Indian River wrestlers capture FL crown

PHILADELPHIA — The crowd at Indian River middle school let out a collective “Ooooh,” when Derek Pfuger’s back hit the mat 15 seconds into the 152-pound Frontier League wrestling championship match on Saturday.

But the shock didn’t last long as the Sandy Creek senior flipped over Immaculate Heart’s Aaron West almost immediately and pinned him at the 57-second mark to remain undefeated at 33-0, pick up his 255th career win, and his fourth league title.

General Brown senior Nathan Silverthorn won the 145-pound championship while upping his unbeaten mark to 39-0 and five individual champions led host Indian River to its third straight league championship.

Derrick Gray (126) won his third individual title for the Warriors, whose other champions were sophomore Jody Brown (99), junior Mike Mullins (113), and seniors Derrek Dalton (220) and Garrick Cook (195).

Indian River finished with a team score of 200, ahead of South Jefferson’s 161 points and General Brown’s 159.

“We haven’t lost on this,” Cook said, pointing to the mat that the school purchased a few years ago. “It’s nice to graduate knowing we didn’t lose on it.”

Silverthorn won all three of his bouts by pinfall to earn his second straight league title.

“It’s the toughest league in the state,” Silverthorn said. “There (are) sectional champs that don’t even win this.”

Silverthorn’s brother, Tyler (160), and teammate Ryan Snow (106) won their respective divisions to give the Lions three champions.

Snow was up 3-0 when he was taken down by Indian River’s Nick Toutant with six seconds left in the final. Snow avoided the pinfall and held on to secure the one-point victory by decision.

“I don’t know, I was really shocked,” Snow said. “(My coaches) helped me out a lot and I think that’s what helped me pull through that match.”

Lowville, which finished fourth in the team standings with 119 points, was the only other team with multiple champions. Tim Fargo held off a late push from South Lewis’ Garrett Kubinski to take an 8-6 decision at 132, and Brandon Fayle was the winner at 285.

South Jefferson junior Cody Jones pinned Copenhagen’s Joe Murtha with 26 seconds left to capture the 120 crown. Jones, the No. 4 seed in his division, earned the most outstanding wrestler award.

“I upset some good guys, I think I wrestled good today,” Jones said. “I’m glad to have my hard work pay off.”

IHC senior Bill Koelmel dominated the 182 division, taking the title with an 18-3 technical fall in 5 minutes, 43 seconds. He scored a pin in just over a minute to take the semifinal, and won his quarterfinal bout by major decision.

Carthage junior Shayne Brady took a 9-0 decision over South Jefferson’s Logan LaFlamme in the 170 final. The Comets finished with 117.5 points to place fifth in the team standings.

Isaiah Riccio of Beaver River beat Nick Koelmel by decision, 7-6, in a back-and-forth 138 final.

Class championships are slated next weekend at various sites, with sectionals ready for Feb. 11 at Onondaga Community College.