Category Archives: Division 2

Summer Heat 2013: Over 400 Wrestlers Compete With All-Staters D'Angelo, Weber, Barbaria and Calderone Taking Titles

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TJ Fabian, Louis Hernandez, Carlos Toribio and Mike Hughes were all state champions in 2013. But way before standing on the top of the podium in Albany, they took gold in dominant fashion at the Long Island Wrestling Association (LIWA) Ken Lesser Memorial Summer Heat event in July of 2012.  They weren’t the only champions from last year’s “Summer Heat” to make All-State in 2013, however, as wrestlers such as Jesse Dellavecchia, Brendan Dent, Sam Melikian, Dan McDevitt, Chris Chambers and Kevin Tynes did as well.

Over 400 wrestlers took the mat on Saturday on the campus of Hofstra University in this year’s edition of the tournament.  We’ll have to wait until February to see if this summer’s titlewinners will make their marks in the state capital once again, but there certainly were several impressive performances, including championship showings by multiple returning New York State placers.

2012 medalist Joe Calderone was one of them.  The Walt Whitman standout took first in the 116 pound class, defeating Kareem Askew of Scorpion, 5-1 for first. At the next weight, (123 pounds), New Rochelle’s two-time placer Nick Barbaria (Ascend) also won it all, edging Kyle Scully of Newfield, 3-2 in the finals.

In addition, Mike D’Angelo of Commack, who was fifth at 120 pounds in Albany in the winter, topped his fellow Ascend Wrestling Club competitor Travis Alexander for the 135 pound crown. D’Angelo had a dominant day that included two pins and a 28-1 point advantage over his opponents in his other three bouts.

Like D’Angelo, Nick Weber of VHW (Vougar’s Honors Wrestling), was fifth at the Times Union Center in February.  The Kings Park grappler continued his very busy “offseason” with the title at 198 pounds, beating state qualifier Nathanael Rose in the semis 5-4 before finishing his run with a 7-4 triumph over Jake Horton of Pat-Med.

Who else earned top billing in Hempstead? After placing at the NHSCA Nationals in Virginia Beach in the spring, Vincent Feola of Walt Whitman collected a crown at 223 pounds over Bryan Tenny of Farmingdale, a 2013 state qualifier.

Another wrestler who appeared in Albany, Malik Grant of Warriors Wrestling, captured the 109-pound class with two pins and a 12-1 major in the title tilt. Kyle Mock of Huntington was similarly in control throughout the day on his path to the 102-pound crown, notching a pair of pins and two five-point decisions.

James Szymanski of 631 Elite went 5-0 at 129, besting Evan Corso 10-8 for the gold.  Ascend’s Jake Einbinder won it all at 155, while Ken Gallagher provided another title for VHW at 173.  Also taking first prize were: Mohammed Farhan of Scorpion at 141, Eduardo Ramirez of Amityville at 148, Greg Cherry of Connetquot at 163, David Hamil of Mission WC at 185 and Marcus Rivera of East Islip at 288.

While the event has historically been run on seven mats, that number simply wasn’t enough over the weekend.  According to Steve Meehan, the Hofstra wrestlers and coaches brought an additional mat down from the second floor wrestling room.  Meehan said that otherwise, the event would have run an hour and a half longer due to the number of entrants.

What fueled the higher enrollment? The Open Division.

“Normally we get between 35 and 45 Open wrestlers,” Meehan said. “[On Saturday] we had 103 Open wrestlers.  I am not sure what to attribute this more than double turnout to. A few reasons that certainly helped are that we had wrestlers from the NCWA teams at Stony Brook and Suffolk County Community College, a good group of wrestlers from Uniondale led by Aljamain Sterling, and a group that came from Blackstone Wrestling Club in Rhode Island. There aren’t that many tournaments that have an Open division anymore and this gives wrestlers a much needed venue to compete.”

Many familiar names took advantage of that venue, including 2013 New York state placers such as TJ Fabian, Dan McDevitt, Brett Pastore and Andrew Psomas. [The final results in the Open Division are listed at the end of the article].

Besides providing an opportunity for wrestlers to see solid competition during the summer, the event has additional purposes, according to Meehan.

“One thing that we hope gets across, which we mentioned to the wrestlers before the start of the event, relates to the reason behind the name of our event,” Meehan said. “The name of our event was changed in 2010 to the Long Island Wrestling Association Ken Lesser “Summer Heat” to memorialize a great friend and volunteer from our organization, Mr. Ken Lesser. Ken was tragically killed by a drunk driver while on his way to pick up his daughter from the local library. Our message to the wrestlers is to learn from this experience and never drink and drive. We hope this message resonates with them.”

