Wrestling

Midstate Athletic Conference Championships

AFTON – Greene snatched back the Midstate Athletic Conference team title from defending champion B-G/Afton winning six individual titles Saturday afternoon at Afton High School.

The Trojans, a runner-up in the Section IV Dual Meet Tournament last weekend, outpaced the Bears by 38.5 points. The margin would have likely been even larger, said longtime Greene mentor, Tim Jenks, if not for the absence of key wrestlers.

“It’s a little discouraging, because we could have been even better,” Jenks said. “It was discouraging because of the injuries, but the kids we have are getting better.”

Two youngsters in the lower weights paved the way for the more experienced Greene grapplers. Brandon Wheeler (106) easily claimed a 9-1 decision over Harpursville’s Jake Andrews. Castle overcame a near pinfall loss in the first period to Deposit’s Stephen McKee when he cradled up McKee for the second-period pin at 2:52.

“The younger kids have been at Eastern States, the Windsor Tournament, and Clyde Cole,” Jenks said. “They have struggled to win some matches in some of those tournaments, but wrestling that type of competition is paying off for them now. They’re starting to get it.”

Top seeds Dan Dickman (152), Joel Roselle (170), Keegan Cerwinski (182), and Kyle Stanton (220) also won titles. Stanton wasted little time claiming his championship win with a 13-second pin of Deposit’s Dan Babcock. Cerwinski, too, was impressive routing Walton’s Mike Beers by technical fall, 15-0 in 4:24.