Displaying items by tag: Tyler Barnes

[Photos by www.PhotoAndGraphic.com]

TYLER BARNES:
- Division I
- Record: 46-1
- 170
- Ballston Spa Senior
- State Champion for Ballston Spa during 2016-2017 wrestling season.
- Pinned Matt Rogers of Wantagh in 17 seconds in Saturdays’ semi-final round.
- Lost to Grant Cuomo, Brewster, in state finals. Cuomo outpointed Barnes, 13-10.
- Barnes is North Carolina State bound in fall 2018.

ORION ANDERSON:
- Division II
- Record: 40-1
- 126
- Schuylerville Senior
- Three-time State Champ (2016, 2017, 2018)
- Pinned Vince Miceli, Port Jefferson, at 1:33 in the final win.
- Anderson is Binghamton bound in fall 2018 on a full ride scholarship with an injury guarantee.
- Anderson’s father and coach, Buck, is now retiring after coaching wrestling for the last 30 years.

[Photos by www.PhotoAndGraphic.com]

SARATOGA COUNTY — With eight matches at a time taking place, it can be a little hard to catch up on who pinned who and in what amount of time. On Saturday, Feb. 10, Saratoga Springs, Ballston Spa, Schuylerville, and Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, among other local schools, took to the mat. At 10 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 23 and 24, NYSPHSAA Division I and Division II Championships will take place, venue TBA.

BALLSTON SPA:
170 - Tyler Barnes pinned Liam Mooney (Colonie), 1:27.
182 – Jake Cooke pinned Dom Nassivera (Queensbury), 1:05.
285 – Jake Stangle dec. Paul Brown (Mohonasen), 3-2.

BURNT HILLS-BALLSTON LAKE:
113 - John DeConno dec. Brennen Rivas (Amsterdam), 3-1.

SCHUYLERVILLE:
126 – Orion Anderson pinned Austin Lints (Schoharie), 1:16.

[Photos provided]

Ballston Spa:
Coached by Harold Staulters (17 years), assisted by Gene Staulters. How many qualified: Eleven: Nick Palso (99), Wyatt Gorman (138), Ramel Brooks (145), Andrew Reynolds (152), Colby Harblin (160), Tyler Barnes (170), Peter Hansen (170), Jake Cook (182), Cameron Edwards (195), Nate Rurycz (220), Jake Stangle (285). Star Wrestlers: Tyler Barnes, Jake Cook, Jake Stangle, Nick Palso; all returning Section II champions. Quotes: “Stangle and Cook both have a great shot, Barnes is a New York State champ at the same weight, so we’re expecting the same thing this year. Palso is probably the best in the 99 group,” Coach Staulters commented.

Saratoga Springs:
Coached by Kris West (9 years), assisted by Jake Zanetti. How many qualified: Nine: Griffin Viviano (106), Jordan Sartin (113), Zach Watkins (113), Eric Groskowitz (120), Frank Spatafora (152), Ryan DiGuiseppe (160), Devin Crowe (170), Brant Robinson (220), Doug Cooper (285). Star Wrestlers: Jordan Sartin, Section II champion last year and two-time State qualifier.

Schuylerville:
Coached by Buck Anderson (4 years, 20 years as assistant), assisted by Eric Johannson. How many qualified: Five: Orion Anderson, Xavier Jones, Harrison Williams, Jeremy Brownell, Thomas Donovan Star Wrestlers: Orion Anderson, 2x returning state champ (126), Xavier Jones (138), placed 2x in sectionals.

[Photos courtesy of Ray Toohey.]

BALLSTON SPA – Coach Ray Toohey has an amazing lineup for his Varsity football team this year including four “vital” players.

Jake Cook is the starting linebacker and tight-end.

“A natural leader and phenomenal player with a very sound technique. He had 94 defensive tackles last year,” Coach Toohey said.

Tyler Barnes, starting defensive end and offensive tackle, “he’s also a state champion wrestler. He’s a tough kid, about 185 pounds but playing like he’s 210,” Toohey said of Barnes.

