Photos and story by STEVE HARRISON

The middle of the new year is time for one of the areas most anticipated wrestling tournaments around.

For over 28 years, the Hornell High School Wrestling Tournament has been known as the State Farm Classic.

The State Farm Classic is not just another corporate sponsor who puts their name on an event and calls it good.  Before the current name, the tournament was call the Spectator Classic and for the past 28 years it has held the name of The State Farm Classic.  The Hornell Sun sat down with the sponsor to find out a little more about the origin of the sponsorship.

The man behind the name is no other then local State Farm Insurance agent Dave Palma.  Wrestling has always been a family affair as growing up in Cobbleskill as Dave and his brother wrestled in high school. He has a brother-in-law who made it to the state tournament many years ago as well.

Dave credits his late wife, Dorothy, for having even more passion for the sport then himself. That is why he started the Most Outstanding Wrestler awards for the tournament and it is named in her honor.

Dave said before he came on board with the State Farm Classic, he stated that in terms of pulbic perception of popularity, wrestling took a back seat to football and basketball. He wanted to do what he could to help the program get some exposure. All of the brackets, trophies, medals and champion shirts are all donated by Dave.

He is always front and center meeting and greeting people near the awards table throughout the day and even brought a cut-out of Jake from State Farm as this was a big hit as many of the crowd took selfies with the cutout.

Through the many memorable years, Dave recalls one wrestler that has always stood out to him and his wife. That wrestler being Hornell’s Otto House. He said when he took to the mat, you always seen the fire within and he always gave 100%. Dave and Dorothy enjoyed following Otto through his voyage through the state tournament. Dave recalls that Dorthy and himself know that Otto had the eye of the tiger and nothing was going to stop the kid on the mat that year.

Dave remembered when they went to the state tournament in Albany. Otto was ahead in the state finals 9-4 late in the third period and he was full of energy throughout the match and people were telling him to calm down a little and finish the match out.  Dave remembered Otto brought the intensity down a little and he felt it created one small mistake and he was pinned late int he third period.  Dave said his wife started crying for Otto’s loss because they knew how special this young man was at the time.  Otto was a champion at the State Farm Classic, and when his son Owen won the Classic in 2019, they became the only father-son champions.

As far as teams in the tournament, his favorite ear for Hornell was in the mid-90’s when then coach Matt Sheldon had a dominating wrestler in every weight class. He said every wrestler had the mentality they were not going to be the only one on the team not to win. He said that made for a couple of year the most enjoyable teams to watch.

Palma would like to thank the many coaches and officials who have come to the classic over the year and stated the dedication of the parents to encourage their children to continue the participation in the sport.

Team results:

1 JD-CBA 189.0

2 Bolivar-Richburg 165.0

3 Churchville Chili 153.5

4 Brighton 135.5

5 Hornell Sr 116.5

6 Dansville-Wayland Cohocton 106.0

7 Bath Haverling 54.0

8 Penfield 43.0

9 Eastridge 42.0

10 Alfred Almond 36.0

11 Irondequoi 33.0

12 Livonia 31.5

13 Campbell-Savona 19.0

14 Friendship 0.0

15 Rush-Henrietta 0.0

FINALS:

Varsity 102

Finals

• 1st Place Match – Wyatt Sartori (Dansville-Wayland Cohocton Sr HS) won by decision over Dominic Shiano (JD-CBA ) Dec 9-3

Varsity 110

Finals

• 1st Place Match – Gary McDowell Jr (Bolivar-Richburg Sr HS) won by major decision over Teegan Sibble (Bolivar-Richburg Sr HS) Maj 9-1

Varsity 118

Finals

• 1st Place Match – Yousef Allen (Brighton) won by decision over Gage Thomas (Haverling, NY) Dec 5-3

Varsity 126

Finals

• 1st Place Match – Trey Buchholz (Bolivar-Richburg Sr HS) won by fall over Aaron Agosti (Penfield Sr HS) Fall 2:00

Varsity 132

Finals

• 1st Place Match – Cael Raines (Churchville Chili Sr HS) won by decision over Nathan Finn (JD-CBA ) Dec 3-2

Varsity 138

Finals

• 1st Place Match – Breydon Drew (Hornell Sr HS) won by decision over Peter Thompson (Dansville-Wayland Cohocton Sr HS) Dec 8-3

