Brockport's Boley notches MVP weekend Brockport senior earns top honor with big win at Barnard tournament
James Johnson . Staff writer . January 18, 2009
www.rochesterdandc.com

PARMA - There seemed to be a steady stream of people who wanted to shake hands with Christian Boley, hug him or offer the Brockport senior some sort of congratulations Saturday night at Hilton.

Family members, friends and even wrestlers who Boley beat walked up to him after his 3-1 decision over Spencerport senior Paul Glover in the 215-pound final of the Clayton Barnard Memorial Tournament.

The match between Glover, the reigning Division I 215-pound state champion, and Boley, winner of a national championship last summer, was the most anticipated bout of the tournament. The safer route for Boley's record would have been to wrestle at 189, not move up and hope to meet a state champ.

"He's a good wrestler," Boley said. "You don't get good unless you wrestle the best.

"I'm on a mission right now to be the best that I can be."

Glover said after the match that he knew before the tournament began that Boley would move up. And high school wrestling fans wanted to see them wrestle.

"It was all over the internet," Glover said. "That's all that was talked about."

Neither wrestler could do much with the other through the first two periods, including ride. Boley earned an escape at the start of the second. Glover was quickly on his feet and out of Boley's grasp early in the third.

"He is big and elusive," Boley said. "I couldn't really hold him and get him to move the way I wanted to."

Boley said he wanted to produce a flurry of action at the end of the third, in anticipation of overtime and found an opening to hit a single-leg takedown. He was voted the tournament's most outstanding wrestler.

"I'm taking this a motivator," Glover said. "I was kind of getting too comfortable in Section V."

Glover did help Spencerport, the state's top-ranked Division I team, pile up 258 points, easily good enough to finish first in the standings.

Fairport, which lost a dual meet to Spencerport on Wednesday, came in second with 181, followed by Greece Olympia (143) and Hilton (142).

Hilton 160-pounder John Veleiri and Greece Olympia 152-pounder Josh Veltre each won their weight divisions and remained undefeated this season. Veleiri improved to 23-0 as he became a two-time winner at the Barnard. Veltre is 44-0.

Geneva senior Joe Smaldone continued to show that he is getting back into shape.

A state runner-up last season, Smaldone took care of Fairport's Thomas Davis, 9-2, to win the 112 final. Smaldone (12-0) had to sit out the first half of the season after he violated a school conduct code.

"I made poor choices," Smaldone said, not elaborating.

"Two months straight of practices was not fun. No matches, no tournaments. The most I sat before was a match or two (because of minor injuries). I learned some things."

Smaldone, a National Honor Society member, said he was unsure if there would be a senior season for him. He made people take notice with a recent victory over Wayne sophomore Bobby Dierna during a dual meet.

"I thought I was going on my back near the end of the match but I got out of it," Smaldone said. "I'm not where I want to be. I'm still getting into shape."

Quinton Murphy, who won last year's Division II 103-pound state title, continues to make a name for himself. He won the 119 division after a 17-5 win over Olympia's Mike Gentlecore.

Murphy's record improved to 31-1. Last season he finished 45-1.

A move up in weight class can be tough. Murphy is two divisions from where he was.

"I just have to stay focused," Murphy said. "There's a lot of people doubting me; they said that last year was a fluke.

"I've trained just as hard as I did last year."