CLINTONVILLE — Beekmantown was out of wrestlers and the Eagles no longer controlled their fate.

But, when Saranac's Mitchell LeFevre pulled out a 1-0 win over Peru's Cameron Mello in the 285-pound finals Saturday at AuSable Valley Central School, the Eagles were able to hold on and defend their Section VII Wrestling Championship.

The Eagles, who also won the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference title this season, finished with 161 points in the five-team field to edge out runner-up Peru, which was two points off the pace at 159.

Saranac, which had five individual champions, was a close third with 154.5, while Northern Adirondack placed fourth with 123 and host AuSable Valley fifth with 53.

"This one is more gratifying because we graduated seven kids and have only two seniors on the team this year," said Beekmantown head coach Lenny Gadway. "I wasn't expecting this, but the kids have worked hard."

Nick Bushey recorded a 6-1 win over AuSable Valley's Shane Lieberth in the 160-pound finals for the Eagles' fourth and final individual champion of the day.

Then, Beekmantown had to sweat it out the next four title matches when AuSable Valley's John Dukett pinned Peru's Josh D'Aust in 1:24 at 171, Saranac's Adam Ahern with a win by technical fall over Beekmantown's Hayden Head at 189, Saranac's Tyler Leavine a pin of Northern Adirondack's Mike Riley in 1:10 at 215 and then LeFevre's win over Mello at 285.

"We were able to get four champions," Gadway said. "We wrestled well today.

"But, I knew what the score was and what we needed to happen at the end."

In additon to Bushey, Beekmantown's other champions included Kyle Burdick with a 3-0 decision over Northern Adirondack's Ty Herbest at 125, Koby Barcomb a 9-2 decision over Peru's Kyle Rock at 135, and Andy Anderson with a 9-1 decision of Peru's Adam Stickle at 145.

"We needed a win at either 171 or 285 to win it, but it wasn't to be," said Peru co-head coach Mike Hogan. "Beekmantown is strong in the middleweights and the team results show how competitive the league was this year.

"We wrestled well as a team, but needed that one more win that we couldn't get."

The Indians won four weight classes — the first four.

Jacob Goddeau pinned Saranac's Austin Latulip in 55 seconds at 96, Arik Robinson with a pin of Saranac's Nate Wood in 1:22 at 103, Troy Seymour with an 11-1 decision over Northern Adirondack's Kyle Patnode at 112 and Patrick Hogan with a 8-4 win over Beekmantown's Jesse Daniels at 119.

Hogan, chosen as the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler, avenged Wednesday's loss to Daniels in CVAC action and the victory was a pivotal one for Peru at the time.

"When Hogan won the 119 match, I knew we had our work cut out for us," Gadway said.

"I'm proud of Patrick," said his father, Mike. "He likes the competition and doesn't back down.

"Our first four kids all did great and it goes back to the work they put into it during the summer."

It was also a strong day for Saranac, which had more individual champions than anyone.

In addition to Ahern winning at 189, Leavine at 215 and LeFevre at 285, Ryan Guynup was an 8-2 winner over Beekmantown's Ethan Kerr at 130, and Dakota Smart a 6-3 decision over the Eagles' Kyle LaPorte at 140.

"It was a great day for us," said Saranac head coach Heath Smith. "This is the first time we've had five champions since I've been here and it was nice to see four of our seniors win. They really came through for us."

James Charland, who recently became the all-time Section VII wins leader, gave Northern Adirondack its lone champion when he pinned Beekmantown's Brett Smith in 1:02 at 152 pounds.

Dukett, meanwhile, picked up the host Patriots' win.

"We only had six wrestlers competing and we had a first, second and third-place finish," said AuSable Valley head coach Travis Capen. "In addition to John Dukett winning, Shane Lieberth is a senior who took second and James Parker, a senior wrestling for the first time this season, was third.

"I also want to thank the Section VII community for all their help in running the tournament and making it a success."

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Section VII

Wrestling Championships

Team scores

1, Beekmantown 161

2, Peru 159

3, Saranac 154.5

4, Northern Adirondack 123

5, AuSable Valley 53

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Results

96- 1, Goddeau (Peru) pinned Latulip (Sar), :55.

103- 1, Robinson (Peru) pinned Wood (Sar), 1:22. 3, Kellett (NAC) pinned Rivers (Beek), 4:39.

112- 1, Seymour (Peru) dec. Patnode (NAC), 11-1. 3, Goddeau (Sar).

119- 1, Hogan (Peru) dec. Daniels (Beek), 8-4. 3, Gregory (NAC).

125- 1, Burdick (Beek) dec. Herbest (NAC), 3-0. 3, Bell (Peru) dec. Spaulding (Sar), 13-2.

130- 1, Guynup (Sar) dec. Kerr (Beek), 8-2. 3, J. Manor (NAC) dec. Scholl (Peru), 4-1.

135- 1, Barcomb (Beek) dec. Rock (Peru), 9-2. 2, Filion (NAC) pinned Jenks (Sar), :37.

140- 1, Smart (Sar) dec. LaPorte (Beek), 6-3. 3, Sunderland (NAC) dec. Moore (Peru), 9-5.

145- 1, Anderson (Beek) dec. Stickle (Peru), 9-1. 3, A. Manor (NAC).

152- 1, Charland (NAC) pinned Smith (Beek), 1:02. 3, Lovejoy (Peru) injury default over LaMere.

160- 1, Bushey (Beek) dec. Lieberth (AVC), 6-1. 3, Perry (Sar) dec. Bombard (NAC), 4-1.

171- 1, Dukett (AVC) pinned D'Aust (Peru), 1:24. 3, Tennant (Sar) dec. Demaris (NAC), 6-0.

189- 1, Ahern (Sar) tech. fall over Head (Beek). 3, Parker (AVC) dec. Dubray (NAC), 5-3.

215- 1, Leavine (Sar) pinned Riley (NAC), 1:10. 3, Jabaut (Beek) pinned Major (Peru), :55.

285- 1, LeFevre (Sar) dec. Mello (Peru), 1-0. 3, Lattrelle (Beek) pinned Doner (AVC), :56.