Varsity 145

Finals

• 1st Place Match – Andrew Frost (Churchville Chili Sr HS) won by decision over Mason Porter (JD-CBA ) Dec 8-7

Varsity 152

Finals

• 1st Place Match – Daniel Barraclough-Tan (Brighton) won by decision over Andrew Mark (Brighton) Dec 6-4

Varsity 160

Finals

• 1st Place Match – Coy Raines (Churchville Chili Sr HS) won in sudden victory – 1 over Tayvn MacDonnell (Bolivar-Richburg Sr HS) SV-1 5-3

Varsity 172

Finals

• 1st Place Match – Ronald Dietz (Eastridge) won by fall over Hunter Smith (Alfred Almond Sr HS) Fall 1:47

Varsity 189

Finals

• 1st Place Match – Ben Paul (JD-CBA ) won by decision over Caden Allen (Bolivar-Richburg Sr HS) Dec 2-1

Varsity 215

Finals

• 1st Place Match – Trent Sibble (Bolivar-Richburg Sr HS) won by fall over Bryce Dadey (JD-CBA ) Fall 5:19

Varsity 285

Finals

• 1st Place Match – Hayden Fleet (JD-CBA ) won by decision over Gael Sanchez (Churchville Chili Sr HS) Dec 1-0

THIRD AND FOURTH PLACE CHAMPIONS:

• Varsity 102
• 3rd Place
• 3rd Place Match – Nathan Wagner (Brighton) won by fall over Joseph Kilmer (Hornell Sr HS) Fall 0:22
• Varsity 110
• 3rd Place
• 3rd Place Match – Andrew Jeffers (Churchville Chili Sr HS) won by fall over Matthew Dougherty (JD-CBA ) Fall 4:20
• Varsity 118
• 3rd Place
• 3rd Place Match – Ramsey Dean-Prince (Hornell Sr HS) won by fall over Thomas Cooney (JD-CBA ) Fall 1:51
• Varsity 126
• 3rd Place
• 3rd Place Match – Nolan McGregor (Hornell Sr HS) won by no contest over Ryan Donnellan (Brighton) NC
• Varsity 132
• 3rd Place
• 3rd Place Match – Myles Jarzyna (Livonia Sr HS) won by decision over Remy OKeefe (Eastridge) Dec 5-4
• Varsity 138
• 3rd Place
• 3rd Place Match – Braydon Albro (Penfield Sr HS) won in tie breaker – 1 over Chris Grosso (JD-CBA ) TB-1 2-1
• Varsity 145
• 3rd Place
• 3rd Place Match – Gavin Rook (Haverling, NY) won by fall over Brandon Foster (Dansville-Wayland Cohocton Sr HS) Fall 2:50
• Varsity 152
• 3rd Place
• 3rd Place Match – Gerald Vielhauer (JD-CBA ) won by fall over Alexander Tomaszewski (Churchville Chili Sr HS) Fall 2:59
• Varsity 160
• 3rd Place
• 3rd Place Match – Max Morrison (Brighton) won by fall over Kanye Cumberbatch (Alfred Almond Sr HS) Fall 4:13
• Varsity 172
• 3rd Place
• 3rd Place Match – Zack Mitchell (Bolivar-Richburg Sr HS) won by decision over Zach Gardiner (Dansville-Wayland Cohocton Sr HS) Dec 15-10
• Varsity 189
• 3rd Place
• 3rd Place Match – Brock Brazie (Haverling, NY) won by no contest over Johnathan Cullen (Churchville Chili Sr HS) NC
• Varsity 215
• 3rd Place
• 3rd Place Match – Ethan House (Hornell Sr HS) won by major decision over Austin Rohr-Cimino (Irondequoit High Sch) Maj 9-1
• Varsity 285
• 3rd Place
• 3rd Place Match – Dominic Lockwood (Hornell Sr HS) won by fall over Behruz Sayfitdinov (Brighton) Fall 4:12

Also placing:

Varsity 102

Consi-Semis

• Cons. Semi – Nathan Wagner (Brighton) won by major decision over James Gleason (Bolivar-Richburg Sr HS) Maj 16-2
• Cons. Semi – Joseph Kilmer (Hornell Sr HS) won by decision over Hunter Weitzel (Hornell Sr HS) Dec 4-1

