There's no easy way in

The storylines that could play out this weekend at the Section Four wrestling championships seem to be endless.

How does a rematch of the 112-pound Midstate Athletic Conference final between reigning Section Four Division II champions Danny Gormley of Bainbridge-Guilford/Afton and Unatego's Cody Dill sound? What about B-G/A senior Kris Stafford going for his second straight sectional title?

Walton's Richard Fletcher, seeded first at 215 pounds, has the same opportunity, but he'll likely have to get past Delhi senior Devon Bedient in the final. Should Fletcher, the reigning Daily Star Player of the Year in football, tangle with No. 2 seed Bedient, the match would mark their fourth meeting this season.

How about a possible semifinal between teammates? B-G/A's Cody Davy is seeded second at 103, one spot ahead of fellow freshman Wayne Cirigliano. Last season, Greg DuVall earned a state-tournament berth in the same weight class when he beat Unadilla Valley teammate Tyler Peet in Section Four Division I final.

Speaking of Peet, the sophomore already has a victory over Dill this season. Should Peet reach the 119-pound final during his quest for his first sectional title, he could run into two-time Section Four champion Casey LaNave of Chenango Forks. The two are seeded second and first, respectively, at 119.

"I think this is good for wrestling," Delhi coach John Wake said. "Looking at the Division II brackets is exciting. If I was a fan, it would be worth the price of admission."

Wrestling begins at 2 p.m. today at the Broome County Arena in Binghamton, with preliminaries and quarterfinals to be completed by the end of the night. Competition resumes with semifinals and wrestlebacks at 10 a.m. Saturday. Consolation finals are scheduled for 5 p.m. on four mats, and the sectional championships are set for 7 p.m. on two mats _ one each for divisions I and II.

Sectional winners advance to the state tournament, which runs March 7-8 at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester. Wild-card entrants at each weight class will be announced after all sectional tournaments are completed.

"This is what it should be and you want it to be competitive," said Unadilla Valley coach Jim DuVall, whose team is the lone area representative in the D-I Tournament. "Look at the last couple of years and our section was young. You look now and they are still young, but they're getting better _ and they'll only keep getting better."

B-G/A coach Brandon MacNaught, who won three sectional titles for Walton when only one champion was crowned in each weight class, said the weight classes would be even more stacked had the tournament's format not changed in 2004.

"Thinking of how it used to be, think of the madness," MacNaught said. "But you have to love it. Whenever you get great wrestlers together who have worked so hard and with everything on the line, it's great."

The state-ranked Bears, who won their third straight MAC championship two weeks ago, could challenge favorite Waverly for the D-II team title. B-G/A qualified 13 for the tournament, tying Delhi and UV for the most sectional entrants from one area team.

Nine of the Bears' qualifiers are underclassmen, including freshman Gormley (25-6). One of two returning D-II champs for B-G/A _ 160-pound top seed Stafford (26-7) is the other _ Gormley is seeded second behind Dill (29-1) at 112 pounds.

Gormley and Dill met for the first time this season at the MAC Championships, with Dill earning a 6-2 victory. Dill, a senior, is 70-2 over the past two seasons and placed third in the state at 103 last season. Gormley took fifth at 96 pounds.

"He's looking great, I think the best that he has all season," Unatego coach Vince Ruggiero said of Dill. "He knows what he has to do to win and he's focused. I don't think he's feeling the pressure he did last year."

Stafford earned the 160-pound sectional crown last season but didn't place at states. He will attend Oneonta State this fall, said MacNaught, who added that Stafford seemed loose and ready for the weekend.

Davy (8-2) beat Cirigliano (18-5), 3-2, in the Section Four Class B final last week. MacNaught said that other than manning the corners in case of injury, he and his staff wouldn't get too involved should the two meet in a 103-pound semifinal.

Sophomore Chris Burnett (24-9) is seeded second at 119 for B-G/A, which has No. 4 seeds in freshman Paul Parsons (145, 25-15) and seniors Kyle Davy (125, 29-6) and Charlie Engel (171, 22-15).

Five other Unatego wrestlers will join Dill this weekend, and three are seeded in the top six. Junior Shawn Hanrahan (32-7) is third at 135, junior Tyler Newman (30-9) is fourth at 152, and senior Ken Iscaro (29-10) is fifth at 140.

Fletcher (38-3), who failed to place at states last season, seems destined for another match with Bedient (27-4), who didn't make it to the 215-pound final last winter. The two seniors have met six times over the last two seasons. Fletcher has won the last two, including a 4-3 decision at the MAC Championships.

