By Aaron Hamilton

The sectional tournament was hosted in its familiar spot at the Glens Falls Civic Center February 20^th and 21^st.

Salem placed 9 wrestlers in the top 4 at the Class D tournament the week before and was looking to end a fantastic season on a high note. After the first day of wrestling David Northshield, David Adams, and Kevin Bardin all advanced to the semi-finals.

Unfortunately Austin Padgett, Aaron Hamilton, Kyle McKeighan and Dan Batchelder all came up short and then had to wrestle an additional match in order to earn a trip back the next day, which is exactly what happened.

Salem’s 125 pounder Bobby Fleming got unlucky draws and had to wrestle the fourth seed and second seed both in the same day. On day 2 Salem went 3-for-4 in the consolation round as Padgett, Hamilton, and McKeighan guaranteed a place finish after winning in the quarters.

In the semi-finals Bardin and Northshield both dropped decisions to the eventual champions while David Adams went on to win and earn his second straight Section 2 finals appearance.

When the wrestle-backs wrapped up 5 Salem wrestlers ended up placing. Kyle McKeighan took 6^th in a strong weight class while Bardin, Northshield, and Padgett ended in 4^th. Aaron Hamilton avenged his first day loss to take 3^rd.

Later in the night David Adams came up just short in a 3-2 match that just didn’t go his way. Fortunately he received an at-large bid and will have the opportunity to compete at the state tournament this weekend at the Times Union Center in Albany.

Good Luck David and great season to everyone.

by Kyle McKeighan

Last night, Wednesday February 4^th, the Corinth Tomahawks traveled to Salem High School to put their 14-4 record on the line as they faced the Salem Generals.

The 13-1 Generals proved to be too much to handle as they fought their way to a 39-22 to victory over the Tomahawks.

By Aaron Hamilton

The Wasaren League Invitational, now called the Ken Baker Memorial, was hosted by Schuylerville this year on the last day of January.

Wrestling started around 9:30 a.m. and didn’t wrap up until about 12 hours later. Salem came out hard and put 9 kids in the semi-finals. After some close matches and some hard wrestling Salem managed to send 5 to the finals. However what won the tournament for the Generals was the four kids that wrestled-back hard and finished 3^rd and 4^th. Bobby Fleming(125) took 4^th place along with Pat Wilson(171) after suffering a knee injury and was forced to forfeit. Taking third for Salem was Austin Padgett(130) and Joe DeMarco(285).

In the finals Frankie Aronson(119) had another tight match with Josh Peabody from Cambridge, but was caught late in the match and took second. Aaron Hamilton won a decision at 140. At 145 and 152 Salem had 2 overtime matches. David Northshield wrestled a tough match, but eventually lost a 6-4 decision in triple over time. At 152 David Adams also went in to triple over time but was able to score a take down with less then 7 seconds left to win a 7-5 decision. Kevin Bardin also took 2^nd for Salem.

Next Salem will host Corinth for the final dual meet of the year which will take place Wednesday.

By Kyle McKeighan

On January 22^nd the Salem Generals wrestling team travels to Warrensburg for a key league matchup.

In order to achieve second place in the very competitive Adirondack League the Generals must win, but it will be no easy feat. The Burghers will most likely dominate the very top of the lineup and the lower weights, but Salem should receive a large surge of points from the strong middleweights up from 125 to 189.

Key matchups are at 125, 145, and 189. Hopefully in the end the Generals will come out on top.

Last Thursday Salem made the trip to Hadley-Luzerne to wrestle the match previously scheduled for January 7^th but was postponed due to the weather.

This year the usually skimpy Luzerne team combined with Lake George to combine as the Hadley-Luzerne/Lake George War Eagles. The night started with a double forfeit at 103. Salem got its first win from Frankie Aronson as he won a 3-1 decision. Salem then got a pin at 130 from Austin Padgett and another at 140 from Aaron Hamilton.

At 145 David Northshield pulled out a 4-2 victory over the only Lake George wrestler with more then a year’s experience. From there Salem got pins at 152 and 189 from David Adams and Dan Batchelder. Kyle Mckeighan, Pat Wilson and Kevin Bardin all received forfeits due to injury or illness.

At the end of the night the score read 48-21. Next Salem wrestles in Warrensburg on the 22^nd.

Last night the Salem Generals battled non-league opponent Shaker in the Salem High School Gym.

The night started out at 152 pounds where David Adams recorded the first pin of the night followed by a technical fall by Kyle McKeighan at 160 pounds and a pin from Dan Batchelder at 171 pounds.

Later in the match Salem would receive pins from Joe Demarco (215) and Aaron Hamilton (140), also with a technical fall for the Generals was David Northshield (145).

