by Warren Kozireski
It took three overtime sessions in the final, but eight-grader Yianni Diakomihalis became the first Hilton wrestler since 1989 to win a state title last weekend in Albany.
After a 17-2 technical fall in the first round and a 5-0 decision in the quarterfinals, Diakomihalis had a relatively easy time in the semi-finals during a 9-1 to reach the 99 lb. final.
There he defeated Syosset’s Vito Arujau with an escape in the third OT to take the title and keep his perfect 51-0 season record intact.
The last Hilton wrestler to win a state title came in 1989 when Anthony Antonucci took the 119 lb. crown.
Hilton teammates Lou, Vincent and Anthony DePrez also qualified for the state tournament with Vincent finishing second at 138 lb.
Spencerport’s Austin Coleman also was runner-up at 285 lb. in Division I and Holley’s Michael Silvis took third at 220 lb. in Division II.
Churchville-Chili 220 lb. Sam Egan finished sixth in Division I and Holley’s Andrew Flanagan was fifth at 99 lb. in Division II.
Other area state qualifiers were Barton Peters (Brockport), Josh Powell (Churchville-Chili), Jared Mestiti (Brockport), Trent Egenlauf (Spencerport), Collin Pitt-man (Spencerport) and Jon Levchuk (Byron-Bergen).
