Category Archives: Section 1

New York Wins Two at the Cadet Freestyle National Duals As Merkin and Bethel Go Undefeated

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Team New York spent Father’s Day weekend in Daytona Beach, Florida, competing at the Cadet Freestyle National Duals. The squad picked up two victories in five meets, despite forfeiting six weight classes in each contest.

Merkin, Photo courtesy of gothamcitywrestling.com

On Friday, the team opened with a pair of setbacks at the hands of Pennsylvania and Oklahoma, but finished the day strong with a 37-31 win over Florida. Saturday began with another triumph, this time a 41-19 result against Georgia. In the finale, the Empire State wrestlers won six of the 10 contested matches, but fell to North Carolina by a 40-33 margin.

There were a number of standout performances in the Sunshine State, including two undefeated grapplers. Both Leonard Merkin (138 pounds) and James Bethel (220) went 5-0 and piled up bonus points in the process. Merkin had two pins and three technical falls, while Bethel had a pin and two techs in the upperweights. Also getting his hand raised often was 160-pounder Andy Cummings, who went 4-1.

Collecting three victories over the course of the competition were Justin Lopez (88 pounds), Jesse Dellavecchia (113), Jackie Gold (120) and Dakota Woolley (170).

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

Team New York Records:

88 Pounds: Justin Lopez 3-2

100 Pounds: John Luke DeStefano 2-3

106 Pounds: Sean Miller 2-3

113 Pounds: Jesse Dellavecchia 3-2

120 Pounds: Jackie Gold 3-2

132 Pounds: Marc Paez 1-4

138 Pounds: Leonard Merkin 5-0

145 Pounds: Kale Gilbert 1-4

160 Pounds: Andy Cummings 4-1

170 Pounds: Dakota Woolley 3-2

220 Pounds: James Bethel 5-0

 

Fifth Annual Adam Frey Classic, Featuring High School and College Talent, To Take Place on Saturday at the Jersey Shore

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The Jersey Shore has a lot to offer, especially this time of year. On Saturday, that will include the chance to watch high quality wrestling and contribute to a cause close to the hearts of many wrestling fans at the fifth annual Adam Frey Classic at Long Branch High School. Frey, a standout wrestler at Blair Academy and Cornell, passed away after a battle with cancer in 2009.

This year, the event will have a new feature – a high school dual meet tournament, featuring teams from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware that will begin in the morning.

“We changed it up a little bit this time, adding the dual tournament,” said organizer Josh Liebman. “We’re just trying to do different things to improve the day and make it more interesting. We’ve done exhibition matches in the past, we’ve done clinics in the past. I’m looking forward to this – we have some very good teams coming.”

Each of the squads will get between four and five matches, with a championship meet between winners of the two pools. (10 teams are slated to compete).

In the future, Liebman added that he’d like to ensure there’s at least one squad from each of the states Adam Frey was “from” – Pennsylvania (his home state), New Jersey (Blair Academy) and New York (Cornell).

Each of the participants in the dual portion of the day will then get a ticket into the evening main event beginning at 7 p.m.

“We’re excited to give all the kids a chance to see some great college wrestling up close,” Liebman said. “Some of them haven’t had the chance to see that kind of wrestling in person.”

That wrestling will feature four All-Americans, more than 10 other NCAA qualifiers and some elite high school talent.

“This year, we have a lot more younger guys competing,” Liebman said. “The timing was hard because a lot of guys were going to the World Team Trials and some camps have already started. We tried to get matchups that are as competitive as possible with guys that are aggressive and entertaining to watch.”

Some of the bouts that Liebman pointed to include a battle between All-American Evan Henderson of North Carolina and Ricky Durso of Franklin & Marshall, who came within one win of placing (and was the EIWA champion at 141). In addition, he mentioned a few future Lehigh-Rider battles (Randy Cruz vs. BJ Clagon) and (Darian Cruz vs. JR Wert).

“I think Cruz and Wert might just steal the show,” Liebman said. “They’ve gone 1-1 with each other in the past and they are both so much fun to watch.”

