Section V Class A Wrestling Championships

Varsity Wrestling Tournament
@ Fairport High School (Fairport, NY)
Friday & Saturday, February 18-19, 2000

Final Results
 

Pagano pulls unlikely repeat
The Athena senior recovers from a broken leg to defend his Section V Class A wrestling title

By JAMES JOHNSON, Staff Writer
Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY
Sunday, February 21, 2000

Full Text: Copyright © 2000 Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Company Inc.

There was some doubt whether Mike Pagano would be able to repeat as a Section V wrestling champion this season.

The Greece Athena senior broke his leg playing football for the school's team, raising the possibility that he would be doing rehabilitation excercises instead of wrestling this winter.

But Pagano not only made it back to wrestling mats around Monroe County - he also remained Section V's Class A 140-pound champion.

A 5-2 decision over Spencerport's Jordan Raines in the sectional final at Fairport made Pagano's repeat bid a successful one and completed his rehabilitation.

"To tell you the truth I didn't feel `back' until this tournament," said Pagano, who reached the finals of the Monroe County League Tournament earlier this month. "I wasn't worried about anything but winning."

Spencerport won its 12th consecutive sectional team title by accumulating 194 points. Canandaigua came in second with 159 points.

Pagano and the rest of the wrestlers were looking for top-four finishes in their divisions to guarantee themselves berths in this weekend's SuperSectionals, the state tournament qualifier.

Sixteen wrestlers in each of the 12 weight classes will wrestle for spots in the state wrestling tournament in Syracuse Friday and Saturday at the ESL Centre in Brighton.

Pagano, who reached the state tournament last season, did excercises for two hours a day, three or four times a week to regain strength and flexibility in his left left.

His femur bone was broken when he was tackled in a football game, tearing cartilage off the leg.

"It was torture," said Pagano. "I couldn't stand watching my teammates. I was getting nervous.

"I wasn't getting the OK from the doctor and the season was winding down. You don't want to watch your senior year."

Fans in attendance watched Spencerport's Jared Morleand hold off Greece Olympia's Joe Veltre in the 112 final to win 17-15 in overtime.

Moreland led 10-1 at one point but began losing the lead when Veltre made a simple adjustment.

"He started shooting to my left leg," said Moreland. "That's what really confused me because he didn't do that before."

Veltre got back into the match by methodically taking Moreland down and then letting him escape. With time running out in regulation, Veltre hit one more takedown to tie the score at 15-15.

"I thought I had him at the end of regulation with some near fall points," Veltre said.

Veltre was tired in overtime and he said that led to him taking a "poor" shot attempt for a takedown. Moreland was alert and strong enough to capitalize on the mistake, snapping Veltre to the mat and manuevering behind him for the winning two points.

"We're trained to win the overtime matches," said Moreland. "(Bill Jacoutot and John Leone) train us to tough to come up big."

Brighton's Zach Lehmann hit a single-leg takedown in the final 20 seconds to beat Mike Lynn 4-3 in the 171-pound final. Gates Chili's Jason Macartney was knocked out of championship contention in the division by a 6-2 loss to Lehmann in the semifinals.

Macartney won his first wrestleback, clinching a spot in the SuperSectionals, but was pinned in the third-place match by Spencerport's Scott Baxter.