ALBANY — Section 2 may not have had any boys’ wrestling state champions this season, but many were still able to get onto the podium at MVP Arena last Saturday.
Some members of that group include Coxsackie-Athens’ Ryker Cox, Ichabod Crane’s Peter Filli and Catskill’s Will Clanton.
Cox began as the No. 6 seed in the NYSPHSAA Division 2 160-pound bracket and was going strong until the quarterfinal, when he ran into a familiar foe — Berne-Knox-Westerlo’s Liam English.
“Him and I have been going back and forth for years, since we were little, and it’s just been a brawl,” Cox said of English. “He’s a respectable opponent, and I’ve trained with him for a long time.”
English got the best of Cox in the quarterfinal, as the Berne junior won a 17-3 major decision.
Cox, a sophomore at Coxsackie-Athens, navigated his way through the consolation bracket all the way to the third place match, where he was once again up against English.
English was able to win the third-place bout, but this time his margin of victory was cut to an 8-4 decision.
Cox's season came to an end as the fourth-place finisher in the state bracket. He also finished the year with a 29-4 overall record. All four of his losses came to English, in the title match at the Ken Baker Classic, in the Section 2 championship match and twice at the state tournament.
“I wasn’t even expecting to place at this tournament at all,” Cox said. “I came in seeded sixth, but I’m not sure I deserved it. This was a good growth tournament, a good level up.”
This is his third trip to MVP Arena, having reached states as a seventh-grader at 110 pounds and as a freshman at 145 pounds.
His 4-2 record at the event this year was certainly his best performance at states to this point in his varsity career.
“I’ve been here before, but didn’t do too well. Making it to Day 2 was big. I suffered an ankle injury right before the season started and came back two weeks after Christmas,” Cox said. “I was under the knife in November and didn’t know if I was going to wrestle at all this season, if I’d make the cutoff. I came back, winning matches I wasn’t supposed to, beating state qualifiers, and coming here and taking fourth completely exceeded my expectations.
“From going 0-2 here to 4-2, placing fourth. It’s been a cool experience.”
Ichabod Crane sophomore Peter Filli came in seventh place in the NYSPHSAA Division 2 108-pound bracket.
He posted a 3-2 record over the two-day event.
“I went into the quarterfinals looking to make the semis and then hopefully the finals,” Filli said. “It was a close match, but I lost, so then the goal was to place.”
He was sent to the consolation bracket after dropping a 7-0 decision in the quarterfinals. Filli then secured a 48-second pin in the blood round of the consolation bracket to secure a spot on the podium.
In the seventh-place match, the Rider prevailed in a 6-0 decision, finishing the year with a 46-7 record.
“I’m definitely going to use this to fuel me for more,” Filli said. “I wanted to get a little higher, but hopefully I’ll do well in the offseason and stay strong in my faith. I’ll train at Curby and just keep getting better.”
“You learn a lot about yourself on how you wrestle, how to be mentally tough and make a bunch of friendships,” he added of being at states. “And you get to remember it for the rest of your life.”
Clanton, a Catskill sophomore, finished his tournament in the Division 2 101-pound bracket in eighth place.
Despite losing in the second round, Clanton went on to wrestle seven matches over the two days, going 4-3 overall.
He picked up a 18-2 tech fall in the blood round to clinch a spot on the podium, but dropped his next two matches to end the tournament in eighth place.
Clanton finished the season with a record of 41-7.
Coxsackie-Athens senior Neil Murphy also qualified for the state tournament, but after going 2-2 over four matches on Friday, he was eliminated.
Murphy completed his senior season with a 36-8 record and over 150 wins for his career.
WILL CLANTON MATCHES
Round 1 — Clanton tech fall Luke Worzel (Plainedge), 22-3 (2:14). Round 2 — Nahjeed Abel (General Brown) decision Clanton, 11-4. Consolation — Clanton decision Mason Sampilo (Nanuet), 6-4. Consolation — Clanton pinned Gabe Mcdonald (Northern Adirondack), 4:58. Consolation — Clanton tech fall Connor Duryea (Avon-Geneseo), 18-2 (2:40). Consolation — Clayton Ritter (Oneonta) major decision Clanton, 14-5. 7th Place Match: Ben Dziuban (Mount Markham) tech fall Clanton, 17-0 (2:04)
PETER FILLI MATCHES
Round 2 — Filli pinned Avery Bowman (Waverly), 3:38. Quarterfinals — Lukas Mills-Travis (Haverling) decision Filli, 7-0. Consolation — Filli pinned Bryce Reilly (Our Lady Of Lourdes), 0:48. Consolation — Miles Torres (Southwestern) decision Filli, 4-1. 7th Place Match — Filli decision Avery Bowman (Waverly), 6-0.
NEIL MURPHY MATCHES
Round 1 — Murphy major decision Braiden Houghtaling (Locust Valley), 11-2. Round 2 — Hunter Lines (Homer) tech fall Murphy, 15-0 (5:45). Consolation — Murphy major decision Hayden Bartlemus (Northern Adirondack), 12-1. Consolation — Zach Rooks (Palmyra-Macedon) tech fall Murphy, 17-1 (3:59).
RYKER COX MATCHES
Round 2 — Cox tech fall Jake Morello (Newfane), 26-9 (4:40). Quarterfinals — Liam English (Berne-Knox-Westerlo) major decision Cox, 17-3. Consolation — Cox tech fall Matt Cuccinello (Mount Sinai), 21-6 (4:07). Consolation — Cox pinned Albert Smith (Maine Endwell), 2:06. Consolation — Cox medical forfeit over Wyatt Meade (Unatego). 3rd Place Match — Liam English (B-K-W) decision Cox, 8-4.
