by Warren Kozireski
Spencerport senior Steve Maier and sophomore Jon Haas became the sixth and seventh two-time champions and sophomore Trent Egenlauf took his first title at the 46th annual Teike-Bernabi Wrestling Tournament.
The tournament featured five teams ranked in New York State including top-ranked Shenendehowa of Section II. Sponsored by Spencerport Rotary Club, it is named for Walter Teike, former Athletic Director and wrestling coach, and former Superintendent of Schools and founder of Spencerport wrestling Leo Bernabi.
Spencerport finished second with 81.5 points behind first place Shenendehowa and well ahead of third place Royalton-Hartland.
At 152 lb., Maier registered a first period takedown, added three more points in the second and a third takedown in the third before registering a fall in 5:20. The win allowed Maier to defend his title from the 2010 tournament when he finished first in the 145 lb. class.
Egenlauf broke up a scoreless bout with a second period takedown at 182 lb., but a pair of escapes by his opponent made it 2-2 after two. But a third period reverse gave him a 4-3 victory, his first at the tournament and improved his record this season to 17-1.
“I’m just thankful especially with Shenendehowa being our rival and predicted to win,” said Egenlauf. “It’s a great feeling that I was able to get a win over them and in a tournament like this where the quality is the best around.
“We didn’t have a good showing as a team, but our drive is high.”
At 99 lb., Haas had a first period takedown before making quick work of his opponent with a fall in just 1:45. He won the 2009 title at 96 lb. giving him a second victory as a sophomore and a chance to join the elite group of seven people who have won four titles in the 46 years of the tournament.
“Having the two sophomores win is huge for us because they are both building blocks for this program,” said Spencerport head coach Tony D’Ambra.
“We had a few teams cancel on us at the last minute, so we may invite more teams next year. But with the budget being an issue everywhere, we lost the Long Island and Section IX teams that used to come.
Either Spencerport or Shenendehowa has now won the tournament title in all but one year (2004-Valley Central) since 1999.