A pair of 2013 NCAA entrants, Jamie Franco of Hofstra and Sam Speno of North Carolina State will square off as will All-American Jarrod Garnett and Brown’s Billy Watterson. Former New Jersey stars Scott Delvecchio (vs.Mike Pongracz) and Rob Deutsch (vs. NCAA Round of 12 grappler Nathan Kraisser) will also take the mat, as will Deutsch’s future Rider teammate Jim Resnick. The Bronc upperweight will face Lehigh’s two-time NCAA runner up Robert Hamlin.

“I think a lot of people might be surprised with Resnick,” Liebman said. “He’s really tough and he’s on the cusp of something really great. His match with Hamlin will be a lot closer than people think.”

Another contest of interest will be the clash between FloWrestling’s #1 nationwide wrestlers in the classes of 2014 and 2015 – Chance Marstellar and Myles Martin, respectively.  And former All-American Tyler Nauman will meet Boston’s Nestor Taffur.

That’s just a sampling – the full slate of scheduled matches is below.

For those who can’t attend in person, Nside Wrestling is set to stream the All-Star matches.

“People can come online and make a donation to the Adam Frey Foundation and then watch the video,” Liebman said. “Nside will also archive it and share it. The high school dual matches will also be archived.”

But Liebman hopes to see many fans in person in Long Branch on Saturday to celebrate the life of Adam Frey and to contribute to the work done by his foundation.

“It should be a great day at the shore,” Liebman said. “If people want to come down, they can make a day of it – having a great time at the beach, enjoying the shore while things rebound from Hurricane Sandy and supporting the Adam Frey Foundation while enjoying some great wrestling.”
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Entry is $5 for the high school duals and $15 for the All-Star matches. For more information on the Adam Frey Foundation or the event, see this link.

Scheduled Matches

Nathan Kraisser N. Carolina (NCAA R12) vs Robert Deutsch, Rider (NCAA Qualifier)

Jarrod Garnett, Va Tech (All-American) vs. Billy Watterson, Brown (NCAA Qualifier)

Darian Cruz, Lehigh vs JR Wert, Rider

Sal Marandino vs. Jan Rosenberg, Rutgers

Sam Speno NC State (NCAA Qualifier) vs. Jamie Franco, Hofstra (NCAA Qualifier)

Evan Henderson, N. Carolina (All-American) vs. Ricky Durso F&M (NCAA R12)

BJ Clagon, Rider (NJ State Champ) vs. Randy Cruz, Lehigh (NCAA Qualifier)

Scott Delvecchio, NC State vs. Mike Pongracz UTC

Ryan Dunphy, Cornell vs. BJ Young, Newberry

Nestor Taffur, Boston (NCAA Qualifier) vs. Tyler Nauman, Pitt/Drexel (All-American)

Chris Dowdy, Cornell vs. Tj Guidice, Maryland

Tyler Hunt, NC State vs. Scott Festejo, Old Dominion (NCAA Qualifier)

Chance Marsteller (#1 HS Junior in the Nation) vs. Myles Martin (FloWrestling’s #1 Sophomore in the Nation)

Jermaine John, Hofstra vs. Bubba Scheffel, West Virginia

Jimmy Resnick, Rider (NCAA Qualifier) vs. Robert Hamlin, Lehigh (3x All-American)

AJ Vizcarrondo, WVU vs. Brandon Palik, Drexel (NCAA Qualifier)

AJ Mott, Grand View vs. Ophir Bernstein, Brown (NCAA Qualifier)

Josh Davis, Clarion vs. Eric Thompson, Grand View

Expected Club Teams in the Dual Meet Tournament
FURY WC NJ
SEAGULL WC NJ
LONG BRANCH NJ
MANALAPAN NJ
BOUND BROOK NJ
BEAT THE STREETS PHILLY
OCEAN TWP NJ
DELAWARE ALL-STARS
Team 78 (REGION 7 ALL-STARS) NJ
One more TBA

New York Goes Undefeated at Freestyle Schoolboy National Duals on Sunday to Capture First in Red/Blue Pool

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Team New York finished the Schoolboy National Duals on a high note on Sunday, winning all four meets to capture first place in the Red/Blue Pool. The squad completed the two-day Freestyle tournament with a 6-2 record.