In addition to that message, the profits from the tournament provide more grapplers with the chance to improve in the sport.

“The Long Island Wrestling Association (LIWA) uses their funds to send need-based wrestlers to wrestling camps in the summer,” Meehan said.  “We send between 30-50 kids to camp each year.”

So on Saturday, more than 400 wrestlers from multiple states and age groups took the mat at Hofstra to hone their skills and help some good causes.

“We ended up starting late due to the turnout and adjustments will be made to prevent this from reoccurring next year,” Meehan said. “After wrestling began, though, things ran pretty smoothly and I think the event gave the wrestlers a great event with really good competition.”

For full results, see http://www.trackwrestling.com and search for Ken Lesser Summer Heat.

———————-

Meehan wished to thank a number of people:

“There are so many people that the LIWA has to thank for making our event successful again this year. I am sure I will leave some people out, but here is at least a partial list. We want to thank Hofstra University; the Hofstra University wrestling coaching staff and wrestlers (many of the team’s wrestlers manned the scoring tables for the entire day); the members of the LIWA that handled the registration table and weigh-ins; Ed and Marcia Gould, who handled the computer input and ran the brackets; Tony Cipriano, who is the voice of the tournament and manned the microphone the entire day; the Hofstra wrestling trainer Andy Wetstein; and the amazing high school officials from both Sections 8 and 11 that did a terrific job throwing up the points all day.”

HIGH SCHOOL FINAL RESULTS:

102 Kyle Mock (Huntington) won by decision over Jacori Teemer (Long Beach) (Dec 5-0)
109 Malik Grant (Warriors Wrestling) won by major decision over Tony Novotny (CWC) (Maj 12-1)
116 Joe Calderone (Walt Whitman) won by decision over Kareem Askew (Scorpian) (Dec 5-1)
123 Nicholas Barbaria (Ascend) won by decision over Kyle Scully (Newfield HS) (Dec 3-2)
129 James Szymanski (631 Elite) won by decision over Evan Corso (631 Elite) (Dec 10-8)
135 Mike D`Angelo (Ascend) won by major decision over Travis Alexander (Ascend) (Maj 9-0)
141 Mohammed Farhan (Scorpian) won by decision over Thomas McLaughlin (MartinLuther Cougers) (Dec 7-3)
148 Eduardo Ramirez (Amityville) won by decision over Jimmy Leach (631 Elite) (Dec 1-0)
155 Jake Einbinder (Ascend) won by decision over Peter Pasqualino (Pat-Med Raiders) (Dec 8-1)
163 Greg Cherry (Connetquot) won by decision over John Vouzonis (Williston Pk) (Dec 9-3)
173 Ken Gallagher (VHW) won by forfeit over Joseph Russo (Rocky Point) (FF)
185 David Hamil (Mission WC) won by decision over Dominic Pirraglia (Shoreham-WR) (Dec 8-7)
198 Nick Weber (VHW) won by decision over Jake Horton (Pat-Med Raiders) (Dec 7-4)
223 Vincent Feola (Walt Whitman) won by decision over Bryan Tenny (Farmingdale) (Dec 7-3)
288 Marcus Rivera (East Islip) won by decision over Joe Sallitto (Huntington) (Dec 6-5)

OPEN FINAL RESULTS

OPEN – 108-119 Jamie Dunn (Mepham) won by tech fall over Andy Martinez (Brooklyn Wrestling Club) (TF 15-0)
OPEN – 126-143 Tyler Walsh (West Islip) won by decision over Kevin Powers (Team Gatto) (Dec 8-2)
OPEN – 132-145 Quamaine Thomas (The Alphas) won by decision over Kenny Albert (Hunter Hawks) (Dec 4-2)
OPEN – 145-148 Marvin Amazon (The Alphas) won by decision over Tj Fabian (Xcel) (Dec 8-2)
OPEN – 149-159 Aljamain Sterling (The Alphas) won by major decision over Chris Araoz (Ascend) (Maj 15-1)
OPEN – 154-162 Jordan Dyer (Brockport) won by decision over Joshua Ferenezy (Warriors Wrestling) (Dec 3-2)
OPEN – 162-169 Andrew Gray (West Islip) won by forfeit over Steven Rispoli (Brockport) (FF)
OPEN – 168-170 Gonzalo Farina (Long Beach) won by decision over Brian Quiroz (Valley Stream Central) (Dec 6-2)
OPEN – 171-175 Blake Fisher (Ballz Wrestling Clug) won by forfeit over Ryan Rheaume (Riverhead) (FF)
OPEN – 174-184 Jack McKeever (Cactus) won by decision over Andrew Psomas (Monsignor Farrell) (Dec 6-0)
OPEN – 186-198 Rrok Ndokaj (BTS) won by decision over Dan McDevitt (Ascend) (Dec 2-1)
OPEN – 198-213 Andrew Cole (Uniondale) won by decision over Zacary Kousa (Olympic) (Dec 5-4)
OPEN – 206-220 Christian Psomas (Staten Island) won by pin over Greg Martin (Kings Park) (Pin 0:30)
OPEN – 229-245 Brian Slattery (Unattached) won by forfeit over Chris Cardella (Walt Whitman) (FF)

