SOURCE: www.syracuse.com

February 29, 2004

WRESTLERS FROM BALDWINSVILLE AND LOWVILLE WIN IN CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
The Post-Standard
February 29, 2004

BUFFALO - The Section 3 wrestling drought is finally over. After six years without a state champion, two area wrestlers brought top honors from Buffalo.

Taylor Malone of Lowville set a state record of 245 career wins, breaking the old record of 243 set in 2002. He used a takedown 11 seconds into overtime to beat Kevin Rosplock of Cassadaga Valley to win his title.

Baldwinsville junior Shawn Farnham defeated Matt Mariacher of Irondequot to claim the 103-pound Division I championship. Farnham won three straight bouts by decision to win his first state title.

Ice hockey: Solvay won its first Section 3 ice hockey championship since 1990, beating Skaneateles 3-2 in the Division Two title game. Solvay, ranked No. 2 in the state, advances to the state tournament.

"It's been a long, long time," defenseman Kyle Everett said. "I think the Bearcats are back. And we're not done yet."

In Division One, Ithaca shut out Baldwinsville 4-0. The Bees, who lost last years sectional title game to the Little Red 3-0, suffered their third defeat to Ithaca this season.

Boys basketball: Senior Terry Smith scored 13 points to lead Bishop Ludden past Fowler 44-34 in a Section 3 Class AA-2 boys basketball semifinal game.

"We gutted it out," Bishop Ludden coach Pat Donnelly said.

With the win, Ludden (19-3) advances to a Friday night sectional title game against Christian Brothers Academy, the winner of Saturday's other Class AA semifinal.

Tully and Onondaga also advanced to sectional finals with wins Saturday.

Girls basketball: It took three tries, but Cazenovia finally beat Bishop Ludden. And this time, it really mattered. Caz beat the Gaelic Knights 58-40 in a Section 3 Class B semifinal. The Lakers face South Jefferson next weekend for the championship.

Heather Stec scored 15 points to lead the Lakers. "We had it with losing so much to them," she said after the win.

In a Class A semifinal, top-seeded Westhill survived a scare against No.4 seed Carthage. Carlee Cassidy scored a game-high 19 points for the Warriors (20-2). Westhill will play either Phoenix or New Hartford next weekend for the championship.