By Steve Siniski
"It was a very bizarre match with no scoring through the first six minutes," Baldwin coach Steve Shippos said of Wediman's 2-1 final round overtime win over North Babylon's Chris Parris, a friend and on-mat nemesis. "There was no scoring in the first minute of the overtime either, and Parris was warned for stalling. Chris was the aggressor the entire match."
After a stalling warning, Weidman took the bottom position and nearly found himself on the losing end of a pinfall. However, the Baldwin champion managed to right himself and get to his feet, earning the deciding point in the extra session.
"It was more of a pushing-type match," Shippos said of the low-scoring championship bout. "Parris kept backing up the entire match and never made any attempts to take Chris down."
With the victory and individual state championship, Weidman (43-1 this season) now moves on to the national tournament at the University of Delaware on April 5-7. Aside from the top four finishers in each weight class in both New York and New Jersey and the best six in California, every wrestler at the meet will be a state champion.
With little in the way of advance scouting, there's only one way to tackle the nation's best. "Just go in and be mentally prepared," Shippos said.
The fourth individual to ever win a state title under Shippos, Weidman has done nothing but prove he belongs in the elite company. "As far as the other three [state champions] go, he's right up there," Shippos said. "He's a very good high school wrestler and ranks right up there with Kevin Shippos [a national title holder as well] in terms of technique.
"Chris is very excited to go back to the nationals. He just wants to get to the next level. You never have to worry about Chris's attitude, either. He's always looking to improve."
The soon-to-be Lockhaven University freshman, Weidman won his first bout of the state tournament on a medical default. The second victory was more Weidman's style. Against Taury Seward (Section I) who stands 6-6, Weidman was giving up several inches in height but that was his only disadvantage. And even that didn't have much bearing on the outcome once he got Seward on the mat -- the Bruins' champion earned a pinfall in 1:30 of the first period.
Section III's Wayne Foster was up next, and although Weidman wasn't able to produce another pin, the match was a blowout on the final scorecards (12-4). "Chris knew what his goals were and worked very hard for this," Shippos said.
After a little time off, Weidman will return to the mats to train for the upcoming national tournament by grappling with teammate Thierry Delva and Greg Lawrence of Calhoun, who earned a state title of his own at 171 pounds.
Weidman wasn't alone in his trek up to Onondaga County War Memorial. Gabriel Estevez (40-3 overall) also took to the mat after winning a Nassau County Championship of his own at 125 pounds. He won his first match over Mike Martinez (Section I) with a first-period pin before dropping consecutive decisions to Steven Palacios of Section XI (7-0) and Section II's Joe Whitaker (10-5). In the second defeat, which came in the wrestleback round, Estevez led 4-2 in the third period before Whitaker scored five consecutive points to take the lead on a takedown combination.