Fargo Recap: Honoring Jeff Blatnick, the Porters, Bringing Home National Titles and More

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The 2013 ASICS/Vaughan Junior and Cadet National Championships in Fargo have come and gone.  Here are some thoughts and observations on Team New York’s highlights in North Dakota. 

The singlets worn by Team New York at the tournament said “Dream Big” on the back.  Underneath that phrase was a picture of the late, great Jeff Blatnick.

There’s no question that Blatnick would have been excited about some of the performances put together, including that of a competitor he worked with at the Journeymen Wrestling Club – Jesse Porter.

Porter, who was a Section 2 champion as a freshman in 2012, didn’t get a chance to shine in the postseason last year.  The Shenendehowa wrestler suffered an injury and was only able to compete in November and December for the Plainsmen as a sophomore.

Now healthy, he made a huge impact at the summer’s biggest event.  A year after taking fourth in Cadet Greco Roman at Fargo, he went to the finals at 152 pounds in the same tournament, where he earned the silver medal.  Then, in freestyle, Porter nabbed a fifth place finish, running his overall record in North Dakota to 14-3 against top-notch competition.  During the Greco Roman finals, one of the announcers said he wasn’t that familiar with Porter before the event, but he knew now that “Porter is a stud.”  It’s clear he’ll be a middleweight to watch in the Albany area . . . and beyond in 2013-14.

The Champions

Jesse Porter wasn’t the only member of his family to stand out for the Empire State.  His sister Alexis Porter captured gold again, winning the 148-pound championship in Junior Women’s Freestyle a year after taking gold in both Cadet and Junior competitions.  She was joined on the top of the podium by Rachel Hale, who won it all at 121 pounds.

It wasn’t just individual glory for the women, however.  Team New York made history, becoming the first squad other than California or Texas to win the Women’s Duals at Fargo.  In appropriate fashion, the group captured the title by defeating the prior titlewinners, dominating the Texans in the first match of the championship bracket before topping the Californians, 39-17.

In pool play, the team faced California and decided to rest the starters for a big run at the crown.  The move paid off for coach Rob Hirsch and the squad.  Later in the day, the rematch was a completely different story.  New York won nine of the 12 bouts, including five straight at the end to seal the victory.

During that event, many contributed key performances.  That included Alexis Bleau, who was the only woman to earn trophies in both the Cadet and Junior tournaments, taking second and fourth, respectively.  It also included Kelsey Gray, who went undefeated in the dual portion of the event, despite not placing individually. Alexis Porter, Rachel Hale and Rosemary Flores also sported unblemished records during the dual tournament.  Flores collected an individual bronze as well, as did Destane Garrick.

Speaking of Bronze . . .

Speaking of bronze, William Koll picked up his first medal in Fargo when he took third in Junior Greco at 126 pounds.  The Lansing Bobcat just missed making the medal stand in both events, as he went 4-2 in Freestyle.  Another two-time state finalist, Nick Casella of Locust Valley, also made his debut on the medal stand in Fargo after grabbing seventh at 120 pounds in Greco.

Something About 220

New York had more All-Americans at 220 pounds than any other weight.   James Bethel followed up his undefeated run at the Cadet Duals with a third place showing in Greco.  He was dominant in his victories, with all coming by pin or technical fall. He was joined on the podium in that tournament by Garyn Huntley, a sixth placer coming off a 20+ win campaign for Oxford Academy as an eighth grader.  In the Junior division there was another 220 pound All-American – Rafal Rokosz of Southampton, who was sixth with three pins along the way.

It wasn’t just Greco.  In Cadet Freestyle, Mamaroneck’s Youssif Hemida won four matches by technical fall to capture seventh place at 220.  Looks like there are some candidates for breakout years in the heavier weight classes in 2013-14.

(Another upperweight who made his mark was Roland Zilberman, who after sporting a perfect record at the Junior Duals in Oklahoma, continued his hot streak with a fifth place medal in Junior Greco).

And the Middleweights Too . . .

