West named j/v coach of the year

oc-westBy Andrew Muse

Brad Perry and Nathanial Palmer fell just in their bids for a Section II wrestling title.

Perry finished as the runner-up at 170 pounds while Palmer finished third at 152 pounds.

The seniors were among five wrestlers who earned an invitation to the Division II Wrestling Championships held last weekend at the Glens Falls Civic Center. .

Perry, Palmer, Dwayne Nadeau, Damien Duffy, and Devin Cohan all qualified for the event after their impressive performances at the Class C Wrestling Championship earlier this month. .

“All the boys have a desire to win and to do the best they can,” Head Coach Stephen Palmer said. “The guys went out with a mindset to win and that’s all you can ask after a long season, they have a heart of a champion.”

Palmer and Perry both breezed through their quarterfinal matchup winning 15-3 and 10-1 respectively.

Perry then faced George Pooters of Cairo-Durham, who he beat in the Class C tournament, and defeated him in a close match 3-2. In the championship match Perry was able to bring his opponent, Geno Brancati of Hudson Falls, to overtime but ended up losing 6-1.

Each scored an escape during regulation went into overtime tied at 1-1. In overtime, Brancati scored a takedown with 24 seconds remaining to earn the win. Brancati’s victory was his third Section II title.

Palmer, who primarily wrestled at 138 pounds during the season, fought hard in his semifinal matchup but fell to eventual 152 lb. champion Cam Milliken of Albany Academy 13-3. He avenged his lose though in the consolation match defeating Colby Davendonis.

“He (Palmer) wanted to try a new weight class coming into the postseason,” Stephen Palmer said. “He jumped two spots from 138 lb. to 152 lb. and had success so we went with it.”

Despite the losses, both Perry and Palmer could still qualify for the New York state Championships as at-large bids. At-large bids are expected to be announced this week. The state championships will be held Feb. 28 and March 1 at the Times Union Center in Albany.

Cohan, 106 lb., Duffy, 145 lb., and Nadeau, 285 lb., all put a great effort in but fell to their opponents in the quarterfinals.

“I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to coach this season,” Stephen Palmer said. “They were competitive in all their matches and worked hard the whole season, they should hold their heads high after a season like that.”

The Horde finished the regular season with a 2-2 conference record and went 10-13 overall.

Junior Varsity coach O.C. West was honored as the Class C JV coach of the year as voted by the league coaches. He was recognized by coaches for his efforts all season including putting on three tournaments at home this year.