The Last Hands Raised in 2013: North Country Invitational

This article is from 01/02/14

After plenty of rain, sleet and snow, the North Country Invitational was a go. The original date was set for December 21^st but due to the storm that layered the area with two inches of ice, the tournament was postponed to New Year’s Eve.

With the delays, a number of teams were unable to attend, however, 12 schools from Sections 3, 7 and 10 participated in the event. The winner of the Mountain Duals, General Brown, led the field with six champs and 266 team points followed by Saranac with three champs and 204.5 team points.

The last two bouts of the tournament just so happened to be best matches. At 152 pounds, General Brown’s Tyler Silverthorn took on Immaculate Heart Central’s Nick Koelmel. Both wrestlers placed in the top five at the New York state tournament a year ago (Silverthorn fifth at 160, Koelmel fourth at 145).  The match was tied 0-0 going into the third when Silverthorn earned two takedowns to win, 4-2.

In the final contest of the night Onondaga’s Tyler Field began with a takedown in the first period against three-time NYS placer Ryan Snow.  Snow followed with an escape and takedowns in the second and third periods to win 5-2 in what may have been the last New York high school match of 2013.  In another notable title bout, 2013 state placer Tanner Lapiene of Ogdensburg won 4-0 over Indian River’s Stefan Colbert at 113 pounds.

For full results, see here.

Results

Team Scores- Top 5

1^st place: General Brown (GB) 266

2^nd place: Saranac (SAR) 204.5

3^rd place: Indian River (IR) 177.5

4^th place: Gouverneur (GOUV) 167

5^th place: Ogdensburg (OFA) 163.5

Finals

99: Jake Nolan (SAR) Maj Dec Brent Millard (LOW) 11-0

106- Tucker Amato (IR) Dec Ryan Brown (CAN) 6-4

113- Tanner Lapiene (OFA) Dec Stefan Colbert (IR) 4-0

120- Garrett Fields (GB) WBF Brody Sheppard (OFA) :27

126- Nick Toutant (IR) Dec Conner Steria (LOW) 7-1

132- Ryan Snow (GB) Dec Tyler Field (OND) 5-2

138- Codie Gillette (SAR) Dec Zach Ayen (GOUV) 4-0

145- Zack Pfluger (SC) Maj Dec Nick Lavin (WAT) 8-0

152- Tyler Silverthorn (GB) Dec Nick Koelmel (IHC) 4-2

160- Kyle O’Connor (GB) Dec Zach Brown (SC) 4-3

170- Sonny McPherson (IR) TF Alex Cole (OFA) 16-1

182- Jacob Joanette (GB) WBF Nick Kraeger (SL) 3:03

195- Colton Erb (GB) Dec Ricardo Dawkins (GB) 5-4

220- Paul Herrera (SAR) WBF Zech Pitre (GB) 2:18

285- Zach Akey (SC) WBF Tony Bushey (SAR) 1:31