In addition to Jesse Porter’s performances at 152, the middleweights had a number of strong showings, including at 145 pounds in Cadet Freestyle.  Jordan Bushey of Peru, Jakob Restrepo of Sachem East and Gino Titone of Connetquot all finished with 5-2 records in pool action.  Titone, who had a 25-5 mark last season, fell just short of placing.  However, Bushey, who came within one win of All-State status in Albany at 138 in 2013, was seventh in Fargo (with an injury default victory over Restrepo, who took eighth).  Look for all three to make a serious push for the medal stand at the Times Union Center next February.

Another Year, Another Medal

Pine Bush’s Chris Cuccolo is very familiar with the awards handed out at Fargo as he placed in both 2011 and 2012. This year was no different, as he picked up another plaque with a sixth place showing at 106 in Greco.  Alpha Diallo of the PSAL was also an All-American in that bracket, earning seventh.

In Summary . . .

So, in the end, a total of 25 All-Americans were crowned, with at least one medalist in all competitions except Junior Freestyle.

New York walked away with a pair of individual national titles and a team championship on the women’s side.  And every time a New York wrestler took the mat, the memory of Jeff Blatnick was honored for everyone in the Fargodome to see.

 

All-Americans from New York, Fargo 2013

Cadet Greco Roman

Jesse Porter, 2nd at 152

James Bethel, 3rd at 220

Garyn Huntley, 6th at 220

Nick Casella, 7th at 120

 

Cadet Freestyle

Jesse Porter, 5th at 152

Jordan Bushey, 7th at 145

Jakob Restrepo, 8th at 145

Youssif Hemida, 7th at 220

 

Junior Greco

William Koll, 3rd at 126

Roland Zilberman, 5th at 195

Rafal Rokosz, 6th at 220

Chris Cuccolo, 6th at 106

Alpha Diallo, 7th at 106

 

Women’s Cadet

Alexis Bleau, 2nd at 143

Jennifer Juarez, 3rd at 108

Vivian Vu, 6th at 154

 

Women’s Junior

Rachel Hale, Champion at 121

Alexis Porter, Champion at 148

Rosemary Flores, 3rd at 125

Destane Garrick, 3rd at 172

Alexis Bleau, 4th at 139

Yuneris Taveras, 6th at 198

Kim Cardenas, 7th at 97

Kennedi Eddins, 7th at 159

Mariana Olalde, 8th at 172

Journey for the Journeymen: Albany-Area Club On the Way to Europe for a Wrestling and Cultural Experience

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A contingent from the Journeymen Wrestling Club will soon be headed to Austria and Italy, staying for almost two weeks.  But it won’t quite be a European vacation.

“It will be fun, but it’s not a tour of those countries,” Journeymen’s Frank Popolizio said. “It’s not like we’re going to the Coliseum and spending the day there. We’ll see a little bit and do some excursions but we’ll mostly be seeing the mats.  We’ll be getting the feel of the European experience from a wrestling standpoint.”

The trip will continue an exchange program that the Journeymen Club has had with European wrestling over the past decade, especially with Italy.

According to Popolizio, it all started when he attended the 2003 World Championships in New York City.

“I went to see the best wrestlers in the world in our backyard, but I had a secondary thing in mind,” he said. “My brother was fourth on the Olympic ladder at the time, but Cael Sanderson was at his weight.  It didn’t look too promising for him to get the nod for the USA, so I started inquiring about wrestling for Italy since our entire family is from there.  I went with some information and materials to give to the Italian coach and in the process, wound up meeting Michele Liuzzi.”

Liuzzi, perhaps Italy’s best competitor at the time, was at the tail end of his career.  Popolizio saw a great opportunity to work with him in the United States.

“I reached out to him over and over,” Popolizio said. “I really wanted to bring him over for a clinic, but he didn’t want to – he had removed himself from wrestling.  But I was tenacious about it and it took years, but I finally got him to come over.”

A relationship was born.  Liuzzi consistently visited the Albany area and began to bring some Italian athletes with him.  In turn, Journeymen made the journey to Italy.  And an exchange ensued.

“This will be our third time going,” Popolizio said. “We’re bringing a really good lineup of dedicated, focused guys who are all very involved in our club.”

Indeed, the list includes multiple All-State wrestlers from 2013, including a pair of silver medalists – Brandon Lapi of Amsterdam and Levi Ashley of Shenendehowa.  In addition, Frank Nassivera of Queensbury (sixth at 170) made the podium while a number of other grapplers – Jake Ashcraft (Burnt Hills), Josh Logiudice (Guilderland), Connor Lawrence (Duanesburg), John McHugh (Columbia) and Blake Retell (Shaker) were all state qualifiers this February.  (For the full list of attendees, see the end of the article).

