Akwesasne wrestler places 4th in NY State

Rochester—Capping off a terrific High school wrestling career, Massena Senior Thomas Rahontsiiostha Barreiro wrestled the best in the state and placed 4th (Division 1) at the annual NY State High School Wrestling Championship held March 8-9th in Rochester. Thomas won his first two matches and advanced to the semifinals Sunday morning. He lost to eventual 152 lb champion Pete Capone of Johnson City (Section four) 5-1, but wrestled back to the consolation finals. Along the way he beat Section three champion Ron Majerus of Mexico, one of the favorites to win States. In the 3rd place, consolation finals, he lost to top ranked John Martin Cannon of Brockport, who had been upset in the first round of action.

Twin brother Phillip Raweriio Barreiro had a tough draw and lost 5-4 in the opening round to eventual 3rd place finisher TJ Neidhart of section eleven. The loss was controversial as Raweriio’s 2-point reversal as time expired was counted by one referee but not the other. The referees discussed the call and the head referee overruled the other to keep the score as it stood. Several coaches and wrestlers agreed with the Massena fans who were vociferously booing the poor call. Phillip defeated section nine’s Joey Gambino 11-6 in the next match but then fell 5-3 to section five’s Jeff Goff in his third match and was eliminated from contention. Goff went on to finish 5th in the state. Phillip finishes the season with a 28-3 record.

Thomas Barreiro was happy with his finish but said the results were bittersweet. “I thought I wrestled pretty good but it’s not the same feeling without Phillip also placing. I couldn’t have done this well without him as my training partner all these years. I look at it as though my accomplishments are also his accomplishments. He is still definitely one of the best in the state.” Thomas finishes the season with a record of 35-4.

The twins are the sons of Katsi Cook and Jose Barreiro. They will stay active in wrestling this summer as they compete at the Senior Nationals in Virginia Beach, the NY State Freestyle States and the Fargo, ND Freestyle Nationals. In August they will compete in the Indigenous Games again with Team Kahnawake and look to defend their Gold and Silver medals from 2006.