Canton’s Barney, Gouverneur star in Section 10 wrestling

GOUVERNEUR — Canton senior Curtis Barney took his place among the elite of Section 10 wrestling on Saturday while Gouverneur collected more accolades for the most dominant program in the history of area scholastic athletics.

Barney became only the fourth Section 10 wrestler to win six sectional titles in helping the Golden Bears outscored Massena 169-161.5 for the Section 10 Division I title. The Wildcats followed up an undefeated Northern Conference dual meet championship by outdistancing Ogdensburg Free Academy 177.5-126 for Division II honors.

The ever-smiling Barney (24-11) pinned David Elman of Massena at 2 minutes, 26 seconds to win the 132-pound title and counted his blessings after earning his sixth trip to the New York State Championships which will be held at the Times Union Center in Albany on Feb. 25.

“When I was young I tried all kinds of sports and settled on wrestling, soccer and track in high school,” said Brown ,who plans on entering the U.S. Army or the Marines after high school.

“I’ve been very lucky to have great coaches in Coach (Matt) Brown and Coach Clark (former Canton Central and St. Lawrence University Coach John Clark). Steve Brown (current Central Michigan Assistant Coach) worked with me a lot in the summer and a lot of other people have helped me a lot. Wrestling is a great sport for conditioning and discipline.”

Matt Brown forsees a fine military career for Barney and feels that his wrestling success will play a major role.

“Curtis is a great person, he has worked extremely hard in wrestling and he has put in a lot of time in the offseason. Wrestling will absolutely be a big help to him as he enters the military.”

Barney’s dedication to the sport has been reflected in the Gouverneur program since its founding in the 1950s by legendary coach Lacey Jones, who watched Saturday’s championships.

Leading a strong Wildcat contingent to the states will be 38-3 Dylan Stowell (forfeit at 113) who has placed third in Division II at states the last two years. Other Wildcat medalists were: Aaron Bush (106) who pinned OFA’s Hayden LaRock, 29-8 Zach Ayen (forfeit 120), 27-11 Skylar Way (126) who pinned OFA’s Glenn Breen, Joey Love (132) who pinned Clifton-Fine’s Ryan Jones, Curtis Fuller (152) who held on for a 7-5 decision over OFA’s Alex Cole, Brenden Ward (160) who pinned OFA’s Cody David, Kyle Bigwarfe (182) who pinned OFA’s D.J. Swan, 32-7 Hunter Ayen (forfeit 195) and Brayden Wood (225 forfeit)

Four OFA wrestlers won Division II titles, led by repeat champion Andrew Cole (25-5) who registered a showcase 3-1 victory at 170 pounds over Gouverneur’s Ricky Sides (27-12).

“When I got the lead in the third period I was very careful not to make a mistake,” said Cole.

Bookending victories at either end of the lineup were: seventh-grader Tanner LaPiene (99) who raised his season’s record to 27-5 with a pin over Dawson Kerr of C-F and 285-pounder Nate Sarkin who repeated with a 19-second fall over C-F’s Anthony Aldrich.

Nate Murdock won the highest scoring title match, outscoring C-F’s Nate Aldrich 16-9 at 138.

Also reaching the finals for OFA was Bailey Phelps who lost by technical fall to 24-2 Jake Demon of C-F.

Joining Canton’s Barney as the top performers in Division I were: Massena’s 28-1 106-pounder Nate Marshall and 32-3 126-pounder Isaiah Perry, Canton 25-9 eighth grader Ryan Brown (99), Malone’s 27-7 Jamel Steapleton (138), Canton’s 23-4 Eb Foote (152) and Massena’s 23-9 Jerry Malone (195).

Also claiming Division I titles were: Massena’s Skyler Cameron (113), DaKota Bernard (182) and Nolan Terrance (285), Canton’s Cody Bond (120), Cody Dominque (160) and Adam Weidner (220), Malone’s Ryan Spinner (145) and Cody Smith (170).

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Madrid-Waddington 51, Hammond 45

With the Jackets locked into the fourth seed and the Lady Red Devils locked into the third seed in the upcoming Section 10 Class D tournament, which begins on Tuesday, Madrid-Waddington secured the win with a 23-5 fourth quarter.

Brittany Pierce scored 15 of her 22 points in the fourth and she collected eight steals for M-W. Alyssa Crosby scored 18 points including 11 from the foul line for Hammond (14-4).

SOUTH JEFFERSON 48, CARTHAGE 42

Amanda Roberts and Arin Crowell each scored 14 points as the Spartans fought out of an early hole to beat the Comets in the Frontier League “A/B” crossover final at Jefferson Community College.

Clarissa Perry scored 12 points, and Roberts added seven assists and five rebounds for South Jefferson (18-0). Crowell and Perry made four 3-point field goals apiece.

Zakiya Saunders scored 17 points to lead Carthage (15-3), which led 14-4 after the first quarter, and 23-21 at halftime. Gabby O’Brien added 10 points for the Comets.

A-P-W 54, IHC 50

Kylee Bartlett’s game-high 22 points guided the Rebels (9-9) to a win over the Cavaliers (9-9) in the Frontier League “A/B” crossover consolation at JCC.

Immaculate Heart Central was paced by Christine Wright’s 19 points.

Altar-Parish-Williamstown overcame a 31-27 halftime deficit to win, thanks to outscoring IHC, 27-19, in the second half.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Edwards-Knox 61, Hermon-DeKalb 48

A 20-7 first quarter in a Northern Athletic Conference non-divisional game keyed the Cougars (12-6) into the likely fourth seed in the upcoming Section 10 Class D tournament that begins on Wednesday. Kaden Dandrow scored 18 points and Ben Fuller tallied 13 points for the Cougars. Dylan Amo dropped in 30 points for Hermon-DeKalb (11-7).

Morristown 48, Hammond 38

Bobby Simmons tossed in 20 points to help the Rockets (8-10, 4-8) past the Red Devils (3-15, 2-10) to a West victory at Hammond.

HOCKEY

ISLANDERS 6, RYE 3

Ethan Whitton and Tony Bobkoskie each recorded hat tricks for the Islanders en route to a comeback victory over the Garnets in a nonleague game at Alexandria Bay.

Whitton scored 4 minutes into the second period, and he and Bobkoskie alternated scoring six consecutive goals for the Islanders, who trailed 2-0 after the first period. Goalie Andrew Swords stopped 33 shots for the Islanders (9-10-1).

Michael Benincasa supplied one goal and two assists, and Jack O’Brien and Cal Hynson each added one goal and one assist for Rye (12-5-1).