Last weekend, two wrestlers from Highland and one from Marlboro made the trip to MVP Arena in Albany for the NYSPHSAA individual wrestling championships.

However, all three were eliminated from the tournament after the first day.

For Highland, juniors Bradley Gatto represented Section 9 as the Division 2 116-pound champion, and Quinn Jones entered the weekend as Section 9’s 152-pound champion.

Gatto, seeded 18th in his bracket, fell in his first match via a second period pin to Malone’s Tanner King. He was then pinned in the third period of a consolation bracket match against Chautauqua Lake’s Thandon Bensink.

Jones, the No. 14 seed in the 152-pound bracket, didn’t fare much better than his Husky teammate. After being pinned in the first period by Granville’s Jaxon Torres, Jones was eliminated in his ensuing consolation match by Clarke’s Justin Gonzalez, via another pin.

Gatto completed his season with a record of 33-11, while Jones finished 37-13.

Rounding out the group of three area wrestlers who made the trip to states is Marlboro’s Reese Greathouse, Section 9’s Division 2 131-pound champion.

In the first round, while trailing in points, Greathouse secured a second period pin over Moravia’s Hunter Boynton, to pick up a win in his first match at states.

Greathouse, who was seeded 12th in his bracket, dropped a 15-9 decision in the second round to No. 5 Esuar Ordonez, of Putnam Valley.

“I had some really good competition my sophomore and junior year. Having wrestled since second grade, it really just takes a lot of practice to be able to get here,” Greathouse said of being able to get to states for the first time, as a senior. “It really just comes down to how much you want it. You’ve got to talk to yourself a bit and keep telling yourself that I want it.”

In Greathouse’s first match of the consolation round, it was obvious just how much he wanted it.

Trailing Adirondack’s Jacob Strain 6-3 entering the third period, Greathouse put together a series of takedowns to ultimately tie match 11-11, sending it to overtime.

“I had him down and was just listening to my coaches,” Greathouse explained. “ They were yelling, ‘cut him, cut him,’ so I was like, ‘okay, I’m listening to them.’

“I let him up and then I just kept going after him.”

The match never actually began overtime, however, since Strain was forced to forfeit with an injury, allowing Greathouse to continue on in the wrestlebacks.

The Marlboro senior’s day came to an end on Friday after falling to Beekmantown’s Sawyer Bell via a second-period pin, as he went 2-2 at the tournament.

While Greathouse had an adventurous time at the tournament, his matches were just the icing on the cake. In the days leading up to states, Greathouse’s most significant task was actually making weight, so he’d be able to compete.

“I was running stairs all day yesterday to make weight,” said Greathouse, who had to get from 142, back down to 131. “I lost 11 pounds in a day and a half. You gotta’ do what you gotta’ do.”

The reason he had to cut so much weight? Greathouse admitted that he likes to bake.

“I made myself a chocolate peanut butter cake, so that was probably my mistake,” he said with a laugh. “I made two of them. You’ve got to treat yourself once in a while.”

With his senior wrestling season now concluded, finishing with a record of 29-7, Greathouse was now free to eat to his heart’s content.

“Oooh… I’m going to have myself a personal pizza,” Greathouse said of what he’s going to eat following the tournament. “Some chicken fingers with fries and two Pepsis.”