Leading off today: Jim Carucci’s decision in the final bout of the match rallied Shenendehowa to a 32-30 victory over St. Anthony’s yesterday for the Union-Endicott Duals championship.
Carucci topped the Friars' Michael Gangarossa 10-5 at 145 pounds.
Nick Kelley’s’ second-period pin in the 130 match gave Shen a 26-24 lead, but St. Anthony's moved ahead with a forfeit at 135 and then the Plainsmen cut the score to 30-29 as David Almaviva earned a 6-3 decision at 140.
The Friars had captured the first four matches to build a 17-0 lead before Shen began chipping away.
Shenendehowa entered the weekend No. 1 and St. Anthony's No. 6 in the New York State Sportswriters Association Division I ratings. Shen defeated Spencerport 42-25 and St. Anthony's eliminated defending champion John Glenn 30-24 in the semifinals yesterday.
On Saturday, Shen advanced out of pool play with victories over Chenango Forks by 64-15 and Minisink Valley by 48-21. St. Anthony's advanced with pool wins vs. Sayville by a 51-18 margin and Fulton 51-18.
In yesterday's third-place match, Spencerport defeated John Glenn 32-25.
Virginia Duals: Shen wasn't the only Section 2 wrestling team with reason to celebrate over the weekend. Eighteenth-ranked Columbia knocked off four straight opponents and won its bracket at the Virginia Duals to improve to 17-0 for the season.
Columbia was competing at the renowned event with high school and college divisions for the sixth time, and the Blue Devils had not previously placed there. They defeated Western Branch (Va.) 57-18, Eastern Regional (N.J.) 51-18, Haddonfield (N.J.) 38-26 and Fauquier (Va.) 45-22.
Evan Wallace won four straight matches at 145 pounds, though his string of 21 straight pins came to an end in the semifinals.
"The best thing about going to the Virginia Duals for the kids is that don’t know anybody. Around here, you know everybody,” Columbia coach Anthony Servidone told The Times Union. "This is much bigger than our state tournament. To be wrestling right next to Penn State, Michigan and Lehigh ... It is amazing that we won.”
More wrestling: Steven Rodrigues had quite the weekend on the mats. First, the Fox Lane standout recorded career victory No. 200 with a tech fall in the Ted Murphy Shoreline Tournament. Then, the Rutgers-bound senior went on to win the title match over Palmyra-Macedon's Ben Mowry, making him the first five-time champion in the event's history.
"It's pretty cool that I grew up here as a towel boy and now I've been able to win it five times," Rodrigues told The Journal News. "I've been lucky enough to be healthy the whole time. This year was definitely the toughest, so it's a big honor."
Former Beacon standout Ryan Tompkins was the first Section 1 wrestler to win 200 matches, and Somers junior Brian Realbuto matched the feat earlier this season. Rodrigues is 24-0 this season and 201-24 for his career.
Boys basketball: Holy Cross (9-4), ranked No. 15 in Class AA, recovered nicely from Friday's surprise loss to St. Francis Prep by beating No. 14 Xaverian 71-60 in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens action.
Six-foot-9 forward Marcus Hopper led the way with 18 points, 16 rebounds and three blocked shots. Marquise Moore chipped in with 20 points.