The 50-28 championship dual victory over Michigan followed a similar pattern as each of New York’s contests on Sunday. After falling behind early with forfeits in the first two classes (70 and 77), the Empire State squad went to work, piling up victories in the lightweights.

Trent Svingala got the ball rolling with a pin at 84 pounds, followed by a decision by Trey LaFlamme at 91 and a technical fall by Jacori Teemer at 98. Michigan bounced back with a win at 105, but New York responded with four consecutive technical falls (Elijah Rodriguez at 112, Hunter Dusold at 120, Hunter Richard at 128 and Tyrese Byron at 136) to take control. The middle and upperweights were solid from there, as New York grabbed five of the last six bouts, finishing well with a pin by David Wingate at 210 and a 9-0 triumph by Larry Baker at 265.

After splitting a pair of duals on Saturday to move into the Red/Blue bracket, New York came out firing on the final day of action, topping Colorado (54-23), Kansas (56-20) and Florida (42-26) before the previously mentioned victory over Michigan.

The squad had numerous standout Freestyle performances in Indianapolis, including unbeaten 98-pounder Jacori Teemer of Long Beach, who tallied a 6-0 mark with three pins and two techs. Dylan Dubuque notched the same record, while several others had six victories. They included 6-1 grapplers Hunter Richard (128) of Holland Patent, who also was a standout in Greco earlier in the week and Vito Arujau (112), who won all his matches by 10 or more points. In addition, both 210-pounder David Wingate and Dan Knapp registered 6-2 marks. Larry Baker led the group in wins, going 7-1 at heavyweight.

Here’s a look at Team New York:

84:
Trent Svingala 2-2
Salvator Jones 1-3

91:
Johnathan Gomez 2-1
Trey LaFlamme 3-3

98:
Jacori Teemer 6-0
Paddy Lupole 0-1

105:
Matt Maquet 3-1
Jonathan Loew 2-2

112:
Vito Arujau 6-1
Elijah Rodriguez 1-0

120:
Charlie Spada 3-1
Hunter Dusold 2-2

128:
Hunter Richard 6-1
(128/136)Tyrese Byron 1-3

136/144:
Eric Bartnick 2-2
Noah Grover 1-7

152:
Colin Lawler 3-3
(152/160)Vito Smolyak 2-3

160/175:
Dan Knapp 6-2

175/190:
Dylan Dubuque 6-0

210:
David Wingate 6-2

265:
Larry Baker 7-1

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

New York Earns Two Victories at Freestyle Schoolboy National Duals on Saturday

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Team New York split a pair of duals on Saturday at the 2013 Schoolboy National Freestyle Duals in Indianapolis to take fifth in pool action. The squad registered wins against Georgia (58-17) and Arizona (38-33) while falling to Indiana and Washington.

Syosset’s Vito Arujau went 3-1 on the day at 112 pounds, outscoring his opponents 31-0 in his victories.  Also collecting three wins for the Empire State was Larry Baker at 265. Jacori Teemer (98), Charlie Spada (120) and Dylan Dubuque (190) won their only two bouts of the day, while Dan Knapp (175), Hunter Richard (128), Eric Bartrick (136) and David Wingate (210) all also notched a pair of victories.

Competition resumes on Sunday, with New York wrestling in the Red/Blue bracket versus Colorado.

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

A Win Against Cancer: The Match Against Leukemia Raises Over $10K; Provides Great Competition

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A number of teams hoisted trophies over Memorial Day weekend at the Albany Academies Field House, but perhaps the true winner was the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. That’s because the fifth annual “Match Against Leukemia” tournament raised $10,380 for the organization.

The event, hosted by the New York Titan Wrestling Club, featured 12 teams from states such as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and New Hampshire.  Each squad had an action-packed weekend, with seven dual meets.