Varsity 110

Consi-Semis

• Cons. Semi – Andrew Jeffers (Churchville Chili Sr HS) won by fall over Connor Morris (Penfield Sr HS) Fall 1:53
• Cons. Semi – Matthew Dougherty (JD-CBA ) won by fall over Isaac Kurtz (Dansville-Wayland Cohocton Sr HS) Fall 2:17

Varsity 118

Consi-Semis

• Cons. Semi – Ramsey Dean-Prince (Hornell Sr HS) won by major decision over Alexis Knickerbocker (Hornell Sr HS) Maj 15-3
• Cons. Semi – Thomas Cooney (JD-CBA ) won by fall over Owen Smith (Irondequoit High Sch) Fall 2:33

Varsity 126

Consi-Semis

• Cons. Semi – Nolan McGregor (Hornell Sr HS) won by fall over Cole Brockman (Eastridge) Fall 2:23
• Cons. Semi – Ryan Donnellan (Brighton) won by fall over Sam Thor (Irondequoit High Sch) Fall 1:40

Varsity 132

Consi-Semis

• Cons. Semi – Remy OKeefe (Eastridge) won by decision over Owen Callahan (Irondequoit High Sch) Dec 11-4
• Cons. Semi – Myles Jarzyna (Livonia Sr HS) won by fall over Dakota Christian (Dansville-Wayland Cohocton Sr HS) Fall 2:34

Varsity 138

Consi-Semis

• Cons. Semi – Chris Grosso (JD-CBA ) won by fall over Justin Tennity (Churchville Chili Sr HS) Fall 4:20
• Cons. Semi – Braydon Albro (Penfield Sr HS) won by decision over Greg Hargrave (Campbell-Savona Sr HS) Dec 6-2

Varsity 145

Consi-Semis

• Cons. Semi – Gavin Rook (Haverling, NY) won by fall over Noah Ott (Dansville-Wayland Cohocton Sr HS) Fall 1:33
• Cons. Semi – Brandon Foster (Dansville-Wayland Cohocton Sr HS) won by forfeit over Anthony Scalzo (Irondequoit High Sch) FF

Varsity 152

Consi-Semis

• Cons. Semi – Gerald Vielhauer (JD-CBA ) won by major decision over Haiden Kowtun (Hornell Sr HS) Maj 10-0
• Cons. Semi – Alexander Tomaszewski (Churchville Chili Sr HS) won by fall over Blake Brooks (Campbell-Savona Sr HS) Fall 2:11

Varsity 160

Consi-Semis

• Cons. Semi – Max Morrison (Brighton) won by major decision over Kaiden Ellis (Dansville-Wayland Cohocton Sr HS) Maj 10-1
• Cons. Semi – Kanye Cumberbatch (Alfred Almond Sr HS) won by fall over Brayden Vallow (Penfield Sr HS) Fall 2:20

Varsity 172

Consi-Semis

• Cons. Semi – Zack Mitchell (Bolivar-Richburg Sr HS) won by fall over Grayson Cartwright (Dansville-Wayland Cohocton Sr HS) Fall 1:33
• Cons. Semi – Zach Gardiner (Dansville-Wayland Cohocton Sr HS) won by fall over Parker Worth (Bolivar-Richburg Sr HS) Fall 3:38

Varsity 189

Consi-Semis

• Cons. Semi – Brock Brazie (Haverling, NY) won by forfeit over Max Tomaszewski (Churchville Chili Sr HS) FF
• Cons. Semi – Johnathan Cullen (Churchville Chili Sr HS) won by fall over Brady Callahan (Irondequoit High Sch) Fall 0:37

Varsity 215

Consi-Semis

• Cons. Semi – Austin Rohr-Cimino (Irondequoit High Sch) won by decision over Elijah Bender (Dansville-Wayland Cohocton Sr HS) Dec 7-3
• Cons. Semi – Ethan House (Hornell Sr HS) won by decision over Michael Darling (JD-CBA ) Dec 4-0

Varsity 285

Consi-Semis

• Cons. Semi – Dominic Lockwood (Hornell Sr HS) won by decision over Tj Gause (Livonia Sr HS) Dec 3-2
• Cons. Semi – Behruz Sayfitdinov (Brighton) won by forfeit over Cameron Beecher (JD-CBA ) FF