Billy George, Photo by BV
There’s no doubt that Cornell had a successful weekend at the Northeast Duals in Troy, N.Y., defeating Drexel and a pair of top 12 teams, Central Michigan and Oklahoma. However, current and future members of the Big Red also racked up wins at another event on Saturday – the Mat Town Open in Pennsylvania.
Four Ithaca residents won championships – Cornell sophomore Billy George at 197 pounds as well as three wrestlers who committed to the Big Red and currently represent the Finger Lakes Wrestling Club (FLWC) – Mark Grey (133), Alex Cisneros (149) and Brian Realbuto (157).
George, who previously took fourth and third at the Binghamton Open and New York States, respectively, went 4-0 on the day, outscoring his opponents 26-11 along the way.
As for the Finger Lakes trio, all three notched at least two bonus point victories on the way to first place. For Realbuto, it was the second tournament crown of the season, as he previously captured the Binghamton Open gold. He recorded two pins and a major, including a fall in the finals against Virginia Tech’s Matt Stephens. He is now 15-1 overall.
For Grey and Cisneros, the championships were the first of their college careers. Grey took second at the Binghamton Open and also claimed fifth at the Buffalo Invitational. He was 4-0 with a pin and a major.
Cisneros, wrestling up several weight classes after finishing his stellar high school career at 132 pounds, also had a fall and a major as he took top billing at 149.
The champions weren’t the only New York representatives on the podium. For Cornell, Marshall Peppelman grabbed third at 174 pounds while FLWC’s Angelo Silvestro (fifth at 141), Gabe Dean (fourth at 184) and Oney Snyder (fourth at 285) also made the medal stand.
New York Wrestling News 2012-2013 Archive 
Great to see the successes all way round. Glad to see Marshall Peppleman continuing to wrestle and work his way back. He was a top 5 recruit coming out of Pennsylvania as a senior. I read somewhere where he had concussion problems. Has this continued to hamper him? Also, htere was a highly rated wrestler, Damon Palascios(?)commited to Cornell. Is he with FLWC? I am an old-timer who has become an entusiastic supporter of Cornell wrestling. I am hoping to get a response to my questions. Continued good luck!
Marshall Peppelman has been battling freshman Duke Pickett for the starting spot at 174. We haven’t heard about injury issues for Peppelman this year. Dylan Palacio is with the FLWC and has impressed in the room. However, he has had a few injuries which have kept him out of tournaments thus far.
Thank you for your kind response. I will check this sight on a regular basis. All very exciating. Again, thank you.
Thank you again for your quick response to my previous post. 1. I noticed on the Penn State web site that Cornell and FLWC wrestlers participated in the Nittany Lion Open (while Cornell also participated in the Cliff Kleen Tournament in Las Vegas). Is there a web site here that lists the various brackets and results from the Nittany Lion Open? I noticed that Penn State had all their varsity starters participating, which is certainly OK. I would love to know how all of our wrestlers fared. 2. From last year’s recruiting class, is Steve Congenie, from Illinois, part of FLWC. If so, is he battling injuries? 3. Is Gabe Dean, from Michigan, part of FLSC? How is he doing? 3. Did Silas Nacita, from Bakersfield, Calif. decide to play football at Cornell, or is he a possible wrestler? I read somewhere that Caleb Richardson is no longer at Cornell. Do you know where he re-enrolled? Finally, is there a listing of FLWC wrestlers so that I can follow their careers at Cornell. I apologize for this long-winded inquiry, but I find all this great fun in my retirement. I live outside Rochester, and in my retirement, I hope to attend a Cornell wrestling match. Thanks again for your patience!
Steve Congenie is part of FLWC but is injured. Gabe Dean is part of FLWC and placed at several events at 184 so far, including the Binghamton Open and Mat Town Open. He beat several starters, such as those from Harvard, Brown and Columbia. He also won the NY States “B” tournament. Nacita isn’t wrestling as far as we know. Caleb Richardson is taking this year off and will be at UPenn next year. The Nittany Lion Open brackets have been added to our Weekend Recap article posted on December 2.