors have a well-balanced lineup that features two-time all-state wrestler Ben Rogers (152), as well as a quartet of top 15 state-ranked wrestlers: Anthony Clem (110), Joe Clem (118), Tom Bonasera (132) and Noah Corwin (172).
If the Admirals advance past Wantagh and Lancaster, they will wrestle against the winner of second-seeded Burnt Hills (Section 2), seventh-seeded Fairport (Section 5) and unseeded Brentwood (Section 11).
Edgemont's path
The Panthers will also get a chance to observe their opponents with a bye in the opening round of pool play, then they'll take on Section 6's Falconer and fourth-seeded Gouverneur (Section 10).
Falconer might be unseeded, but it isn't a team to take lightly. The Falcons are making their fifth consecutive trip to Syracuse and this will be the program's first as a wild-card team. Their run of Section 6 Dual Meet Tournament titles came to end, but they'll come to Syracuse wanting to prove themselves. The Falcons have a balanced lineup, filled with plenty of newcomers and 10 wrestlers with 20 or more wins.
The Panthers wrap up pool play with Gouverneur, which is making its third state-tournament appearance. The Wildcats are 0-4 through their two previous trips. Gouverneur doesn't seem to have the balance from top-to-bottom that Falconer has, but it certainly doesn't lack star power.
Two-time state champion Carter Baer, a senior 160-pounder and Binghamton commit, leads the Wildcats. They also have two-time Section 10 champion and the No. 2 state-ranked 152-pounder in Vandavian Way. The Wildcats have other returning section champs in Trayton Tupper, Zoe Griffith and Hunter Mashaw.
"In a year like this where there's no Eastern States and teams are traveling less, regardless of what the outcome is, we get to wrestle Gouverneur from Section 10 and Falconer from Section 6 and both of those teams always put kids in the state tournament," Jacobson said. "To be able to see some of those kids that we wouldn't see otherwise and have the opportunity, that's awesome."
If the Panthers can advance out of their pool, they will face the winner of top-seeded Tioga (Section 4), eighth-seeded Newfane (Section 6) and unseeded Port Jervis (Section 9).
Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at @erapay5 and on Instagram at @byeugenerapay.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Fox Lane, Edgemont, Arlington wrestling NYSPHSAA Dual Meet Tournament
