On the brink of winning a Section III Division I championship, Oneida wrestlers Matt Harp and Nate Hopkins both fell just short of that ultimate prize. Both took their shots during Sunday’s annual sectional meet at Utica Memorial Auditorium, with Harp getting to the 145-pound finals and Hopkins doing the same at 103 pounds. Harp started as the no. 3 seed and beat Cortland’s Montana Sanders in the quarterfinals, using just 3:18 to get a technical fall. Then, when Harp took out Corcoran’s Lamont Fleming in the semifinal round with a pin 39 seconds into the third period, he earned his 100th career win, hoping no. 101 would come in the finals against Indian River’s Dustin Shawcross, the top seed. What followed would prove quite frustrating. Shawcross used an escape in the second period to go up 1-0, but Harp used a takedown at the end of the period to go in front 2-1. During the third period, Harp tried to hang on, but twice got caught on penalties that resulted in points for Shawcross — and a 3-2 decision. It was only Harp’s third defeat of the season against 29 wins. As for Hopkins, his appearance in the 103-pound final was more of a surprise. He had to start in the first round as a no. 5 seed, pinning Kenny Phillips (Carthage) in 1:51, then knocking off Corcoran’s Mike Miranda 3-0 in the quarterfinals. The big surprise came in the semifinals, when Hopkins, tied with top seed Brandon Delmonte (New Hartford), pulled off a last-second takedown and won, 5-3. The magic ran out in the finals, though, as Harp lost a 5-2 decision to Whitesboro’s Mike Sardo. Elsewhere for the Indians, Zach McGuinness finished sixth at 96 pounds, while Jeff Clark had that same finish at 125 pounds. Matt Fisher (135 pounds) rose from a no. 11 seed to beat Mitch Anthony (Solvay) 9-7 in the opening round before falling to Indian River’s Cody Kiechle. Connor LoMonaco (140 pounds), Carl Finch (189 pounds) and Jon Holbrooke (285 pounds) all took first-round defeats.