Section 5 Class A Championships

Varsity Wrestling Tournament

@ Fairport High School

February 16-17, 2001

Final Results

Trio of Chiefs qualify for Supersectionals
Penfield Post
February 22, 2001

Full Text: Copyright © 2001 Penfield Post.
Reproduced with the permission of Messenger Post Newspapers.

The Penfield varsity wrestling team surprised some observers last week when they advanced three heavyweights to this weekend's state qualifier at SUNY Brockport.

The Chiefs' senior tri-captains, Jon Leavy (215 pounds), Justin Cisco (189) and Billy Stuart (171), all earned shots at moving on to the state championships in Syracuse by placing in the top four at the Section 5 Class A Championships hosted by Fairport High School Friday and Saturday.

Most expected Leavy to advance as the top seed coming into the tournament. Stuart (seventh seed) and Cisco (unseeded) were surprise qualifiers, however.

Stewart will be making his first trip to Supersectionals after posting a 3-2 record and a fourth-place finish at the Class A championships. He beat Churchville-Chili's Pat Emblidge 14-0 in a preliminary matchup Friday before defeating Rush-Henrietta's Justin Head 1-0 with a second period escape in the quarterfinals. Stewart lost a 9-3 decision to Head during a regular season dual meet earlier this year.

Stewart (24-12 on the year) fell to eventual champion Mike Lynn of Pittsford 13-1 in the semifinals before returning to beat Irondequoit's E.J. Gianforte 4-2 in the wrestleback semifinals. He then lost 3-0 to Canandaigua's Derek Moore in the consolation finals.

Cisco took the long road to the state qualifier, yet battled to a fourth-place finish.

He defeated McQuaid's Tom Cinelli with a third-period pin in a pre-quarterfinal match Friday before losing to Greece Athena's Joe Pereira 5-3 in the quarterfinals. During the first period of that match, the two bumped heads opening a 1/4-inch gash on Cisco's scalp. He was forced to visit Highland Hospital late that evening, where two staples were used to close the wound.

He returned to action Saturday and pinned Brockport's Rowan Carr in 4 minutes, 29 seconds before topping Webster's Rex Ocorr 7-6 in the wrestleback quarterfinals.

Cisco (20-10) used a last-minute takedown to defeat Spencerport's Jason Mussen 8-7 in the consolation semifinals.

"That's tough," said Penfield coach Rob Thomas. "Especially when you consider it's in the Section 5 finals, and in the final minute against a Spencerport kid. It was quite a combination."

Cisco closed the gap on Pereira in the finals but fell on the short end of a 3-2 decision.

Leavy will be making his second trip to the Supersectionals after advancing at 189 pounds a year ago, when he lost in the semifinals to Gates Chili's Dan Glover. He pinned Webster's Rob Hermann in 1:00 during the quarterfinals and put Athena's Lou Pereira on his back 1:50 into their semifinal match.

Leavy (26-1) topped Mike Maliszesky 11-0 in the finals.

Thomas is excited for the trio, which has been the backbone of the Chiefs roster all season.

"They kind of feed off each other," said the Penfield coach. "They've been working together all season and it's nice to see them still practicing together at this point in the year."

The only other Chief to post a win at the tournament was 135-pounder Anthony Claudio. Claudio went 2-2 on the day.

Supersectionals begin tomorrow at SUNY Brockport at 2 p.m. They will continue Saturday.