by Ryan Mosher
Hoosick Falls Senior Taylor Robichaud worked his way into the Panthers’ wrestling history books on Saturday, becoming the first wrestler from the school to win at the Section II State qualifier since 1999. The top seed Robichaud, who last weekend won the Class C Championship, advances to his first State tournament as he improved his record to 33-3 on the season.
After a first round bye, he won a 9-4 decision over Kyle McKeighan of Salem in the quarterfinal round. In the semifinals Robichaud defeated Jim Sheedy of Voorheesville 10-1 to set up a final match against #3 seed Dustin Hallock of Cohoes.
In the finals Robichaud had no problem with Hallock, jumping out to a large lead and coming close to pinning the Cohoes wrestler several times early in the match. Finally, :23 into the third period Robichaud pinned Hallock to claim the Section II Division Championship and the right to compete in the New York State tournament this weekend at the Times Union Center in Albany.
Another Panther wrestler, Jeremy Burns, also did well in the tournament and will advance to the State tournament. Burns, wrestling at 189 pounds, had little trouble throughout the day as he advanced to the finals. In his first round match Burns needed just :48 to dispatch his Hadley-Luzerne/Lake George opponent. In the quarterfinals it was just 1:34 into the match that he pinned Zack Haynes of Hudson Falls. And in the semifinals Burns recorded a 13-1 decision over Johnstown’s Craig Cook. In the final match against #1 seed Nick Gwiazdowski of Duanesburg, Burns would fight hard, but Gwiazdowski scored in the last few seconds of the match to take home the championship. Burns will advance to the State tournament, where he finished third last year.
The Panthers also had four other wrestlers compete at the tournament. Dan Cramer, Jacob Pearson and Matt Fogarty each went 1-2 in the 103, 125 and 145 pound weight classes. Jordan Robichaud went 0-2 in the 130 pound weight class.
Berlin also had two wrestlers compete in the tournament. Tim Chaudoin went 0-2 in the 285 weight class, and senior Max Fischer went 0-2 in the 152 pound weight class. Fischer, a Berlin team captain, ended his season with a 28-10 record.