CAMDEN, NY - The first weekend of February proved to be a remarkable one for athletic teams in the Camden Central School District.
The boys’ varsity bowling team was crowned the Section III Division II Champions on Sunday at the Sectional Championships held at Strike-N-Spare Lanes in Syracuse. The Blue Devils won the team title with a score of 5,676. They gapped runner-up Cortland by 282 to take the top spot. Koen Turner was the top bowler for the Blue Devils with a series of 1,322 to place third in the individual competition. That total featured a tie for the high game in the tournament, as Turner led all bowlers in all divisions with a one-game total score of 278.
The team advances to the New York State Championships, to be held from March 10th to 12th at Strike-N-Spare Lanes.
The girls’ varsity volleyball team earned its first regular season league title since 2002 over the weekend as they captured the Tri-Valley League Pioneer Division championship on Saturday. The Blue Devils are 11-7 overall, have won six of their last seven matches, and hold a league record of 4-2 heading into Monday’s regular season finale against New Hartford. Junior Brooke Musch has a team-leading 147 kills for Camden this season, while classmate Hailey Gladle has 48 service aces, 136 kills, and 36 blocks entering the final match of the regular season.
The boys’ varsity wrestling team placed second in the Section III Class B championships held on Saturday at Central Valley Academy. The Blue Devils were the runners-up in the team standings with 218.5 points. Seven Camden wrestlers made the championship finals, while three others wrestled their way into the consolation finals.
Both of Camden’s defending champions in the Class B tournament came out on top again as seniors. In the 285 lb. title bout, Joshua Salsman defeated CVA’s Jeremy McRedmond by a 7-2 decision. In the 132 lb. finals, Trey Kimball needed just 41 seconds to pin Homer’s Jeffrey Stauber.
Talon Kimball, Keith Seaton, Kolton Kelley, Sean Seymore, and Lyle Walker also wrestled their way into the championship finals and placed as runners-up. Bradyn Hatzinger and Robert Jackson were winners in the consolation finals, with Carson Mantelli joining them in that round of the tournament.
The Section III Division II boys’ wrestling tournament will determine who advances to the state championships. It will be held on Saturday, February 11th at SRC Arena on the campus of Onondaga Community College in Syracuse.