“I’m definitely excited,” said John McHugh, who attends Columbia High School. “It’s a phenomenal opportunity not only for wrestling but for the whole cultural experience and a chance to go overseas.”

The impressive group of wrestlers will get plenty of opportunities to hone their freestyle skills, first for five or six days in Austria and then in Italy.

“We’ll train there and then we’ll compete,” Popolizio said. “In Austria, we’ll have a quad meet with teams from Germany, Switzerland and Austria.  And the Italian camp has about 130 kids coming in from a bunch of European nations like Spain, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and probably some others.”

The competition part is something both McHugh and Popolizio remember well from the last time the Europeans traveled to New York.

“When they were here, we had a dual meet with the Italians and Austrians,” McHugh said.  “That was a crazy experience.  It was at one of our gyms and tons of people showed up to watch. They’ve been wrestling Freestyle and Greco their whole lives, but we did pretty well.”

Popolizio agreed.

“When they came here last time, it was fun training with the guys all week and then there are the matches and it’s like, ok, now it counts,” Popolizio said. “Our style of wrestling in the United States isn’t as technical as the Europeans.  They’re putting a lot of time into freestyle, while it’s secondary for us.  Sometimes, our technique isn’t up to snuff, but from a competitive standpoint, we have an advantage.  When it was time to compete, the mindset changed and we lit them up.  They had no idea what hit them. It was a lot of fun.”

There will be some fun off the mat as well.  Popolizio said that the hosts will dictate the schedule, but he knows of an excursion including a hike climbing in the Alps where the group will wind up in a location that overlooks several different countries at once.

“That should be a pretty exciting day, even though we know we’re not primarily there to see Austria or Italy,” Popolizio said. “It will be heavy wrestling with some pleasure mixed in. We’re there to compete and have a cultural exchange to continue to build relationships with wrestlers in other parts of the world.”

 

Journeymen Wrestling Club – Attendees

Jake Ashcraft, Burnt Hills

Levi Ashley, Shenendehowa

Josh Bressette, Fort Ann

Steve Colbert, Galway

Christian Gramuglia, Burnt Hills

Dominic Inzana, Saratoga

Brandon Lapi, Amsterdam

Connor Lawrence, Duanesburg

Josh Logiudice, Guilderland

John McHugh, Columbia

Matt McHugh, Columbia

Frank Nassivera, Queensburg

Tony Papa, Burnt Hills

Kevin Parker, Shenendehowa

Blake Retell, Shaker

Cadet Freestyle Ends With Four NY All-Americans – Porter (5th), Bushey (7th), Restrepo (8th) and Hemida (7th)

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On Friday, the final four All-Americans were crowned for New York at Fargo.  Jesse Porter collected his second medal of the week, this time in Cadet Freestyle, when he scored six points in the waning seconds of his last match to capture a 12-7 victory over Matt Ferraro of Illinois to grab fifth.

That performance came after the Shenendehowa wrestler took second at 152 in Greco earlier in the week. He compiled a stellar 14-3 record across the two competitions with his only two losses in Freestyle to the runner up (5-4 score) and the third placer (4-4 on criteria).

The Empire State took seventh and eighth in Cadet Freestyle at 145 pounds, with Peru’s Jordan Bushey and Sachem East’s Jakob Restrepo, respectively.  Bushey grabbed the seventh place bout over his state counterpart by injury default.  The Section 7 wrestler ended with a 6-2 record.

Youssif Hemida also earned a spot on the medal stand when he notched seventh at 220 pounds.  The upperweight earned a 13-1 triumph over Dustin Remer of Oklahoma that took just under a minute and a half for seventh place.  All four of his wins came by technical fall.

New York had eight grapplers begin the Junior Freestyle competition on Friday, however, none advanced to Saturday’s medal round.  Those wrestlers were:

113: John Twomey 4-2

120: Matthew Morris 3-2

126: William Koll 4-2

152: Trevor Hoffmier 3-2

160: Troy Seymour 5-2

160: Chris Koo 3-2

170: Andrew Psomas 3-2

182: Cedric Stephens 3-2

A full Fargo recap will follow in the next few days.

Porter, Restrepo and Bushey Clinch All-America Honors in Cadet FS; Hemida in Contention (Also See Who Survived Day 1 of Jr FS)

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After the second day of Cadet Freestyle, three New York wrestlers clinched spots on the podium with another still in contention when action resumes on Friday.

