Steward wins title for Norwich at Ilion tourney

Wrestling

Leo J. Sammon Tournament

ILION – Josh Steward won his first title in three finals appearances for Norwich, and Tanner Cummings placed second at the Leo J. Sammon Tournament Saturday.

Steward (189) won three matches including a pin in 5:11 of Rush-Henrietta’s Brent Garringer for the crown.

Cummings (96), meanwhile, had two close decision wins before losing a decision in the finals.

Rick Reihl, Mike Hull, Eric Muserallo all won a pair of matches and were one win from earning place finishes.

“We’re working on getting Steward better from where he has been this season, and he’ll have a good test on Tuesday against Windsor,” said Norwich coach Terry Hagenbuch. “The first few tournaments this year, we’ve basically only had two kids scoring for us. Now we have three others getting into the mix.”

S-E Holiday Classic

SHERBURNE – Wheeler Brunschmid (152) and Zach Thomas (171) won individual titles for Sherburne-Earlville, who placed third out of 10 teams Saturday at the S-E Holiday Classic.

Brunschmid overcame an early scare against Maine-Endwell’s Cedric Moore to win by pinfall in 1:24. Thomas garnered his first tournament title at 171 pounds capturing a three-point decision over Andy Munger.

“Our goal was to place in the top-three, so this was pretty good for us,” said S-E assistant coach Brian Hicks, whose club finished behind Gouverneur and Vestal. “Our wrestlebacks definitely helped us.”

Eight wrestlers placed among the top four with Brett Buell (135) and John Posson (189) adding runner-up finishes. “We don’t see any of these kids throughout the year, so it was a great experience for us to wrestle different competition,” Hicks said.