Wrestling

Owego Duals

OWEGO – Norwich shrugged off a tough start to the Owego Duals winning its final six matches to finish with a 6-3 mark over the two-day event, while placing fourth out of 10 teams.

First-place Union-Endicott, second-place Pittsford, and Northrose Wolcott – the top three teams in the tourney – were Norwich’s first three matchups Friday night. After losses to those clubs, the Tornado picked up momentum blanking Binghamton, 75-0, to set up a perfect 5-0 record on Saturday.

“The kids were really excited with the way we performed, and I was proud of them,” said Norwich coach Joe Downey. “We set a goal in the tournament to win five matches, and we exceeded our goal. It’s fantastic any time you can exceed your goals.”

Norwich beat Candor (72-18), Owego (63-24), Newark Valley (48-30), Unatego (48-35), and Ithaca (48-40) to round out the day. “The teams we beat on Saturday, they weren’t slouches at all,” Downey said. “I mentioned earlier in the week that what we were doing in the practice room was not transferring to the meet. Saturday, everything was clicking for us. We were getting off the bottom and we had some nice takedowns. The kids were doing what they were supposed to be doing.”

Tristan Rifanburg (126), Frank Garcia (132), Tanner Cummings (152), Cody Bradbury (182), and Kegan Levesque (195) all had perfect 9-0 records over the weekend.