Those who must face state place-finishers

February

In terms of facing proven opponents in the first round, Section 1 lucked out. Only four locals—Ryan Osleeb, Dan Manley, Greg Canaparo, Kevin Davidson—will see first-round opponents that placed in the state last year. Two of them, however, are state champions.

Kevin Davidson drew the toughest assignment. His prize for upsetting Udit Thakur in the 135 championship is a date with Fordham Prep’s Andrew Lenzi. Lenzi, of course, came out of nowhere last year to win a state title and subsequently The Journal News wrestler of the year.

Meanwhile Thakur, who got into states via a wild card, is seeded six places higher than Davidson and gets a much less daunting first-round assignment. However, should he win he will need to beat No. 1 seed Ali Hasan to make it to the second day.

Ardsley’s Dan Manley is the other unlucky one. He must face No. 2 seed Alex Ekstrom, another champion. Ekstrom, from Section 5, is 46-2. Unbelievably, he’s a wild card. That’s because one of his two losses was to top seed Ian Paddock in the sectional tournament. Ekstrom’s 46-2 looks superb until you see that Paddock is 50-0.

North Salem’s Ryan Osleeb drew Tioga’s Corey Spires. Spires was sixth in the state last year. Like Thakur, Osleeb’s real challenge here is in the second round. He’s got to get past No. 1 Matt Peters to make Day 2.

At 125 pounds in Division II, both locals have their work cut out for them. Michael Kane got in on a wild card even though he took third at sections. Predictably he is seeded 16th (i.e. last). He is a major underdog against Greene’s Nick Wilcox. Section champ Greg Canaparodidn’t get much better. He’s the 15-seed, and drew 46-1 Sean Hanson. Hanson was 4th in the state last year.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 8:07 pm by Jake Thomases. Print | Email

6 Responses to “Those who must face state place-finishers”

oldschool February 26th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
the seeds for states have changed, the state returners werent given enough points and section champs were behind wild cards so the brackets have changed 12 hrs before wrestling starts. Just remember who told ya 1st
MAHOPAC/LAKELAND FAN February 27th, 2009 at 6:47 am
OSLEEB IS A GREAT WRESTLER, AND HE IS GONNA WIN HIS FIRST ROUND MATCH UP. RIDICULOUS HE WAS SEEDED SO LOW. HE GAVE JUSTIS ALL HE CAN HANDLE AND IS JUST AS GOIOD AS STAUBER.
MAHOPAC/LAKELAND FAN February 27th, 2009 at 7:21 am
HOW GOOD IS MATT PETERS?? CAN OSLEEB BEAT HIM?? OSLEEB IS AS GOOD AS ANY SECTION ONE 119LBER, WE GOT AND THAT INCLUIDES FLAMIO. FLAMIO HAS UPPED THE LEVEL, SEE STAUBER. OSLEEB DESTROYED HIS WAY THROUGH SECTIONALS, HE LOST TO THE STATE RUNNER UP(FLAMIO) 4-2. HE WAS ROBBED AS WELL. I JUST CANT SEE THEIR BEING SO MANY D2 (NO LESS) WRESTLERS WITH BETTER CREDENTIALS THAN OSLEEB. CANT WAIT, SECTION ONE IS GONNA SURPRISE PEOPLE THIS YEAR . TOP 5 HERE WE COME. CANT WAIT TO SEE US KICK SOME ASS UP THER!!!!!
Joe M February 27th, 2009 at 8:07 am
I too hope Osleeb does well. Regardless of the seed, he (and everyone else) has to beat the guy in front of him. Seeds are for the fans; wrestlers compete.

Good luck to the Section 1 team!
MAHOPAC/LAKELAND FAN February 27th, 2009 at 8:28 am
yo joe, seeds make a difference. osleeb is lucky, he is a underclassman he has next year. take hauser, undefeated and a senior. he blew through some good wrestlers at the section one tourny. he is a two time sectional runner up and he gets the 15 seed??? davidson,another senior beats thakur and gets seeded lower?? not right.i will say this, hauser is an all state wrestler at 140lbs (top 5) but because of his bogus seed he might not make it to day two. section one has two 119pounders seeded in the top 5 in large school brackets, and osleeb is right their on their level. how does that translate into an 8 seed in d-2??? as i mentioned earlier brundage finished third last year at states, crushes his way through sectionals and is seeded 5th??? guys thats not right!
Agree February 27th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
heres the reason. D2 119 is MUCH deeper than D1 this year. Osleeb would have placed with more ease in D1(he beat Stuaber twice this year). He beat Gormely in his wrestle back(all state last year). However Tyler Marlow lost his first match after being up 15-4 he was caught in a head in arm by the Peru wrestler. Osleeb would have had a much better chance with the peru wrestler. Tyler Marlow may be a tall order….we will see

It is a condition of your use of the comment features associated with the blogs that you do not: Use the site to post or transmit any unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane or indecent information of any kind, including without limitation any transmissions constituting or encouraging conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any local, state, national or international law. You alone are responsible for the material you post or send. Refer to the Terms of Service.