“The competition was pretty fierce with a lot of high level wrestlers,” said event organizer Jefferson LaMountain. “There were at least 30 wrestlers who placed at their state tournaments.”

Coming out on top was the host team, Titan Red, followed by the Canastota Raiders from Section 3 in second place. Right behind them in the Gold Division in third and fourth were the Silverback squad from Connecticut and the North Jersey Warriors. (Rockland Force took top honors in the Silver competition, while Excelsior did the same in the Bronze bracket).

But there were many other awards in addition to the trophies awarded to the top squads. A Most Outstanding Wrestler and Coaches Award were selected for each club. (For the championship Titan Red squad those honorees were Tyler Moses and Nolan Foster, respectively).

And the biggest trophy of them all went to Ironman Wrestling of Dutchess County, for raising the most money for the cause ($2100).

“Ironman, under Jim Baker, has been here since Year 1 of the event and we appreciate their support,” LaMountain said.

Helping to make the event successful were around 50 volunteers, doing everything from running the concession stands to ensuring that every match was recorded and posted on the Flowrestling website.

And the weekend included more than wrestling. On Saturday night, the competitors enjoyed a dinner full of pizza, wings and more. Each participant also received a t-shirt with the leukemia ribbon on the back and his club name on the front. There was even a therapist on hand to provide massages for the wrestlers when they weren’t on the mat.

“It went really well with a good number of kids and strong donations,” LaMountain said. “Everyone loved the event – I got 40-45 e-mails from parents saying they enjoyed it and that the community service component makes it special.  Most of the time tournaments raise money for clubs or teams, but this is different.”

It’s different because it is held in memory of the late Sol Kahn, a founding member of the New York Titan Club, who passed away from an aggressive form of leukemia as a high schooler. (He was set to attend the University of Rochester). According to LaMountain, his story was read at the beginning and end of the event.

“Sol possessed more than a willingness to help others; it would be better described as a desire to help others,” the event website said. “He helped his friends, family, teachers and coaches whenever necessary and also went out of his way to help people he did not know. He was committed to his community and his dream was to work in the field of Law Enforcement.”

His community and wrestlers from all over the East Coast showed their willingness to help (and compete) on the holiday weekend.

“Although fierce rivals on the mat, these clubs are working together off the mat to defeat leukemia,” the event website said. “This is a great example of the local wrestling community coming together to support the fight against blood cancers while honoring and remembering one of their own.”

To learn more about the Match Against Leukemia or to contribute, see this link.

To watch the action on Flowrestling, see this link.

The results of the event:

Gold Division

  1. Titan Red (NY)
  2. Canastota Raiders (NY)
  3. Silverback (CT)
  4. North Jersey Warriors (NJ)

Silver Division

Rockland Force (NY), Ironman (NY), Pin2Win Combat (NY), Gate City (NH)

Bronze Division

Excelsior United (NY), Colonie Raiders (NY), Titan Black (NY), Ravena Fury (NY)

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LaMountain wished to thank many people for the success of the event.  They include:

Club President Ken Walberg

Strength and conditioning coach/club spokesperson George Featherstonhaugh

Gabrielle LaMountain, the communications director and business manager who organized the corporate sponsors

Frankie Tangora, the head of concessions

Tournament director Bill Shell

Jim Romanski, who ran the film crews and made sure all the matches were placed online

 

The Heart of the Island: June 8 Tournament at Islip to Provide Oklahoma Tornado Relief

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When Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast in 2012, support came from around the nation to help with the devastation.

“It was amazing,” Islip coach Joe Patrovich said. “People from all over the country contributed. I remember that there were some volunteers that came from Oklahoma to help out.”

So after a tornado brought havoc to the Sooner State a few weeks ago, Patrovich was among those who felt compelled to take action, not only to return the favor for the aid received during Sandy but because of the connection between the wrestling communities of Long Island and Oklahoma.