"He's not taking anything for granted and that's important," Walton coach Rick Armstrong said of Fletcher. "I think he's in a good frame of mind. ... Barring any upsets, it should be (Fletcher vs. Bedient). I don't know if anybody would want to see it any other way."

"They are great battles," Wake said. "The both have great takedowns and they both they'll get an escape. That's a given because neither can hold the other down."

Junior Cody Reed (171, 32-5) is seeded third at 171 and Dustin VanValkenburg (135, 30-13) is sixth for Walton. For the Bulldogs, sophomore Marty Cole (285, 20-7) is seeded fifth.

Oneonta has six wrestlers at the tournament, but senior Victor Mercurio is the only one seeded in the top six. Mercurio (20-6) is fourth at 285.

Sidney eighth-grader Scott Stafford (14-3) drew the third seed at 96 pounds. Also seeded for the Warriors are seniors Derek Lamb (29-9, fifth at 135) and Connor Hornbeck (18-6, sixth at 285).

In Division I, Peet and T.J. Brownell are each seeking their first Section Four titles.

Peet (27-4) missed out on states last year, and LaNave could be standing in his way this year. LaNave earned a 3-2 decision over Peet in the 119-pound final of the Windsor Tournament in December.

Brownell, a state-tournament wild-card entry at 152 last year, is a two-time runner-up in the section. A senior, Brownell is 24-9 and is seeded third at 160, behind top-seeded Jesse Villella of Chenango Forks and Deposit/Hancock's Derek Wignall.

"The top four are tough and there are tough kids behind them," DuVall said of the 160-pound weight class. "To win a title, you want it that way. You don't want to walk through. It's anybody's tournament at that weight."

Also seeded for the Storm are sophomore Mark Geier (16-9, fourth at 130), eighth-grader Dustin Badger (12-16, fifth at 112), and junior Todd Wilcox (19-11, sixth at 145).

The top-six seeds for the Section Four Division II Tournament at the Broome County Arena today and Saturday.

96 _ Colton Perry (Windsor), Tanner Cummings (Norwich), Scott Stafford (Sidney), Ryan D'Arcy (Newark Valley), Corey Dake (Lansing), Abel Stanton (Trumansburg).

103 _ Corey Spiers (Candor), Cody Davy (B-G/A), Wayne Cirigliano (B-G/A), Trevor Nocchi (Waverly), Dustin Greene (Chenango Valley), Hayden Bell (Owego).

112 _ Cody Dill (Unatego), Danny Gormley (B-G/A), Ryan Spiers (Candor), Marcos Ithier (Susquehanna Valley), Joe Voorhees (Thomas A. Edison), Roddy Wahl (Chenango Valley).

119 _ Nick Wilcox (Greene), Chris Burnett (B-G/A), Adam Greene (CV), Dylan Burns (Wav), Jon Conklin (Walton), Cody Johnson (Owego).

125 _ Garret Morabito (SV), Brett Sewalt (Waverly), Nick Troutman (CV), Kyle Davy (B-G/A), Ryan Miller (S-VE), Matt Gugblo (TAE).

130 _ Kyle Dake (Lansing), Ryan Hayes (Windsor), Brandon Jenks (Greene), Ryan Shelly (NV), Devin Soper (Wav), Evan Farmhan (S-VE).

135 _ Brian Sewalt (Wav), Billy Dayton (CV), Shawn Hanrahan (Unatego), Mike Goterth (NV), Derek Lamb (Sidney), Dustin VanValkenburg (Walton).

140 _ Victor Coronado (Harpursville), Jesse Payne (NV), Logan Walker (Wav), Keegan Cerwinski (Greene), Ken Iscaro (Unatego), Matt Fedish (CV).

145 _ Jesse Carling (Wav), Kurt Shear (Greene), Aaron Linton (O-M), Paul Parsons (B-G/A), Bob Slack (Owego), Tom Cerio (END).

152 _ David Kohlbach (Windsor), Brian Hendershot (Wav), Pat Moore (Harp), Tyler Newman (Unatego), Josh Souto (Owego), Josh Rockwell (NV).

160 _ Kris Stafford (B-G/A), Zach McCutcheon (Wav), Paul Stauder (NV), Jake Wentlent (Greene), Todd Terpstra (Harp), Matt Roy (END).