Salem cruised to a 47-18 victory and travel to Hadley Luzerne tonight to take on league opponent Hadley Luzerne/ Lake George.

Salem made the long trip to Galway for the Greg Rockwood Memorial tournament for a day filled with wrestling.

Wrestling started around 10 and by the end of the first two rounds Salem was in 3^rd, 30 points behind leader Corinth.

However the Generals put 10 of the 13 kids they brought in position to place and that is exactly what happened.

Salem put 6 in the finals and 4 made it to the consolation finals. At the end of the consolation finals Salem had pulled ahead of the competition by 10 points.

Four Salem kids placed 3^rd for Salem. They included Bobby Fleming, Kyle Mckeighan, Dan Batchelder and Joe Demarco. Also all six Salem finalists won which ultimately helped Salem gain a 30 point lead on the competition and win the tournament. Frankie Aronson, Austin Padgett, Aaron Hamilton, David Northshield, David Adams and Kevin Bardin all took 1^st place.

12/10/08

By Aaron Hamilton

Wednesday night Salem hosted the Hoosick Falls Panthers. The match started with a few modified and JV matches.

The match started close with 2 pins for the Panthers at 171 and 215 but Salem brought the score back after a forfeit at 189 and an exciting pin by Ian Flanagan at 285. After giving up a forfeit at 103, Brandon Mantkelow pinned at 112 and Salem never looked back.

From there the Generals picked up pins from Frankie Aronson, Austin Padgett, and Aaron Hamilton while Bobby Fleming and Kyle Mckeighan both won by major decisions.

David Adams also got a disappointing forfeit in the first match of his senior year. The final score had Salem on top 50-27.

Next Salem travels to Watervliet on Saturday where they are wrestling in a dual tournament. The team hopes to keep rolling and win the tournament.

Salem Wrestling Preview

By Aaron Hamilton

This week marks the beginning of most team sports schedules. The Boy’s and Girl’s Basketball teams both have games against Whitehall tomorrow, the boys playing at home and the girls traveling.

Wednesday is when wrestling season takes off with the Generals hosting the Hoosick Falls Panthers. The rivalry between these two teams has always drawn a good crowd and your not going to want to miss the season opener.

Even though the rivalry isn’t quite as intense any more since the changes in the leagues and classes, but it always ends up a close match.

Last year Salem just pulled it off due to some tough wins at the younger weight classes. Hopefully this years season opener will be just as exciting.

The match starts at 6 p.m. in the High School Gym with a few modified matches.

Varsity will most likely take the mat by 6:30 p.m. Salem will be putting together it’s starting line up and will look to start the season with a win.

Wrestling Certifications

11/19/08

Winter sports are now under way and wrestling is in its second week of practice. The Generals have been working hard and with only half a week left before weight certifications.

Many of the wrestlers are picking it up and getting in shape to ensure they can wrestle at their desired weight. Reminder to all wrestlers Saturday the 22^nd we travel to Queensbury for certifications. Certification consists of a hydration test, official weight and a body fat calculation. It is mandatory that everyone goes because you must certify in order to wrestle. The weight you are certified at is the minimum weight you can wrestle throughout the season.

The whole process should take less then a half hour and we should be home by 1:30-2:00.

By Kyle McKeighan

Winter is on the way and that can only mean one thing, wrestling season. The Generals look to be quite strong this year not only in the very competitive Adirondack League but in Section 2 as well.

As a young team last year the Generals went 11-4, and took 4^th in the Section 2 Class D tournament. Everyone from last year’s team returns except for heavyweight Brett Saunders. Key wrestlers that return include last year's Section 2 champion David Adams (152 lbs), Section 2 -3rd place finisher Austin Padgett (135 lbs), Section 2- 5^th place finishers Aaron Hamilton (140 lbs) and Kyle McKeighan (160 lbs), and Section 2 Class D runner up David Northshield (145 lbs).

Really the Generals have only added to their squad with a handful of tough freshmen. Kevin Bardin will also be a strong part of the Generals team at 189lbs, he was 4^th in the Class D tournament last season. The Generals look to have a good number of sectional place finishers and champions this year and win the Adirondack League.

Watch the season unfold beginning on December 3^rd at 7pm in the high school gym at Salem.

By Aaron Hamilton

11/3/08

Today there will be wrestling mats available for any one interested.

It is going to involve light wrestling to get kids ready for the wrestling season and maybe also give new kids a general idea what the sport of wrestling involves.

It will take place in the little gym in the elementary building from 3:15 to 4:15 Monday through Friday.

The official practices will start next Monday, the 10^th, if you are interested in wrestling this season and haven’t already signed up see Mr. Poplaski, Mr. Fronhofer Jr. or Sr.