Three cheers for state champs
ROCHESTER — Minutes after crowning the school's first-ever state champion, coach John Babcock and Immaculate Heart Central went back for seconds.
"It was a wonderful feeling," Babcock said, "never having one then getting two in 12 minutes."
IHC's Antonio Doldo (145) and Derek Brenon (152) were crowned in Division II to join Watertown's Luke Bohn (135) in Division I as state wrestling tournament champions Sunday.
"It's a good feeling," Brenon said. "Winning the tournament is probably the best feeling, but overall it's knowing that all the hard work paid off. Working our butts off paid off."
Brenon and Doldo made a promise to each other immediately following last year's tournament that they would win it together this year. The two have pushed each other throughout the season to arrive at this moment.
"The main thing is they make each other better because they work together all the time," Babcock said. "Tony wouldn't be a state champ if it wasn't for Derek, and Derek wouldn't be a state champ if it wasn't for Tony."
Brian Kampnich (125) placed second and Kenneth Kampnich (130) was sixth for IHC. Kenneth had trouble bouncing back from a knee injury suffered in the quarterfinals and was forced to injury default in his wrestle backs.
Brenon won by a 8-3 decision in his championship bout after his opponent forced overtime with 38 seconds left. After finishing in second the past two years, Brenon couldn't help but think, "Here we go again."
But this was Brenon's year, and he scored four points in overtime by rolling Section 5's Nicholas Czapla, of Warsaw, onto his back as the seconds ticked away. But strange thing happened to the first-time champ: the crowd booed. Section 5 lies in the heart of the Finger Lakes region, and many fans made the short trip to the Blue Cross Arena and were hoping to see their wrestlers win in every bout.
"All the fans," Brenon said, "they don't even know how much hard work the wrestler puts into it. When they boo it's one of the worst feelings. My winning overdid that."
Doldo had an easier job in his championship. He scored in the first period and held off his opponent, Fredonia's Kenny Betts, in the second, scoring off an escape. In the third he scored two points to seal the match, winning by a 5-1 decision.
He then leapt off the mat and headed to the side of the arena where the Cavalier faithful resided and pointed to his parents. The thought that he was the first champ at IHC didn't occur to him.
"It's not what I noticed at first," Doldo said. "I realized it later. It felt great, like a feeling I never had before. I just wanted to look at the people that have been there the whole time cheering for you."
Bohn had a similar reaction upon winning his championship bout. The first thing he did was seek out the Watertown fans and raise both arms above his head. It was his first time in the state tournament and he made it a memorable one.
"This is the best feeling ever," Bohn said. "I'd like to dedicate it to coach (Ed) Jewett, Joe Beach and my father Jeff who got me into wrestling."
Bohn won his match against Columbia's Zach Crain by being an escape artist.
"You got to win matches like that one point at a time," Watertown coach Ed Jewett said, "and any time you can steal a point like that, you got to get it."
After trying to shoot for a leg takedown throughout the first period — and relying on his defense to hold his opponent scoreless into the second period — Bohn used a pair of escapes to take the lead, 2-1.
With thirty seconds left in the final frame, Crain used a time-out to fix his headgear. Perhaps he was trying to catch his breath in time to make a final push at taking the lead, but the move backfired and only angered Bohn.
"It made me kind of mad because it was like a whole new period just to fix his headgear," Bohn said.
Bohn was then able to run out the period, winning by 2-1.
Canton's Shawn Brown (125) placed second in Division I and was the lone Section 10 representative in the finals. It was his fifth year in the state tournament, but the first time he had won a bout after qualifying.
"I'm really happy," Brown said. "I called all my friends, everyone."
Brown was unable to come back after falling behind early, and ended up losing his match against Section 9's Jamie Franco by 2-0.
"It was a great day and I guess I would say two things; one would be the word perspective," Canton coach John Clark said. "Shawn's been here five times and this is the first time he's actually won a match here, and he won some big ones."
