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Williamsville teams excel despite small rosters
Comprised of eighth-graders Cody Stumpf and Nathaniel Roberson, South finished 8-2, which was good enough for second place. Meanwhile North, with three gymnasts, including two newcomers, were third at 6-4. You need at least four gymnasts to fill a lineup. "At the beginning of the year, I didn't know what to expect," said Joe Buscaglia, coach of all three Williamsville schools. "They went into meets with fewer gymnasts than other schools and competed well under pressure. I couldn't ask any more from them." Stumpf and Roberson, both all-around competitors, beat every team in Section VI except Clarence. Their highest team score was a 98.4. Stumpf and Roberson have posted great scores. Roberson and Stumpf are tied for the top floor exercise score in the section with a 9.0. Stumpf leads all gymnasts in all-around (50.4), vault (9.4), horizontal bars (8.4) and pommel horse (8.8). He's second on still rings (7.5) and parallel bars (7.8).
"They've done everything I've asked of them," said Buscaglia. "What's more impressive is that they're eighth-graders and beating other teams' full lineups. It's only their second year on the team but have competed like veterans." North sophomore Brandon O'Brien is having his best year as a high school gymnast. His best scores are on floor (8.4, fifth-best in the section) and vault (8.3, sixth-best). Freshmen newcomers Joey Chearmonte and Matthew McFarland have improved throughout the season, Buscaglia said. Chearmonte's best events have been vault (8.2, seventh-best in section) and floor (7.0, eighth-best in section). McFarland was good on vault (7.0) and pommel horse (4.0). Williamsville East finished 0-10. Its only gymnast, freshman Spencer Kieffer held his own, posting an individual high score of 8.1 on vault, 6.6 on floor and 6.0 on pommel horse. All place him in the top ten in the section. All of Williamsville's gymnasts qualified for the Section VI championships, to be held at 5 p.m. on Friday at Williamsville South. Buscaglia feels each of his gymnasts has a good shot at going to regionals in at least one event. Regionals are Nov. 11 at Brockport State College. Stumpf, Roberson, O'Brien, Chearmonte and Kieffer will compete at sectionals in all-around competition; McFarland on pommel horse, vault and parallel bars. Buscaglia said Stumpf has a good shot at setting the section record in vault. The section record is 9.6, set in 2003 by Amherst graduate Harrison Reisweber and in 2006 by Clarence's Michael Morse. Morse is a favorite to win the all-around section title. Amherst Central The Tigers closed out the regular season with a 77.7-73.9 victory at Hamburg on Monday. Amherst finished 4-6. "For nine kids who have never done club gymnastics, they did well," said coach Renee Kowalski. "They all learned a lot of new skills." Amherst was led by senior and sophomore all-around gymnasts, Jordan Simone and Mike Huber. Simone and Huber posted high all-around scores of 28.1 and 24, respectively. Simone also had an 8.1 on vault, 7.3 on floor and 3.9 on parallel bars. Huber had a 3.9 on rings, a 5 on floor and a 7.5 on vault. Both will compete in all-around at sectionals. Others competing at sectionals will be Sean Johnson (floor, rings); Taylor Bentzoni (floor, vault, high bars); Conley Brodziac (pommel horse); Eoghan Connors (pommel horse, rings, parallel bars); Kenny Martini (rings); Jonathan Flynn (rings, pommel horse); and Brian Norton (vault, parallel bars). e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com |
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