by Ryan Mosher
Saturday mornings at the New York State Wrestling Championships is one of the most intense times of the high school wrestling season in the Empire State. One hundred twenty of the states best wrestlers in each division face off for their chance to go into the final round and a chance at one of the coveted fifteen State championships in each division. By this point the cream of the crop has risen to the top, and every match ended with celebrations of joy and tears of agony.
[private]Well, every match but one. When the final whistle blew in Hoosick Falls junior Luis Weierbach’s semifinal match, a 2-0 win over a tough Brad Bihler of Maple Grove High School, Weierbach clenched his teeth and fists, smiled at his coach and then started his preparations for the finals. There was no pointing at the crowd, jumping up and down or anything like that. The #1 seeded wrestler in the 106 pound weight class was not here to make it to the finals, he was here to win.
This year’s tournament isn’t Weierbach’s first rodeo. In his three year varsity career, he has been at this tournament every year. He was even seeded #1 at 99 pounds as a freshman, something that did not work out the way he had hoped. After missing the podium that year, Weierbach came back stronger in 2012, defending his Section II Championship, and took 4th place at the State tournament. Teammate Brad Burns took 6th place, making it just the second time in Panther history that teammates had placed at States in the same year.
Perseverance Pays Off
All of that experience, and more, culminated this year as Weierbach made his pathway to the top of the podium step by step. That path did not come with shortcuts and wasn’t easy. He didn’t grow up the son of a wrestling coach, didn’t have a homemade wrestling room in the basement and didn’t have the means to go out and get private wrestling lessons from former wrestling greats like some do. Instead, he joined the wrestling team when his family moved back to Hoosick Falls when he was in the 7th grade. Living in New York City for several years prior to that, Luis said he didn’t have a lot to do and ended up watching WWE wrestling a lot. So back in upstate New York, where his cousin Will was already wrestling, Luis jumped at the chance to “be a wrestler.”
“I told my English teacher, Mr. Marsh, who was the varsity coach at the time, that I wanted to join the wrestling team. He told me, wrestling isn’t for everyone, but you should definitely try it out,” Weierbach recalled.
His first day in the wrestling room was also the first day there for someone who would play a huge role in his ascension to the top, Coach Landon Nelson. Nelson joined the Panther wrestling program as the modified coach that year and two years later took over the varsity program the same time as Weierbach moved up.
“Coach Nelson and I have developed a great relationship. He’s the best coach I could ask for. This title is no doubt just as big for him as it is for me. Some coaches go entire careers without a state champion, and he has one in his first three years,” Weierbach said.
So after that first year of wrestling, Weierbach joined the Hoosick Falls Youth Wrestling program with Michael Laporte, trying to get as much mat time as possible. The youth program travels to tournaments all over, working year round to improve the young wrestlers in this community. Weierbach clearly benefitted from the time spent there and as a freshman made the jump to the varsity team.
That year’s varsity team had no returning sectional champions and no one who had ever competed at the State tournament. With a new coach and a young team many could have doubted them, but Weierbach, along with Burns, a sophomore at the time, quickly drew everyone’s attention. The two each won their first Section II Championships and moved on to the 2011 State tournament. After not placing that year both repeated as Section II Champs and placed at the State tournament.
When this year rolled around Weierbach focused on the ultimate goal, to be a State Champion.
“At the beginning of each school year, and season, I make a list of my goals and hang it on my wall so it’s there staring me in the face everyday,” he said, “And now I’ve accomplished every one for now – certify at 108 pounds, increase my max bench press, become a three-time section champ, State Championship.”
His lists don’t just include wrestling though. The honor roll is always on the list, he said. Improving his trigonometry Regents score and being inducted into the National Honor Society are just a few of the others.
Dedication And Focus
The dedication and focus that Weierbach has leads us to the State tournament. There was no jumping and celebrating at any of his 33 wins earlier in the season.
“The difference this year was the mentality,” said Weierbach. “At the beginning of the year Coach and I knew that I was going to win the State Championship so I went out every match knowing I was going to win, and it made a big difference.”
So when he and Burns became three time Section II Champions, only the second and third in Hoosick Falls history to accomplish that feat, he was excited but knew his biggest challenge lay ahead.
