Burghers win championship in Granville wrestling tourney

Warrensburg wrestlers celebrate with their trophies following their victory Saturday Dec. 17 when they won the 16-team Granville tournament.

By Thom Randall

As of Monday, December 19, 2011 -9:38 a.m.

The Warrensburg Wrestling team continued its improbable and confounding campaign of 2011-12 by winning the 16-team Granville wrestling tournament Saturday Dec. 17.

The Burghers won first place in the Ken Harrison Memorial Granville Lions Wrestling Tournament by edging out perennial powerhouse South Glens Falls by 2 & 1/2 points.

The victory featured three first-place wins — by Lucas Nelson, Beecher Baker and Nick Nedelcu — as well as three second place wins and three others in the top four.

The win was accomplished despite a 2011-12 lineup that is thin this year, primarily due to several talented wrestlers not signing back up for 2011-12. This situation baffled the coaches, but apparently fired up the remaining veterans — and some talented newcomers — to light up the scoreboard this year.

Coach Mark Trapasso said he was perplexed but very pleased, after experiencing disappointment in the pre-season.

“It’s almost like an experiment,” he said. “I cannot explain how were having any success as a team, but it’s been wonderful so far — However, the wheels could fall off at any time.”

Not if the wrestlers keep up their energy and dedication, though.

So far this year, a number of the wrestlers in the new Burgher lineup have been outlasting their competitors — losing points early on, but rebounding when the opponents get winded and worn out.

Nick Nedelcu, a Sophomore, overcame an early-on point deficit — as he has in prior victories — to win the final match in the 126-pound weight class. He pinned Adam Mimms of Cambridge in the final 20 seconds of the match with a cradle.

“As Mimms got tired, Nick got stronger,” Trapasso said.

Also earning a first-place trophy was veteran Burgher Lucas Nelson, who decisioned Pat Pfenning of Rutland, who is ranked as one of the top five wrestlers in Vermont for his weight class.

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