Jesse Porter of Shenendehowa was the runner up in Cadet Greco earlier this week at 152 pounds and he assured himself two medals at Fargo in 2013 as he will compete for fifth place on Friday against Matt Ferraro of Illinois.  Porter compiled a 6-2 mark in Freestyle with five technical falls and a pin.  In his last match on Thursday, he came back from a late deficit to knot the score at 4, however, he lost on criteria.

Also earning All-America honors were a pair of Empire State grapplers who will take the mat against each other at 145 pounds.  Both Jakob Restrepo of Sachem East and Jordan Bushey of Peru racked up 5-2 records and will battle in the seventh place tilt on Friday. Also going 5-2 in that same bracket was Gino Titone of Connetquot, however, he fell just short of the medal stand.

Youssif Hemida stands at 3-1 and is one of five remaining wrestlers in his half of the 220 pound bracket. (Four of the five grapplers will make the podium).  Hemida’s victories have all been by technical fall and he’s looking for another when he squares off with Kyler Childers of Oklahoma in his next contest.

Also seeing action for New York on Thursday in the Cadet event, but finishing their runs at the tournament, were Ben Lamantia (who finished 4-2), Leonard Merkin (4-2), Gino Titone (5-2), Jacob Woolson (3-2), Tyler Hall (2-2), James Bethel (2-2) and Peter Strassfield (1-2).

JUNIOR FREESTYLE

Junior Freestyle got underway on Thursday and after the first two sessions, the following wrestlers are still alive for Team New York (with record in parenthesis):

113: John Twomey 3-0

120: Matthew Morris 3-1

126: William Koll 4-1

152: Trevor Hoffmier 3-1

160: Troy Seymour 4-0

160: Chris Koo 3-1

170: Andrew Psomas 3-1

182: Cedric Stephens 3-1

Porter, Titone, Bushey and Restepo Undefeated on Day 1 of Cadet Freestyle; NY Women Win Dual Meet Championship

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With Greco Roman finished at Fargo for 2013, the Cadet Freestyle tournament got underway on Wednesday.  New York will be well represented as the competition continues on Thursday with more than 10 wrestlers remaining.

Cadet Greco Roman runner up Jesse Porter continued his strong run in North Dakota with a 5-0 record at 152 pounds.  The Shenendehowa grappler wasn’t the only unbeaten New Yorker, as Leonard Merkin won all four of his bouts at 132 and a trio of 145 pounders – Gino Titone, Jordan Bushey and Jakob Restrepo – all went undefeated.

The following is the list of Empire State wrestlers who are in the hunt for medals in Cadet Freestyle:

120: Ben Lamantia 4-1

132: Leonard Merkin 4-0

145: Gino Titone 5-0

145: Jordan Bushey 4-0

145: Jakob Restrepo 4-0

152: Jesse Porter 5-0

170: Jacob Woolson 2-1

195: Tyler Hall 2-1

220: Youssif Hemida 2-0

220: James Bethel 2-1

285: Peter Strassfield 1-1

(To see the additional wrestlers that competed in Cadet Freestyle, see the end of this page).

New York – Dual Meet Champions

In addition to boasting a pair of national champions (Alexis Porter and Rachel Hale), Team New York celebrated an additional title on Wednesday as the squad finished in first place in the Women’s Dual Meet event.

The team began with a 33-22 victory over Washington before losing to California while forfeiting seven bouts.

In the championship bracket, the team trounced Texas 49-8 while winning 10 of 12 matches. In the title meet, New York faced the Golden State group for the second time of the day and came out on top 39-17.  After California captured the opening bout, New York grabbed four consecutive matches, including two technical falls and a pin, to take control.  The West Coast group rebounded with two wins, but New York sealed the crown with triumphs in the final five contests.

Going undefeated on the day were Kelsey Gray (112), Rachel Hale (121), Rosemary Flores (125) and Alexis Porter (148).

 

The following wrestlers also took the mat for New York in Cadet Freestyle action on Wednesday:

88: Drew Schafer, Justin Lopez, Oscar Lainez

106: John Luke DeStefano, Vinny Vespa, Johnathan Lauricella, Sean Miller

113: Evan Barczak, Taylor Picciano

120: Nick Casella

126: Christian Briody, Michael Berkowitz, Ian Lupole

138: Zachery Bendick, Wyatt DeMarree, Sam Ward, Frank Jilling

145: Kevin Parker

152: William Marcil, Brandon Aviles, Collin LaBombard, John Vouzonis

160: Zafar Iskandarov, Andrew Cummings, Vance Cuffie, Logan Burnick

182: Colby Stayley, Joseph Sabia

195: Aidan Mathews, Nick McShea

220: Garyn Huntley

285: Alex Gonzolez

 

National Champs! Alexis Porter and Rachel Hale Earn Titles For Team NY While Seven Others Place

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Last year, the Empire State squad left Fargo with three national titles in the women’s competition.  Once again, multiple first place plaques will be making their way back East as Team New York’s Rachel Hale (121) and Alexis Porter (148) captured gold.

