H.S. wrestling: Stulpin, Merkel closer to rematch
Democrat and Chronicle

(February 22, 2003) - HILTON - With no major upsets in Friday's first rounds, the Section V Class A wrestling semifinals and finals should feature some very close matches.

Steve Stulpin (Spencerport) and Andy Merkel (McQuaid) advanced and could face each other in a highly anticipated 160-pound final.

Earlier this season Stulpin decisioned Merkel at the Clayton Barnard Tournament 7-6 as time expired.

Replacing Brett Woodard -- who could not make the meet this weekend -- seventh-grade teammate Brian Bourne reached the semifinals in the 112 class for Spencerport.

Cananadaigua's Tom Cuppernell, who finished third in the state meet last year, is trying to defend his 145-pound title against Rob Frustaci (Rush-Henrietta) in the semifinals.

Trevor Chin -- a state finalist in 2002 -- also advanced for the Braves at 135 pounds.

Mike Brongo (Spencerport) also advanced and could face Andrew Krieger (Webster Schroeder) in the 130-pound final.

At 119, the Rangers' Kris MacBeth decisioned Joe Ranzenbach, of Hilton, 9-4. Ranzenbach was seeded second in the Class A tournament.

CLASS B
While Wayne dominated, wrestlers from several other schools pulled off upsets.

In the 96-pound class, Erik Ekstrom of Palmyra-Macedon scored a 6-3 decision over Waterloo's Bryant Tumbelekis.

Pete Achilles of Geneva, who was fourth in sectionals in 2002, pinned Steve Singley of Wayland in 4 minutes, 57 seconds to advance to today's semifinal.

At 103 pounds, semifinal matchups include Paul Hagerty of Attica facing Vince Bianchi of Wayne in the semifinals. Bianchi advanced with a major decision over Justin Walker of Dansville 9-0.

Tony Diduro of Waterloo upset Dustin White of Honeoye Falls-Lima with a pin in the first round and will face Luke Baum in the semifinals.

Wayne's Mike Patterson -- last year's 215 champion -- continued his quest for another title with a technical fall and a pin to cruise into the semifinals.

Clayton Bouwens of Newark, who finished second in last year's championship, will face Ryan Lamagra of Wayne in the semifinals.

CLASS C
Entering today's Class C quarterfinals, Le Roy leads Byron-Bergen and Holley by three points.

At 130 pounds, Perry's Josh Sturm -- who won by technical fall -- faces the Bees' Jeff Taylor.

Also facing each other in the 130-pound quarterfinals are Holley's Andrew Vendetti and Le Roy's Jeremy Cosimeno, both ranked in the top five in wrestling's armdrag.com poll.

Wes Snyder (Kendall) faces Jason Hodge (Le Roy) at 171. Both won their matches by pins.