Section 5 wrestlers turn tables on 11 to win state title
King, Suhr, Kurlander win individual titles

By Gary Fallesen, Democrat and Chronicle

(Sunday, March 4,1984) - Syracuse - Section 5 evened a year-old score last night with its downstate wrestling rival from Long Island.

Marty King of Canandaigua, John Suhr of Spencerport and Brian Kurlander of Brighton each captured individual titles to help the Rochester area's high school wrestling team take the New York State Intersectional Tournament championship from Section 11 (Suffolk County), 207-185.

Section 11 came from behind in last year's state meet to edge two-day leader Section 5 for team honors. Such was not the case last night at Onondaga County War Memorial.

"It's always Section 11," King said after becoming Section 5's second two-time state champion with a 6-4 decision over Darrin Cummings of Smithtown East (Section 11) in the 126-pound final. "Last year we had them and they came back. That just ticked me off."

Apparently it irritated a few of King's intersectional teammates as well. Seven of Section 5's eight finalists were members of last year's second-place team.

Suhr and Kurlander both were runners-up last year.

"They ripped us off last year and I was one of the parts of the losing end," Kurlander said after gaining the 155-pound title with a 4-2 decision over Ron LaSora of Bay Shore (Section 11).

Kurlander's state title was the first-ever by a Brighton wrestler.

Suhr also avenged his second-place finish and won his school's third title with a 3-2 decision over John Barrett of Peru in Section 7 (Champlain area).

"I told myself, 'This is the last six minutes of my high school career, I've got to go nuts,'" Suhr said. "It's the perfect way to end it... with a state championship."

Suhr joined Section 5's other two-time champion, Frank D'Angelis, as a Spencerport titlist. He finished his career with a 116-114 record.

Butch Hibbard (98 pounds) and Paul Lamphier (105) of Canandaigua and East Rochester's Chris Schojan (177) repeated as second-place finishers. All three are juniors.

Tim Quinn of ER, Section 5's other finalist, finished his career with a 118-34-1 record and a second-place state finish. He lost in the 132-pound final to Joe Plante of Brentwood (Section 11), 5-0.

However, when Plante failed to pin Quinn, Section 5 clinched its second team title in 16 years. Rochester's team of 14 took a 17 1/2-point lead over Section 6 (Buffalo area) and a 22-point advantage over Section 11 into the finals. Section 5 has the most finalists of any team, while 11 had seven and 6 had one. Section 6 finished third with 183 1/2 points.

"We don't take a back seat to anybody," said Pittsford's Ernie DiBella, who won one of Section 5's first individual titles in 1969 and coached 167-pound junior Peter Zajkowski to a second-place finish last night. "We're the best in the state. (Sections) 8 and 11 are still good, but they don't dominate anymore."

Section 5 has come a long way from its intersectional infancy when in 1968 it finished ninth out of 10 teams.

"We were new at it and we were kind of in awe of it," said DiBella, who placed third as a junior before winning the 167-pound title in 1969.

Rochester won its first team title in 1981, then finished fifth in '82 before placing second last year.

This year's three individual titles make the number of state champions produced in the Greater Rochester area 24.

"I think Section 5 can compete with anybody," East Rochester Coach Don Quinn said. "Credit that to schools who go out and go to war. Canandaigua is not afraid of anyone and we're not afraid to go anyplace. I think other schools are opening up more and more, too."

Quinn said the lessons learned by wrestling the best competition available clearly were evident in Lamphier's 6-4 semifinal decision over 105-pound defending champion Brett Penrith of Union-Endicott in Section 4 (Binghamton area).

"He wasn't a bit worried about him," said Quinn. "He knows he wrestled better kids than that other kid did. That's a big advantage."

Lamphier, who lost to Penrith in last year's final, rallied from a 3-0 deficit with a take down and a near fall in the second period. He then expended his lead in the third period.

The victory earned Lamphier, a junior, a return to the final.

King, the state's all-time winningest wrestler with a 168-11-1 career record, placed for the fifth time in intersectional competition. But it took a single-leg takedown with :12 remaining to defeat Cummings.

"I was just thinking, 'Am I going to win?" and you can't do that," said King. "There was tremendous pressure. I was so uptight. But now that it's over it's a big relief."

King was one of five Canandaigua wrestlers to place. In addition to Butch Hibbard and Lamphier, Mike Locagnato (91) and Joe Hibbard (112) were fifth-place finishers.

Williamson's C.C. Grant also finished fifth at 215.