Weierbach, the ultimate team player, gives a lot of the credit for his comfort level at this large scale tournament to Burns. Attending the Section II practices and having someone at States with him was great, he said, and having the same person there for three years with him made it even better.
The Tournament
After kicking the tournament off with a second period pin in the opening round, Weierbach’s matches got tougher, as expected. In his quarterfinal and semifinal matches, he pulled out 2-0 wins against Hunter Dusold and Bihler to set up a championship match with Danny Fox of Dolgeville.
“I had some close matches, two 2-0 victories. The action may not have reflected the scores, because I was in control the entire time. But, 2-0, I’m not used tight matches like that,” Weierbach said.
The final was another close one. The #2 seed Danny Fox of Dolgeville had a 38-2 record coming into the match. From the get go, Weierbach was the aggressor, taking several shots at Fox’s legs to no avail. Finally, with under a minute in the first period, he got a hold of one leg, lifted and sent them both to the floor with a trip. The takedown put him up 2-0. Fox fought valiantly to escape, coming close several times, but he was unable to get out of the #1 seed’s grasp.
In the second period, Weierbach started in the down position and increased his lead with an almost immediate escape. The battle went into the third period where Fox took the down position. For a full minute Weierbach worked hard to get Fox to his back. He used his favorite move, the “Picture Frame,” where he locks his legs around his opponent’s legs and uses his upper body to pull his opponent’s body around onto his back. The move was responsible for many of his pins this season. Despite his hard squeezing and pulling, Fox would not roll over, and the two inched out of bounds with just under a minute remaining.
On the restart, Fox finally fought his way free, setting up the dramatic finish. On the attack, Fox went after Weierbach’s legs but could not compete with his strength when they locked up. When time expired and the thirty or so Hoosick Falls fans in the
stands went nuts, Weierbach finally showed the emotion that had been building all season and pumped his fists and raised them in the air. With a huge smile on his face he took three big steps and leapt into Coach Nelson’s arms. Thanks in part to Time Warner Cable televising the finals and updates from the fans at the match, word of Titletown’s newest champion spread fast.
Coach Nelson’s face beamed when talking about Weierbach. “Luis set out to achieve a goal and took every step needed to fulfill it. There are so many factors that go into being a successful wrestler, with desire being at the top. Luis is a humble team player and individual,” he said.
Weierbach showed off his humble side after he came off the podium and posed for a couple photos and did a TV interview. He pulled off the two medals he had just received and placed them on Coach Nelson’s neck and said, “Here Coach, it was you that got me here.”
Later Weierbach said, “My medals are cool to look at, but, more importantly, my name is in the record book as a State champion and no one can ever change that or take it away, and that’s more valuable.”
A Great Tournament For Burns
Weierbach was also quick to point out what a great tournament Burns had. After winning his first match 11-7, Burns lost in double overtime in the quarterfinal round, sending him to the wrestlebacks. Burns was not happy with the loss and turned in his A game the rest of the way. After a pin in the first match, he registered a 4-1 double overtime win and then two 3-2 wins to take third place. With a State champion and a third place finisher, this marks the best season in Hoosick Falls wrestling history.
Coach Nelson said, “Obviously [this is] an unbelievable wrestling season for the Hoosick Falls team. We not only captured the Class C tournament as a team, but won the Section II State Qualifier as a team as well. Both of these accomplishments will serve as a huge benchmark for the future wrestlers of our program.”
Weierbach agreed, stressing how big this is to everyone in the community, how great small town pride is and what an amazing feeling it is to have everyone’s achievements recognized the way Hoosick Falls does. He continuously thanks everyone who has ever helped him, cheered for him and just came out to watch him. He also enjoyed his late night parade on Saturday night, led by fire trucks and about a dozen cars welcoming their newest State Champion back to Hoosick Falls.
There is no rest for the weary, and Weierbach was excited about his first “celebrity” appearance as a State champ, Monday night’s youth wrestling practice where he would get a chance to talk to the kids.
“I know they look up to me, and I like that. It’s why I carry myself the way I do, on and off the mat,” he said. “I just wish I could give back half as much as this sport has given me.”
I’m sure in time, some of these kids will look back and say the same about him.
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