For Porter, it was a familiar story at Fargo as she captured championships in both Cadet and Junior competition last July.  In 2013, the Shenendehowa wrestler only took the mat in the Junior bracket but was once again dominant, going 5-0 while outscoring the opposition by a combined 44-2 (plus a pin).

Hale was also 5-0 without a close match.  She notched a 14-2 technical fall over Cassidy Jasperson of Texas in the title bout and her smallest margin of victory was 10 points.

Both Rosemary Flores and Destane Garrick garnered third place, at 125 and 172 pounds, respectively.  Flores, a former double titlewinner at Fargo, picked up four victories – all by fall.  In fact, she pinned Taylor Alva of Texas in just over a minute to take bronze.  Garrick also got her hand raised four times, including a 13-2 result against Michigan’s Kaitlyn Hill for third.

Alexis Bleau collected her second medal of the week on Tuesday night.  After taking silver in the Cadet division a few nights ago, she nabbed a fourth place finish in the Junior bracket at 139.

Also representing the Empire State on the medal stand were Yuneris Taveras (sixth at 198), Kim Cardenas (seventh at 97), Keneddi Eddins (seventh at 159) and Mariana Olalde (eighth at 172).

For full results, see http://www.trackwrestling.com.

 

Junior Greco Roman Recap: Koll Takes Third; Cuccolo, Zilberman, Rokosz and Diallo Capture All-America Honors

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At the Cadet level, four New York wrestlers claimed spots on the podium in Greco Roman.  After the Junior competition, another five Empire State grapplers can be added to the All-American list.

Koll, Photo by BV

Two-time state champion William Koll of Lansing put together a 7-1 tournament, taking third at 126 pounds.  Along the way, he notched five technical falls, including a 10-3 win over Dante Rodriguez of Nebraska in the bronze bout.

A trio of wrestlers competed in the fifth place contest on Tuesday.

After going undefeated at the Junior Duals in Oklahoma a few weeks ago, Roland Zilberman continued his hot streak, nabbing fifth at 195 pounds after a 6-2 tournament in which all of his victories were by fall or technical fall. That included his 10-2 triumph over Eugene Martin of South Dakota in the medal round, which was over after only about two minutes of action.

Another upperweight making an impact for New York was Rafal Rokosz, who picked up sixth at 220 pounds after an unblemished record on Day 1 of the event. He pinned three of his foes during the event.

Also grabbing sixth was Pine Bush’s Chris Cuccolo, who has placed at this event multiple times in the past.  Cuccolo collected three wins during the course of the competition.

Alpha Diallo rounded out the placewinners for the Empire State when he earned seventh at 106 with a technical fall over Tyler Almaguer of Washington in less than 30 seconds.  He also had a pin and a technical fall during pool play.

A pair of wrestlers who captured All-America honors at Fargo in the past, Renaldo-Rodriguez Spencer (138) and Burke Paddock (160) also were eligible for Tuesday’s action. Rodriguez-Spencer won all five of his contested matches before injury defaulting out of the competition, while Paddock finished with a 5-2 mark with five technical falls.  Section 2’s Golan Cohen (113) also took the mat on the tournament’s second day, ending with a 4-2 record.

For full results, see http://www.trackwrestling.com.

More on the Women’s Junior Freestyle tournament will be posted after that event concludes Tuesday night.

 

Who Advanced to Day 2 of Junior Greco Roman and Junior Women's Freestyle from New York?

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On Monday, the Cadet Greco Roman tournament concluded with Jesse Porter, James Bethel, Garyn Huntley and Nick Casella making the podium.  For a recap, see This link.

In addition, the first few sessions of Junior Greco Roman and Women’s Junior Freestyle took place.  See below for the wrestlers who are moving on in those competitions and those who also took the mat for the Empire State on Monday.