“We have a relationship with that area of Oklahoma,” Patrovich said. “El Reno, a neighboring town, came to Islip to wrestle six or seven years ago. We were supposed to go there the next year, but the airport was shut down because of a blizzard and we couldn’t get there. But we’ve known people there for years. Pretty much every town involved in the tornado, we’ve wrestled or were supposed to wrestle. It’s the heart of Oklahoma wrestling. We’ve had our wrestlers go out there for the Junior Duals many times too. When you add it all up, you ask yourself what you can do for the people. We felt it would be a really nice thing to raise some money and help as much as we can.”

That’s how the “Long Island Helps Oklahoma” event came about. In just a few days, the wrestling tournament, which will be held on June 8 at Islip High School, was put together.

All of the funds raised will go to help those impacted by the storm in Oklahoma, including the $25 entry fee for wrestlers and the donations of corporate sponsors. In addition, Patrovich said t-shirts will be sold and a collection jar will be there for anyone who wishes to contribute.

“It’s an awesome cause,” Patrovich said. “We won’t charge to get in, but we hope people will come and help out. We may even have a DJ to make it a little different than a normal wrestling tournament.”

There are other ways it will be different. Participants will wrestle both freestyle and folkstyle in a round robin format, with Patrovich aiming for each competitor to get at least 2-3 bouts.

“We wanted to include folkstyle because some of the wrestlers are most comfortable with that,” he said. “But we thought it would be good to have freestyle too. The international rules recently changed in freestyle and a lot of guys haven’t wrestled with the new rules yet. We want wrestlers and referees to get some match experience with those new rules. We’ll have a clinic before to explain the changes. It will be a great way to prepare for Fargo and Cadet or Junior Duals.”

The Junior Duals are coming up in June. Those who represent New York at the event, which is annually held in Oklahoma, will bring something special with them.

“We’ll be sending a check to the United Way from the Long Island Wrestling Community to help the people in Oklahoma,” Patrovich said. “It will be presented at the Junior Duals. I think it will be a nice touch for the wrestling community and show that we all help each other.”

For more information on the tournament, see the flyer 2013OklahomaFundRaiser.

If you wish to donate to the cause, see the contact information on the above flyer.

Openings on the NYS Cadet Freestyle National Team Set to Compete in Florida

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There are openings at the following weights on the New York State Cadet Freestyle National team which will compete June 14-15 in Daytona Beach, Florida:

88 Pounds, 138 Pounds, 145 Pounds, 182 Pounds, 195 Pounds, 220 Pounds, 285 Pounds

If you are interested, please contact Coach Anthony Servidone (aservidone@yahoo.com) or Dean Zenie (rdzenie@aol.com)

University Nationals Freestyle Recap: Cam Simaz, Jamel Hudson and Nick Gwiazdowski Among the NY Placers

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BY MATT DIANO

The final day of the 2013 ASICS FILA University National Tournament could best be described as something of an up-and-down affair for the contingent from the Empire State. Beginning Sunday morning with eight wrestlers still in contention for gold and an additional 17 grapplers still alive in the consolation brackets, at first glance, when you see that New York was only able to secure seven placement finishes, it might strike you as slightly underwhelming. However, to focus only on the quantity instead of the quality would be to overlook the fact that there were more than a few solid efforts put forth.

Leading the way for the group from New York with a runner-up finish at the 84 kg weight class was 2012 NCAA National Champion, Cam Simaz, formerly of Cornell University and now wrestling on behalf of the Finger Lakes Wrestling Club. Opening the second day of freestyle competition by cruising to victories in the quarterfinal (13-6 over Lehigh’s Nathaniel Brown) and semifinal (10-0 over Alex Meyer of the University of Iowa) rounds, the four-time Division I All-American from Allegan, Michigan would be the lone wrestler with ties to New York to advance to the best 2-of-3 title series. In the championship, Simaz would be pitted with the two-time defending National Champion, Ed Ruth, of Penn State fame. Attempting to dictate pace and wear out his opponent, as he did countless times while competing for the Big Red, Simaz would continually push forward. However, in the end, as hard as he worked, he simply would not have an answer for Ruth’s superhuman athleticism, dropping the series in straight matches, 6-4 and 10-0.

