3 titles for Brighton, Spencerport
Baron's Otha Davidson triumphs at 250 for return trip to states
By Walter Slater
Democrat and Chronicle

Brighton and Spencerport will send the largest contingent of wrestlers to the state high school championships next week.

The Barons, Monroe County champions, put four wrestlers into last night's Section 5 SuperSectional finals and Alex Croog, Otha Davidson, and Yancee Fritz came away with individual titles at Webster Schroeder Junior High School.

"It makes it one of the highlights of the season," said Croog, who won the 105-pound title.

Croog earned a 3-0 decision over McQuaid's Mark Vocci. The match was a repeat of last week's sectional Class A final, which Croog won, 5-0.

Teammate Fritz won the 132 final, 11-4, over Irondequoit's Vince Acciaio.

And Davidson will make his second trip to the state championships. He'll compete at 250 after pinning Dundee's Jamie Watson at 5:21 of their heavyweight final.

Davidson was last years 215-pound SuperSectionals champion.

Brighton's other finalist, Rusty Grant, lost a 3-0 decision to Spencerpor senior Justin Raines (38-0) at 126.

The other Spencerport winners are Dave Rotoli, who defeated Rodney Frey of East Rochester on a referee's decision after a 5-5 overtime tie at 91 pounds. Teammate Sirrell Gissendanner defeated Mark Johnson of Newark, 8-6, at 155 on a takedown at the final buzzer.

Another making a return trip to Syracuses' Onondaga County War Memorial will be Alfred-Almond senior Kenny Porter, the defending state 138-pound champion.

Porter overcame illness to pin Greece Athena's Ron Sanger at 3:59 and win his second straight SuperSectionals title at 138.

"I'm really sick," he said after the match. "I felt a little something coming earlier and I was a little sluggish in the semifinals against (Matt) Logan. It has to be some kind of a bug. I really felt it right after I ate, but I'm sure I'll be okay tomorrow."

Porter scored a second takedown early in the first period for a 2-0 lead over Sanger, then escaped :30 into the second. He took Sanger down with :34 left and put him in a pinning combination, then rode the time out to the buzzer to put the match away.

He raised his record to 37-0.

Porter's semifinal victory over Logan, a junior who brought an undefeated record into the bout, was one of the day's most anticipated matches. But Porter manhandled Logan, 11-0.

"I was super pumped," Porter said. "I treated that like it was the final."

Last night's other highlights include:

- Rotoli's overtime victory over Frey.

Frey led, 1-0, after a second-period escape. Rotoli escaped early in the third to tie the match then scored a double-leg takedown with :04 left for a 3-1 lead in the first one-minute overtime period. He added a two-point reversal :08 into the second overtime for a 5-1 advantage. Frey closed within 5-4, then was awarded a stalling point to tie the match again, 5-5, with :11 left in the third overtime. Rotoli was awarded the decision by referee's criteria.

- Greece Athena's Dan Nier defeated Spencerport's Jason Barbera at 98-pounds.

ier pinned Barbera :40 seconds into the second period with the match tied, 2-2. Nier finished third at last week's Class A sectional championships, which Barbera won.

- Irondequoit's Brian Pintagro scored a 12-5 victory over Hilton's Don Spaulding at 112. Pintagro raised his record to 37-0 this season and 119-17 for his career. Spaulding was last year's 105-pound SuperSectionals champion.

- Midlake's Jon Porschet edged Batavia'a Buddy Cabrera, 6-5, in the 215 final. Cabrera defeated East Rochester's D.J. Williams, 4-3, in the semifinals after the ER senior was penalized one point early in the match.

Willaims place fourth in the state at 250 pounds last year after winning the 250 SuperSectionals title.