Section 5 Super Sectionals

Varsity Wrestling Tournament and State Qualifier
@ SUNY Brockport

March 6, 1976

Championship Final

 91 – Rich Salamone (McQuaid) dec. Kevin Richard (Geneseo), 4-0

 98 – Don St. James (R-H Sperry) dec. Mike Hendrix (East), 6-4

105 – John Smallridge (McQuaid) dec. Alex Cole (Cuba), 13-2

112 – Mike Fuller (Warsaw) dec. Dave Halladay (Fairport), 11-6

119 – Robin Parker* (Cal-Mum) dec. Jerry Sacchitella (Spencerport), 10-4

126 – Greg Locke (Greece-Arcadia) dec. Pete Springer (McQuaid), 6-2

132 – Robert Hadsell (Canandaigua) dec. Chuck Partridge (Hilton), 19-4

138 – Gerry Savoie (Fairport) dec. Don O’Mara (Greece Arcadia), 7-2

145 – Dave Stulpin (Spencerport) dec. Bob Steinruck (East Rochester), 8-3

155 – Roy Lang (Wayne) dec. Wayne Taft (Webster Schroeder), 1-0 OT

167 – Frank Kiff (Bath) pinned Larry Allerton (Newark)

177 – Steve Rosa (Rush-Henrietta Sperry) pinned Bob Clark (Hilton), 3:03

215 – John Kinley (Webster Thomas) pinned Keith Piccirilli (R-H Roth), 3:42

250 – Chris Shaffer (Waterloo) dec. Rick Boor (Avon), 4-3

John Ordiway Outstanding Wrestler Award - Robert Hadsell (Canandaigua)

* Robin Parker was formerly known as Robin Scott.

Healthy Rosa Captures Title

By Tom Fitzgerald, D&C Sportswriter

Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY

March 7, 1976
 

Full Text: Copyright © 1976 Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Company Inc.

It’s tough to talk with tonsillitis, and it’s even tougher to wrestle with the flu, says Steve Rosa.

The Rush-Henrietta senior has suffered from both ailments the last two weeks and thinks they contributed to his only two defeats of the season.

Last night, however, he was healthy and took out his frustration on Hilton’s Bob Clark, pinning him at three minutes and three seconds in the Section 5 high school wrestling championships.

Rosa, who lost in the Monroe County finals to East Rochester’s Andy Brien and in the sectional class AAA final to Clark, raised his record to 29-2.

A crowd of 2,287 at Brockport State saw Rosa pick Clark off his feet and hold him for several seconds before deciding what to do.  He went for the cradle hold, got it, and won his revenge.

“Everybody thought I was finished,” said Rosa, “When I had him up there I was thinking about going for the takedown, playing it safe.  I’ve never been in that position before.  All I can think about is going down to Syracuse.”

Rosa, in the 181-pound class, will be joined by the other 13 local champions, led by four unbeaten contenders — John Kinley of Webster Thomas at 219, Roy Lang of Wayne at 159, Dave Stulpin of Spencerport at 149, and Robert Hadsell of Canandaigua at 136.

McQuaid will have two wrestlers in the state tournament, next Friday and Saturday at Syracuse, Rich Salamone at 95 and Joe Smallridge at 109.

Kinley pinned Keith Piccirilli of Rush-Henrietta Roth at 3:42.  Lang scored an escape in the second overtime to beat Webster Scroeder’s Wayne Taft, 1-0.  Stulpin beat East Rochester’s Bob Steinruck, 8-3, and said, “I’ve wrestled since fifth grade to get to the states and I finally did it.”

Hadsell was named the outstanding wrestler of the sectionals after beating Hilton’s Chuck Partridge, 19-4.

Salamone beat Geneseo’s Kevin Richard, 4-0, at 95 pounds.  After the state tournament, he says, he’ll have to start gaining weight.  “The lowest class in college (possibly Bucknell) is 118,” he said.

His teammate, Smallridge, decisioned previously unbeaten Alex Cole of Cuba, 13-2.  A third McQuaid wrestler, Pete Springer, was beaten 6-2 by Greece Arcadia’s Greg Locke at 130.

Don St. James of Rush-Henrietta Sperry said his victory over East’s Mike Hendrix was more thrilling than winning the world age-group freestyle championships last summer in the Dominican Republic.  “Everybody I know is here,” he said.  “Nobody knows me down there.”

Hadsell Wins Sectionals

By Tom Fitzgerald, D&C Sportswriter

Democrat and Chronicle

March 7, 1976

Full Text: Copyright © 1976 Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Company Inc.

The high school wrestling careers of Mike Fuller and Robert Hadsell read like charts in a hospital emergency room.

Fuller started the season off by putting his best foot forward — and shooting it accidentally with a .22 caliber rifle.  Hadsell had a run-in with an even tougher opponent than a bullet.  He was hit by a school bus three years ago.

Fuller, Warsaw’s 116-pounder and Hadsell, Canandaigua’s 136-pounder, overcame those obstacles to become champions.  Both won their final matches yesterday in the Section 5 high school wrestling tournament.

A crowd of 2,287 at Brockport State saw Fuller beat Fairport’s Dave Halladay 11-6.  It was the only loss of the season for Halladay, who has won 30 matches.  Hadsell was named the outstanding wrestler of the sectionals.  He lifted his record to 36-0 by trouncing Chuck Partridge of Hilton, 19-4.

Two weeks before practice began, Fuller was hunting in the woods of Livingston County when he shot a raccoon.  “It was a big ‘coon and he was just wounded,” he said.  “The thing came at me and I panicked.”

He said he’s going to have the foot x-rayed when the season is over.  But, first, like the other 13 champions yesterday, he will be competing in the state tournament next Friday and Saturday in Syracuse.

Hadsell, the only finalist from Canandaigua’s powerhouse, the top-rated team in the sections, suffered head injuries when he was hit by a bus before his sophomore year.

After spending four days unconscious and a year on the sidelines, he recovered for a 26-3-1 season last year.

“It was Sept. 2, 1973,” he recalls.  “My hat blew off in the road while I was on a pickup truck, and I went back to get it.  The bus came around a curve and hit me.  I didn’t even see it coming.”

Among the other titlists Caledonia-Mumford senior Robin Parker, who failed to score a pin with his unbreakable cradle but was a big winner nonetheless.  A state runner-up at 118 last year, he beat Spencerport’s Jerry Sacchitella 10-4 at 123 pounds.  Parker had won his three previous matches in the tournament by pins, all with a cradle hold.

“I hadn’t used it all year until now, but it’s working,” he said.

Roy Lang of Wayne outlasted Wayne Taft of Webster Schroeder, 1-0, by scoring with an escape in the second overtime.  “I’ve had overtime three times this year and won each time,” said Lang (34-0).

The meets final three matches, all were decided by pins.  Bath’s Frank Kiff (171 pounds) beat Newark’s Larry Allerton, Steve Rosa (181) of Rush-Henrietta Sperry beat Hilton’s Bob Clark at 3:03, and Webster Thomas’ John Kinley (219) beat Rush-Henrietta Roth’s Keith Piccirilli at 3:42.