Simaz’s silver medal showing would not be the only cause for celebration among the Cornell faithful as four other present or future members of the Ithaca based, Ivy League institution’s squad would also earn their way onto the podium with top-8 finishes. Posting 5th place performances at 60 kg and 79 kg respectively were incoming freshman Mark Grey and junior Jesse Shanaman. Both 10-0 technical winners in the quarterfinal round over opponents who were 2013 NCAA National Tournament qualifiers, the former teammates at Blair Academy who will be reunited next fall would see their title hopes dashed in the semifinal round when they were defeated by the eventual champions in their weight classes, Tyler Graff of Wisconsin (6-2 over Grey) and Oklahoma’s Andrew Howe (10-0 over Shanaman). Second consecutive losses to Joe Colon (12-11 over Grey) and Tyler Wilps (13-4 against the upperclassman from Blairstown) would send each to the 5th place bout where they would end their weekend on a high note. Grey would dominate Jade Rauser 11-0, while Shanaman would receive a forfeit.

An individual who fell just short of matching his teammates’s top-5 finish would be Gabe Dean. The only placewinner of the seven who was not in the morning’s quarterfinals, Dean would peel off four straight wins in the consolation bracket to ensure himself a spot on the medal stand. Unfortunately, after notching a very impressive ‘w’over 2013 EIWA Conference Champion, Brown of Lehigh (same person Simaz beat in the quarters) by injury default (Dean led 6-1 at the time of the stoppage), the native of the Great Lakes State (Michigan) would be upended in his last two matches of the tournament, losing a 3-1 decision in the consolation semifinals to Pittsburgh redshirt sophomore, Max Thomusseit, and then dropping a heartbreaker in the match for 5th, 6-5 to the Hawkeye, Meyer.

Duke Pickett would be the final Cornell placewinner, finishing 8th at 79 kg.

Rounding out the list of placewinners for New York would be a pair of former Scholastic State Wrestler of the Year recipients, 2012 honoree Jamel Hudson (currently a true freshman at Hofstra) and the man who preceded him in winning the top honor, Nick Gwiazdowski, an All-American in 2012 who sat out the 2012/2013 season following a transfer from Binghamton to North Carolina State.

Sharing the highest finish of any Empire State representative not named Simaz, Hudson and “Gwiz” would claim bronze at the 63 and 120 kg weight classes, respectively. In what seemingly was a bit of a running pattern, in similar fashion to Grey and Shanaman, both the Pride student-athlete and the Wolfpack member would lose to the eventual champions in their bracket, Clarion’s Sam Sherlock (11-1 over Hudson) and Tyrell Fortune (8-0 over Gwiazdowski). However, these would be the only blemishes on otherwise immensely strong resumes that witnessed each win three matches over game opponents. Hudson would earn the bronze with an 8-2 (match not as close as the score) decision over Bloomsburg’s Matthew Rappo, while Gwiazdowski would rally from a 5-0 deficit to record the last seven points of the match to slay Austin Marsden, the polished big man from Oklahoma State who would have been an All-American contender this season if not for the fact that he was stuck on the Cowboy bench behind Alan Gelogaev (3rd at the NCAAs this season).

Full results can be found by visiting TrackWrestling.com

Eight Empire Staters Advance to Quarterfinal Round of 2013 ASICS FILA University Nationals

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BY MATT DIANO

One day removed from earning eight placement finishes in the Greco-Roman discipline, our native sons were back on the mat today to compete in the freestyle portion of this weekend’s Memorial Day festivities at the 2013 ASICS FILA University National Tournament under the roof of the Louis and Freda Stile Athletic Field House on the campus of the University of Akron.  

