Groton Wrestling

Groton School’s Coach Tim LaFrance took five wrestlers to the Section IV Class D Wrestling Tournament held at the Unadilla Valley School on Saturday, February 2nd. With the help of Assistant Coach Greg Rotunda and the cheers of their families, three wrestlers made it to final competition and two others finished in 6th place.

Darren Ostrander, a sophomore with a total of 17 wins and 5 losses for the 2012-13 season, was seeded 4th in the 120 pound class. He won his first match against Garrett Sylstra from Oxford, pinning him in one minute. Darren’s next match was against Jacob Andrews from Harpursville and ended in a hard-won win of 2-1. Moving on to the finals, Darren wrestled first seed, Madison Hoover, another tough contender from Harpursville, with a 19-8 record for 2012-13. Running the clock out, Darren Ostrander won the championship with score of 1-0.

Garrett Lockwood, a freshman who currently has 13 wins and 8 losses for the 1012-13 season, competed in the 99 pound class. He was seeded second and took third seed, Tabor Vanvalkenburg from Walton, with an 8-5 decision in his first match. In the championship round, Garrett finished second to Oxford’s Nate Hansen.

In the 152 pound class, Groton brought in seniors, Chris VanBenSchoten and Justin Tinelli. Chris currently has a win-loss record of 6-7 and Justin has 9-10. Chris won his first match by pinning Moravia’s Cody Shoemaker in 3 minutes and 45 seconds, while Justin beat Candor’s Caleb Nichols in a 5-4 decision. The teammates were pitted against each other in the next round with Chris coming out on top with a 4-2 decision. Justin lost his next match to Will Hilgers from Delhi. His last match was against Caleb Nichols from Candor during which he took a bad fall and injured his hip. Justin took an ambulance ride, loosing that match by default and finishing in 6th place. Chris VanBenschoten moved on to the finals against Nik Hansen from Oxford and finished in 2nd place.

Another freshman wrestler, Kyle Weldon, competed in the 138 pound class. Kyle has an 11-13 win-loss record for 2012-13. He lost his first match against Michael Fraboni from Odessa Montour, going on to pin Cody Spaulding from Moravia in 2 minutes and 48 seconds. He ended up having to face Fraboni again in a rematch for 5th and 6th place. Kyle placed 6th but will certainly be someone to keep an eye on as a contender for next year.

Darren Ostrander, Garrett Lockwood, and Chris VanBenSchoten will compete in the Section IV Division II Championships at the Broome County Arena on February 8th and 9th.

By April Scheffler