Leading off today: Winning state championships obviously has been twice as easy since the two-division format was introduced in 2004, but that doesn't detract from a nifty triple-double pulled off by Section 2 wrestlers last night at the NYSPHSAA championships in Albany.

   Austin Meys of Shenendehowa and LaSalle Institute’s Zach Clemente and Ken Altarac capped their scholastic careers by repeating as state champions in front of the home crowd.

   Meys earned his third state championship with a pin of Matt Loew of Wantagh in 1:59 to capture the Division I 189-pound title. He won all four matches over two days at Times Union Center with first-period pins (elapsed time of 3:46) to pick up the division's outstanding wrestler award for the second straight year. He Meys ends with 263 victories, a Section 2 record, including a 45-0 mark as a senior. He lost only eight times in his career.

   Also in Division I, Clemente (145 pounds) and Altarac (285) joined Matt Herrington as two-time champions for LaSalle. Altarac avenged a loss by decisioning Port Jervis' J.D. Zitone in the final, 7-5. They last clashed Eastern States Classic in a bout where Altarac injured his left knee.

   "That cost me a couple of weeks,” Altarac, top-ranked in the country at 285, told The Daily Gazette. "It was good to win here. I had a lot of people rooting for me."

   A few of the tournament's other top storylines:
   

Section 11 put an impressive nine wrestlers into the Division I finals and came away with five champions, including Kings Park junior Mike Soria at 96 pounds. His twin Max wrestled back to third-place after forfeiting a quarterfinal Friday night against his brother.

   Mike Soria's opponent in the final was Longwood seventh-grader Corey Rasheed, whose freshman brother Malik (fifth at 103) was also a place-winner.

   Also noteworthy from the Island, Syosset junior Nick Arujau won his second straight state title with a 4-0 win vs. Jamie Franco of Monroe-Woodbury at 125 pounds. It was the 85th consecutive win for Arujau.
   

As for Section 6, Fredonia senior Kenny Betts concluded a record-setting career with a 2-0 decision over Craig Scott of Lyons in the Division II 152-pound title match.

   Betts set a state record with 269 victories in his six-year varsity career. He surpassed Winky Shepard (Central Square, 267 wins) and finished 57-3 for the season and 269-37 for his career, including 186 pins.

   And after becoming the first female in the state semifinals, Fredonia senior Carlene Sluberski went on the final, where she dropped a 7-2 decision to Jacob Goddeau from Peru. Sluberski (117-36 in her career) broke a finger on her left hand 15 seconds into the final.
   

The Section 5 story was all about Palmyra-Macedon senior Alex Ekstrom, who pulled down his fourth state title by scoring a 4-3 decision over three-time champ Ian Paddock in the Division II 135-pound final. It earned him the outstanding wrestler award a week after dropping a 5-0 match his Warsaw rival.

   Ekstrom wrestled the final minus the knee brace that had been protecting his right knee for the last three weeks. The brace broke during the semifinals.
   

Section 4 competitors walked away with an impressive seven championships, including six in Division II -- where Greene and Waverly each snared two crowns.

   Greene's Nick Wilcox won his second state title with a 6-4 decision over Palymra-Macedon's Sean Walton at 125. Wilcox won his first state title at 103 pounds in 2006. He was unbeaten last year and qualified for states but couldn't wrestle after being caught attending an underage drinking party.

   "This should be my third title, but having two's a lot better than one," he told The Press & Sun-Bulletin.
   

Among Section 1 competitors, Ossining senior James Brundage nearly lived up to an ambitious goal. Midway through the season, he vowed to pin or tech fall his way through the entire postseason.

   Brundage made it through the league and sectional meets with the goal intact and was still on course through the state semis before having to settle for a 17-10 decision over T.J. Neidhart of Shoreham-Wading River in the Division I 160-pound championship match.

   

Section 3 was conspicuous by its near-absence in the finals. Just two Central New Yorkers reached finals, and only senior Ryan Leblanc (Morrisville Eaton, Division II, 160 pounds) came away with top honors. Section 3 had no finalists and just one top-six placer in the large-schools division.