While the majority of the student-athletes with ties to New York State would win multiple bouts on Saturday to ensure that they would live to see tomorrow’s final day of action, it would be a prestigious group of eight that would stand out, going unblemished this afternoon to punch their own respective tickets to the quarterfinals.  Led by a quintet of past, present, and/or future members of the Cornell Big Red—Mark Grey (competing under the banner of the Finger Lakes Wrestling Club; 60kg), Eli Bienstock (also wrestling for the FLWC; 63kg), Duke Pickett/Jesse Shanaman (both at 79kg), and 2012 NCAA National Champion, Cam Simaz (84kg), the Empire State will have championship bracket representation in six of the 10 contested weight classes.   Rounding out the list of those still in contention to potentially hoist the hardware tomorrow will be 2012 NYS DI Champion/current Hofstra true freshman Jamel Hudson (63kg), 2013 NCAA Qualifier from Columbia University Matt Bystol (66kg), and current North Carolina State big man, Nick Gwiazdowski (120kg), a former two-time NYS Division II Champion for Duanesburg, who was an NCAA All-American last season in his rookie year for Binghamton University before electing to follow former Bearcat Head Coach, Pat Popolizio, to Raleigh.

Going unscored upon in their three matches today would be Grey and Simaz as each notched a trio of technical falls, with both the former and the latter racking up a 32-0 margins over their opponents.  Grey will open up day #2 with a date against two-time NCAA Tournament qualifier, Shelton Mack from the University of Pittsburgh, while the next stop on Simaz’s journey to Titletown will come in the person of 2013 EIWA Conference Champion, Lehigh University’s Nathaniel Brown.

Almost as dominant on the day as his two Cornell brethren would be Shanaman, who aside from a hard fought 7-4 decision victory in the second round over Steven Nelson of the Clarion Wrestling Club, outscored his other two foes by a combined tally of 15-0.  The Blairstown, NJ native will not have it nearly as easy tomorrow as he will be pitted against 2013 Big 12 Conference runner-up, Tanner Weatherman, from Iowa State University.  A breakout star for the Cyclones in his redshirt freshman campaign, Weatherman just missed earning All-American honors at the NCAA National tournament by a single victory, going 2-2 in front of the home crowd.

Joining Shanaman at 79kg in the first of only two weight classes that witnessed multiple New Yorkers wrestling their way into the quarterfinals is his college teammate, Pickett.  While not as imposing on paper as the aforementioned, Pickett has been every bit as effective, proving that it does not matter how large the victory as long as it is you who gets his hand raised in the end.  Posting three consecutive wins by decision, commencing with a 10-7 first round victory over Wisconsin’s Frank Cousins and capped off by his most impressive performance of the day, a 9-2 “w” over Santiago Martinez, the freshman from Culpepper, Virginia has found a way to get it done each and every time this far.  If he hopes to continue this winning streak, he will need to be at the top of his game as he will kick off the second day of freestyle with an encounter with a mighty tough opponent in the person of 2013 NCAA All-American Logan Storley.  Finishing sixth in the nation this season for the University of Minnesota in his true freshman year, Storley was ranked as high as #1 in the country during parts of his 2012/2013 frosh campaign.

Pulling off one of the most impressive come-from-behind efforts in securing himself a spot in the quarterfinals was Hudson.  After cruising to a pair of technical fall victories, 10-0 and 11-0 over Joshua Shupe (Minnesota) and Nathan Coburn, “the Renaissance Man” would find himself on the brink of being knocked into the consolation bracket when he fell behind 11-2 in his round-of-16 bout against Iowa State’s Shayden Terukina. Rather than panic, Hudson would slowly fight his way back into the match, using his excellent takedown skills to record the final 14 points of the match to emerge with the 16-11 decision. The 2012 New York State High School Wrestler of the Year will need to bring this same level of intensity and endurance to the match tomorrow as he will likely be in for an action packed showdown with University of Iowa redshirt sophomore, Ethan Owens. While unable to break into the Hawkeye starting line-up early in his career, Owens has fared quite well in open competition, compiling a 14-5 overall record this season at weights ranging from 141-157.  Should Hudson successfully navigate his way past Owens, an All-NY affair can ensue as Bienstock is also on the bottom half of the 63kg bracket.  The Finger Lakes Wrestling Club product has demonstrated an ability to put points up in bunches, averaging just under 9pts/match in going 3-0 on the day.  Before we can even think about the battle of NYS, like Hudson, Bienstock must first take care of business against a tough customer in the person of Clarion student-athlete, Sam Sherlock.