Jason McCarthy, only a junior but is on his third year on the varsity team, is the two-way starter running back linebacker.

“Jason was one of our top running backs and defensive players last year, he is an exceptional player,” Toohey said.

 Joe McDonald, “Joe took a couple years off and came back to the game last year. He ended up being a starter on defense last year and now he’s a two-way starter for us. A great athlete and a great leader.”

Ryan O’Reilly, Jason Onsman, Matt Corwin, and Matt Murphy assist Toohey.

“Right now, it’s all about getting the scheme down,” Toohey said.

There are five sophomores on varsity and, “every single one of them is either starting or involved in the rotation somewhere. They are very good players. They are kids that have earned out trust through off season commitment too,” Toohey spoke highly of the sophomores.

“More than anything, we’re thrilled at the amount of kids we have this year. We have 41 kids and I know compared to some of the other Double A’s that may not sound all that impressive but we’ve never had 40 kids on the roster that I’m aware of. We’re very happy with where we’re at numbers wise. These are all kids that really buy in and care a lot about team goals,” Toohey said.

“We don’t have a ton of seniors,” Toohey continued, “but the ones that we do have are great. And most of our starters are sophomores and juniors so the future looks bright. We know that playing at the Double A level, there is never a week where it’s anything other than competitive. It’s a war every week.”

The Ballston Spa Scotties play their first game against the Albany Falcons on Saturday, September 2 at 1:00 p.m.

SARATOGA COUNTY – Victory was earned for two local high school wrestlers this past weekend.  Competing in the NYSPHSAA wrestling championships, which ran from Feb. 24-25, Ballston Spa junior Tyler Barnes and Schuylerville junior Orion Anderson fought through four rounds of competition across two days to claim state championship titles.  Barnes won in the Division I, 170-pound weight class, while Anderson won in the Section II, 120-pound class.  With this win, Barnes becomes the first ever state champion to come out of Ballston Spa.  Anderson, meanwhile, fought through illness and injury to not only win the title, but also be voted one of the Most Outstanding Wrestlers out of the whole competition. 

“He’s a very focused young man,” said Coach Harold Staulters of Barnes.  “He has goals, he always has goals, and he sticks to them.”

After finishing in 5^th place at last year’s championship, Barnes, supported by in Staulters’s estimation 40 or more Ballston Spa residence in attendance, went all the way this year to become the town’s first ever state wrestling champion.  Winning his first match by pin on Friday, Barnes made it to the finals on Saturday, where he bested John Glenn High School’s Mike Ancewicz 5-2.  Well aware of the import of his potential victory, Barnes wore a singlet with Ballston Spa’s school colors, purple and gold. 

Staulters said that consistency was important during Barnes’s training leading up to the event.  He stuck to his usual practice routines, and stuck with his longtime friend and practice partner, Jake Cook, who also competed over the weekend.

“They know each other pretty well,” said Staulters of Barnes and Cook. “They’ve been friends since they were six… Probably been workout partner since the same time.”

For Anderson, the run-up to the championship was fraught with hindrances.   At the Section II state qualifying event two weeks prior at the Glens Falls Civic Center where Anderson secured his spot in the state finals, he suffered a cut to his forehead that required stitches.  For the month prior to the state finals, Anderson had also been suffering through bouts of mononucleosis and upper respiratory infection, the latter of which sometimes made it difficult for him to breathe.

“I don’t think he even realizes what a big deal it is,” said Buck Anderson, Orion’s coach and father.

For each champion, wrestling is a family affair.  Barnes’s father, Terry, wrestled in the 1995 state championships and was runner-up that year.  Anderson, meanwhile, has seen many members of his family in the state finals, with his older brother and sister each having competed in the finals in years prior, and he himself has been wrestling since the age of two.

Barnes’s is currently planning to compete in the Cadet Greco Nationals in Fargo, ND, where he also competed last year, making it all the way through the semifinals.  This year, he’s aiming to win it all.  Anderson, conversely, will be taking things slower to let his body heal and to recover from his illnesses.  Once he feels better, he intends to get back to practicing and compete in off-season matches.