171 _ Tyler Beckwith (Greene), Jon Glennon (Lansing), Cody Reed (Walton), Ryan Todd (Lansing), Travis French (NV), Josh Klepfer (CV).

189 _ Chris Nocchi (Wav), Garrett Hickey (Greene), Joe Swanborough (Candor), Adam Neer (B-G/A), Joe Canini (SV), Colden Knapp (Lansing).

215 _ Richard Fletcher (Walton), Devon Bedient (Delhi), Noah Sibley (Windsor), Brandon Persha (WG), Henry Petri (Wav), Tyler Kehl (Greene).

285 _ Victor Rivera (Har), Dillon Fiske (Waverly), Justin Slezak (SV), Victor Mercurio (Oneonta), Marty Cole (Delhi), Connor Hornbeck (Sidney).

The top-six seeds for the Section Four Division I Tournament at the Broome County Arena today and Saturday.

96 _ Sean McCormick (Johnson City), Tyler Hall (Marathon), Josh Garrehy (Maine-Endwell), Sean Carpenter (Elmira), Gregory Partridge (Corning), Alex Francik (Vestal).

103 _ Kevin Pembridge (Union-Endicott), Brant Page (Horseheads), Kyle Halladay (JC), Kody Howe (Tioga), John Chilson (Elmira), Andrew Ciaravino (Vestal).

112 _ Erik Rueckle (U-E), Kenny Manuel (Tioga), Mike Howerton (Vestal), Tyler Constock (Elmira), Dustin Badger (Unadilla Valley), Mike Furch (Binghamton).

119 _ Casey LaNave (Chenango Forks), Tyler Peet (UV), Kevin Hughes (U-E), Alec Iacovelli (Ithaca), Mike Orinik (Deposit/Hancock), Noah Schilling (Elmira).

125 _ Devon Brown (Marathon), Derek Heyman (Tioga), Josh Halladay (JC), Dan Gaylord (Vestal), Roger Hall (CF), Brock Clark (Whitney Point).

130 _ Andrew Canale (Tioga), Brian Guilfoyle (Corning), Justin Hyde (UE), Mark Greir (UV), Mike Sherwood (Vestal), Lauren Ellis (Elmira).

135 _ Zach McCormick (JC), Nick Reyes (Vestal), Josh Manuel (Tioga), Jordan Barnett (CF), Brendan Ketchum (UE), Joe Brennan (Ithaca).

140 _ Ricky Bronson (CF), Chris Robinson (Tioga), Kasey Bush (Marathon), Kevin Matyas (JC), Kiefer Smyder (CF), Joe Sherriff (U-E).

145 _ Donnie Vinson (WP), Darren Wignall (Deposit/Hancock), Ron Taylor (Elmira), Matt Bennett (CF), Dylan Capericio (Elmira), Todd Wilcox (UV).

152 _ Peter Capone (JC), Mike Harris (M-E), Jesse Barnett (CF), Luke Krembs (D/H), Chris Snyder (Ithaca), Kyle Brombeck (Tioga).

160 _ Jesse Villella (CF), Derek Wignall (D/H), T.J. Brownell (UV), Travis Frank (Oxford), Eric Giles (Vestal), Ben Mackley (Corning).

171 _Tom Voorhis (CF), Ryan Beech (Elmira), Ryan Carden (Vestal), Cedric Moore (M-E), Bryan Pyle (Dryden), Chris Hurlburt (Tioga).

189 _ Josh Peters (Vestal), Andrew Bennett (Horseheads), Dan Reynolds (M-E), Brett Hauber (D/H), Mike Bishop (U-E), Nick Stephens (CF).

215 _ Tony Clarke (Dryden), Ryan Talcott (Tioga), Colin Berry (JC), Brian Cazzong (Corning), Jeremy Sinclair (U-E), Cole Iacovelli (Ithaca).

285 _ Jared Varuto (U-E), Jud DuBois (CF), Nick Glassman (M-E), Pete Morris (Ithaca), Mike Hatch (WP), Ryan Jumpp (Vestal).

P.J. Harmer can be reached at pharmer@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 229.

Photos

Photo by Dylan TuckerBainbridge-Guilford/Afton's Kris Stafford attempts to flip Deposit/Hancock's Derek Wignall during the 160-pound final at the Midstate Athletic Conference Championships at Greene on Feb. 9. Stafford, a senior with a record of 26-7, will attempt to earn his second straight Section Four Division II title this weekend at the Broome County Arena.