The following wrestlers are still in the running to place:

JUNIOR GRECO ROMAN

106: Alpha Diallo 3-1

106: Chris Cuccolo 3-0

113: Golan Cohen 4-1

126: William Koll 5-1

138: Renaldo Rodriguez-Spencer 5-1

160: Burke Paddock 5-0

195: Roland Zilberman 4-1

220: Rafal Rokosz 4-0

 

JUNIOR WOMEN’S FREESTYLE 

97: Kim Cardenas 1-0

112: Kelsey Gray 2-1

121: Rachel Hale 2-0

125: Rosemary Flores 2-0

130: Shannon Henry 1-0

139: Alexis Bleau 2-0

148: Alexis Porter 1-0

159: Vivian Vu 1-0

159: Keneddi Eddins 1-0

172: Mariana Olalde 0-1

172: Destane Garrick 1-0

198: Yuneris Taveras 1-0

 

Other wrestlers who took the mat for New York but have completed competition in Junior Greco Roman are:

106: Dolan McColgan, Dominic Riccio

120: Ryan Burns, Matthew Morris, Rashid Powell, Andrew Taber, Pedro Rosales, Cheick Ndiaye

126: Richard Antonacci

132: Nathan Hayes, Carl Rouse, Freddie Dunau, Ryan Snow

138: Jay Oakes, Saidyokub Kahramonov

145: Codie Gillette, Nathaniel Palmer

152: James Black, Maksimilian Garkusha, Trevor Hoffmier, Tanner Phillips, Nigel Williams

160: Troy Seymour, Alex Smythe

170: Andrew Psomas, Konstantin Parfiryev, Daniel Smith

182: Ben Honis, Cedric Stephens, Isaiah Zimmer

195: Allan-Michael Rios, Nick Weber, Reggie Williams, Nathanael Rose

220: Sam Eagan, Luke McKee

285: Gregory LaValley, Matthew St. Onge, Jeff Urbina, Matthew Abbott, Nolan Terrance

 

Others Taking the Mat for New York who have completed competition in Junior Women’s Freestyle are:

105: Jennifer Juarez

112: Susan Yang

117: Sara Andresen, Samantha Ouye-Gonzalez

130: Shirley Duman

Cadet Greco Roman Recap: Jesse Porter Takes Second; James Bethel, Garyn Huntley and Nick Casella Earn All-America Status

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Jesse Porter was an All-American at Fargo a year ago in Greco Roman action when he grabbed fourth at 132.  In 2013, Porter moved up several weight classes and up a few spots higher on the podium as he earned second place at 152 pounds behind Nick Reenan of Texas, the same opponent he faced in the medal round in 2012.

It was a back and forth affair with a number of flurries in the title bout. After the first period, the score was knotted at 3.  Then Porter got off to a good start in the second with a body lock and throw that led to a 6-3 advantage.  However, his opponent responded with a takedown and exposure with just under a minute and a half to go on the path to a 9-6 triumph.

Courtesy of Shenendehowa wrestling website

Porter, a Shenendehowa and Journeymen wrestler, simply dominated in his pool, capturing all seven of his matches by pin or technical fall and giving up just two total points. He will try to pick up even more hardware when the Cadet Freestyle event commences later in the week. (At the New York State championships in Binghamton back in May, Porter cruised to titles in both international styles).

Also high on the podium for the Empire State was James Bethel, who took third.  After dropping his first contest in Fargo to eventual runner up Jordan Wood by one point, Bethel went on a six-match winning streak, including a pin over fifth placer Kyler Childers and a 7-0 technical fall over Shane Coombs in the bronze bout.

Joining Bethel on the medal stand at 220 was Garyn Huntley, who grabbed sixth after picking up four victories at the event.  He notched two pins and two technical falls.

One more All-American was crowned from New York – Nassau County’s Nick Casella at 120 pounds.  Casella began Day 2 the same way he finished the first day of competition – with a victory (over Roshaun Cooley of Pennsylvania).  He concluded pool action with a 6-2 record, earning a spot in medal round against Raul Nevarez of Idaho in the 75-person 120 pound bracket.  The Section 8 wrestler trailed 8-2 in the opening period but took over from there on the way to a 13-8 final and seventh place.

Coming within one win of the podium was Leonard Merkin of Poly Prep, who went 4-1 on the opening day of the event, but lost his first contest on Monday to Conner Noonan of Oregon at 132 pounds.

Updates from the Junior Greco Roman tournament, which began on Monday, will be coming later.

Other Participants from New York in the Cadet Greco Roman tournament were:

88: Drew Schafer, Justin Lopez, Oscar Lainez

106: Sean Miller, John Luke Destefano

113: Taylor Picciano, Evan Barczak

126: Ian Lupole, Christian Briody, Michael Berkowitz

138: Frank Jilling, Zachery Bendick, Sam Ward

145: Kevin Parker, Gino Titone, Jordan Bushey, Logan Brunick

152: John Vouzonis, William Marcil

160: Vance Cuffie, Collin LaBombard, Zafar Iskandarov, Andrew Cummings

170: Jacob Woolson

182: Joseph Sabia, Colby Stayley

195: Aidan Mathews

285: Peter Strassfield