The Norwich wrestling team poses following the Section IV Division II Championships at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Arena in Binghamton. The Purple Tornado placed third as a team and all wrestlers who participated placed with three winning Section IV titles. The winners will move on the New York State Tournament, held at the Times Union Center in Albany on February 28-29. (Submitted Photo)

Norwich, BGAH and Greene/Oxford all finish in top 10 of team standings

BINGHAMTON – An action-packed Saturday on the mats as the Section IV Division I and Division II Wrestling Championships took over Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena for the first time after a three year hiatus.

After the one-day tournament finished, a total of four Chenango County wrestlers captured their spots at the New York State Championships in Albany on February 28 and 29.

Brody Oleksak of Bainbridge-Guilford-Afton-Harpursville along with Norwich’s Dante Geislinger, Mikey Squires and Tyler Rice finished first in their respective weight classes to win the Section IV title.

The Purple Tornado finished third as a team while BGAH placed fourth. Also wrestling throughout the day and seeing three reach the finals was the Greene/Oxford Blackhawks. The team secured eighth place out of the 25 school field for Division II.

Norwich had all seven wrestlers who participated on Saturday place in the top five of their bracket with all reaching the semifinals. Geislinger, Squires and Rice were the three that moved onto the evening matches with a spot at the state championships on the line.

Geislinger, a two-time New York State Champion, won all three matches wrestled during the tournament by way of pinfall. The Norwich senior saw a total of 2:25 seconds of mat time as he pinned his opponents at 40 seconds, 45 seconds and 1:20 in the finals.