Eighth-grader Phil Accorso and sophomore Joe Fingler earned a trip to the Section V Super Sectional Wrestling Tournament by placing fourth at the Class A Sectionals. Accorso is the youngest Fairport wrestler in his first varsity season. Fingler took on a big challenge by wrestling up a weight class and gave up nearly 20 pounds to his opponents.

Accorso (103) started strong in his opening match against Kevin Hadcock (Olympia). He came out and attacked and scored the first takedown one minute into the first period then worked Hadcock to his back and stuck the pin at 1:45.

In the quarterfinals Accorso fought hard but came up short 3-1 in a close decision but he came back against Tim Doser (C-C). After a scoreless first period Accorso escaped in the second then shot back to score a takedown for a 3-0 lead. In the third period he turned Doser to score a near-fall and earn a 5-0 decision to advance.

In the consolation semi-finals Accorso met rival David Wade (Arcadia). This was the third meeting between the two wrestlers with each winning one match. Wade took the offensive and scored the first takedown to take a 2-0 lead in the first period. Both wrestlers battled evenly through a tough scoreless second period. Wade rode Accorso tough in the third period but with less than a minute to go Accorso broke free. With just fifteen seconds to go Wade was called for stalling to tie the score and send the match into overtime. Accorso’s patience kept frustrating Wade. With under a minute to go in overtime the wrestlers went to reset but Wade was called for his third caution in the match which gave Accorso a penalty point and a thrilling 3-2 decision to secure a trip to the Super Sectionals.

Fingler (189) gambled by wrestling up with his normal 171 pound weight class stacked against him but he made it pay off.

In his opening match he dominated Adam Barker (Brockport). Fingler scored a takedown in the first period then hit three more in the second to build an 8-3 lead. He quickly hit his fifth takedown in the third period and put Barker on his back and stuck the pin at 4:30.

In the quarterfinals he wrestled well but lost to the eventual champion 5-1.

In the consolation round Fingler came back against Pete Lobas (Spencerport). After a scoreless first period Fingler escaped to take a 1-0 lead. He couldn’t hold Lobas in the third period but with under a minute to go Fingler shot and scored a takedown stretching to stay in bounds. Lobas escaped again but it wasn’t enough as Fingler advanced with a hard earned 3-2 decision.

His next match he took on Mike Gsellmeier (Irondequoit). Fingler took the lead with a takedown in the second period and then was able to escape and score another takedown to put the match away in the third period with a 5-1 decision.

In the consolation semifinals Fingler stepped in against Shaun Moore (Webster). Moore escaped in the second period but Fingler tied the score when he escaped in the third. Moore fought back and scored a takedown a minute left but was called for stalling to cut the lead to 3-2. Fingler never gave up and with just fourteen seconds left he broke free to tie the match and send it into overtime. Both wrestlers worked for an opening in the extra period and Fingler found it with twenty seconds left and hit a single-leg takedown and put Moore on his back and stuck the pin with just seven seconds remaining to earn his trip to the Super Sectionals.

Senior Kyle Tellex (140) ended his Fairport career with a solid effort. He came out strong against Mike Cheng (R-H) in his opening match. He hit five takedowns in an 11-4 decision. He wrestled well against the eventual champion but came up short then bounced back in the consolation round against Lou Comenale (G-C). He scored a takedown and near-fall to take an 8-0 lead in the second period on the way to an 11-0 major decision. Tellex earned 57 wins in his varsity career.

Senior Steve McElvain had his Fairport career come to an end when he broke his finger in his opening round match.

Mike Fuqua (112) earned two wins in the consolation round. He took an 8-0 lead against Johnny Deng (Irondequoit) before an injury stopped the match. In his next match he defeated George Lai (R-H) 2-0 in a hard fought decision.

Ian Ammons (145) defeated Ryan Cotterman (McQuaid) 9-1 in his opening match. He scored three takedowns and a near-fall. In the consolation round he scored a quick takedown in the first against Sam Alicata (Athena) then held on for a tough 2-0 decision.