Winter tournament brackets NYSPHSAA boys basketball NYSPHSAA girls basketball NYSPHSAA boys ice hockey

   Queensbury still alive: Queensbury earned its third straight Section 2 Division II hockey championship with a 3-2 triumph over Glens Falls. Queensbury (23-2-1), ranked second in Division II by the New York State Sportswriters Association, advances to the NYSPHSAA quarterfinals.

   Kevin Valenti's second goal of the game, off a rebound with 1:11 left in the second period, was the winner. All of the game's scoring took place in the second period.

   Queensbury had won the clubs' two regular-season games by a 12-2 total margin but gave back a 2-0 lead by surrendering a pair of power-play goals. Spartans goaltender Travis Marlow made 23 saves.

   Late scratch: Section 1 hockey chairman reported late this morning that tonight's Rye vs. Pelham hockey game for the Section 1 Division II championship has been postponed until Tuesday at a site and time to be determined. The schools' principals made the decision in anticipation of a storm that is expected to batter downstate tonight.

   Mamaroneck vs. White Plains in the Division I game remains a go today, with opening faceoff at West Point at 4 p.m.

   Brackets: I've dummied out brackets for boys basketball, girls basketball and ice hockey and will start populating them with teams tonight or tomorrow. If you want to see which sections face off in the early rounds of the various classes, click here.

   Boys basketball: The potential field of Class A contenders in the Federation tournament continues to fascinate.

   Defending champ Jamesville-DeWitt and Peekskill are on a collision course for a March 22 NYSPHSAA final in Glens Falls. The PSAL is never short on title candidates, and Long Island Lutheran (14-8) is mowing folks down now that Tobias Harris is playing on two healthy ankles again.

   And then there's the CHSAA. Iona Prep (23-1) and St. John Baptist (22-2) lead the downstate contenders, and Buffalo Nichols, ranked fifth by the NYSSWA, is looking pretty respectable these days. Senior Chris Stegemann scored five of his eight points in the last 2:30 to help Nichols hold off St. Francis, 63-54, to set up a Manhattan Cup final tonight against Canisius.

   The game was tied at 52 when Stegemann intercepted a pass, drove three-quarters court and made a layup. Ron Canestro (19 points) followed a St. Francis turnover with a baseline drive, and Stegemann knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner for a 59-52 lead.

   Junior Will Regan led Nichols with 25 points.

   Girls basketball: Haldane continues to amaze. Yesterday's 56-51 victory against Alexander Hamilton gave the Blue Devils their 19th Section 1 championship in 21 years. Haldane is 443-84 over the past 22 seasons.

   By avenging a 56-35 loss -- it was 21-2 after one quarter -- two days before Christmas, Haldane (14-8) moved into the state tournament first round March 11 at SUNY New Paltz.

   In an anticipated Section 5 Class CC semifinal between state-ranked foes, Porsche Gavin scored 21 as No. 2 Nazareth ousted No. 4 Marion, 70-56. Harley Cleary recorded 21 points, seven assists and seven steals for the Lasers (18-5).

   Today's big event: Coach Bob Daggett of Class AA No. 6 St. Peter's has a good read on St. Michael’s Academy, ranked No. 1 in the state, heading the CHSAA Archdiocesan final this afternoon.

   "They have everything," Daggett told The Advance. "They have good size; they have speed; they’re very athletic and they have depth."

   Both teams are assured places in the eight-team Catholic AA state playoffs.

   Gymnastics recap: Jillian Hudson of Tappan Zee overtook her on the final rotation for the all-around title, but Kings Park senior Brittany Cassar still had a huge day in the state gymnastics championships in Latham.

   In addition to second place in the all-around, Cassar won the floor exercise (9.825) and the balance beam (9.675), took fifth on vault (9.2) and finished sixth on the uneven bars (9.25). Her score on the floor exercise broke the state record of 9.8 set by Corissa Pirkl (West Islip, 2003).

   Extra points: Cazenovia won a Class B regional championship in girls volleyball with a three-game sweep of Plattsburgh. Lakers coach Brian Ellithorpe picked up his 200th career win against 82 losses in 13 seasons.

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