Finding himself as a member of perhaps the deepest field of the entire tournament was Gwiazdowski, who like Pickett, had to sweat it out a bit, but still managed to always walk away with the “w”.  Opening up his day with a 14-9 decision over  Ohio University’s Jeremy Johnson, a 2012 NCAA All-American (7th) who fell one win short of repeating the milestone this season, Gwiazdowski would find himself in a battle-and-forth barn-burner in his second match of the afternoon against Wisconsin’s Connor Medbery.  Trailing 9-8 late in the match, the Wolfpack sophomore (who sat out the 2012/2013 season following the previously cited transfer) would come on strong in the last half minute, scoring a pair of takedowns to win 12-9.  While by no means an easy opponent, “Gwiz” should enjoy a significant experience advantage over Minnesota true freshman, Michael Kroells, when they meet first thing tomorrow morning.

Bystol would also be light outs on Saturday, outscoring his three opponents 31-5.  He will have the toughest quarterfinal match as he will be pitted against 2013 NCAA runner-up, Jason Chamberlain, who just completed his eligibility for Boise State University.  A former member of the Junior World team, despite his strong folkstyle resume, many consider the Bronco to be much more adept at freestyle.

Other New Yorkers who remain in contention to finish top-8 in freestyle include:

*55kg: Mike Soria (Buffalo)
*55kg: Max Soria (Buffalo)
*60kg: Jamie Franco (Hofstra)
*60kg: Nick Wilcox (Bloomsburg)
*60kg: Penn Gottfried (Columbia)
*66kg: Mike Nevinger (Cornell)
*66kg: Chris Villalonga (Cornell)
*66kg: Luke Vaith (Hofstra)
*66kg: James Carucci (Lehigh)
*70kg: Kevin Hartnett (Bloomsburg)
*70kg: Connor Sutton (Columbia)
*74kg: Josh Veltre (Bloomsburg)
*74kg: Ryan Fox (NC State)
*74kg: Josh Houldsworth (Columbia)
*74kg: Ben Villaret (Columbia)
*79kg: Jermaine John (Hofstra)
*84kg: Gabe Dean (Finger Lakes/Cornell)

In the other tournament going on this weekend, the FILA Cadet Nationals, the Empire State would not fare as well, as none of our 7-man contingent was able to advance to tomorrow’s placement rounds. Coming the closest to making it to the second day of the tournament was South Jefferson’s Daniel Smith. Competing at 76kg, Smith would post a .500 record, going 3-3 today. The only other wrestler from NYS to win more than one match was Greg Kleinsmith, who went 2-2 (also at 76kg).

Who Placed on Friday at the FILA Cadet and University Nationals (Greco)?

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Greco Roman wrestling took center stage on Friday in Ohio at the FILA Cadet and University Nationals competitions.

In Cadet action, a pair of New Yorkers made the podium. Two-time state runner up Nick Casella of Locust Valley placed sixth at 54 kg, while Poly Prep’s Leonard Merkin did the same at 63 kg.  Both Empire State grapplers won twice by technical fall during the day.

In the University tournament, several wrestlers with New York connections made the medal stand.

Max Soria, Photo by BV

The University at Buffalo was represented by medalists Max and Mike Soria at 55 kg and Wally Maziarz (seventh at 74 kg). The Soria twins both earned their way into the fifth place bout, where Max was declared the winner by injury default.

William Simpson of US Army was the runner up at 60 kg, making the championship series against former Ohio State lightweight Nikko Triggas.

Taking third at 60 kg was Dmitry Ryabchinskiy, a former PSAL wrestler who came out on top by technical fall in the bronze bout, while Windsor native Jessy Williams was fourth at 63.

James Hogan recorded a fifth place showing at 66, while Oliver Lopez (Hunter) took sixth at 60 and Columbia’s Matt Idelson collected eighth at 96.

Freestyle competition will begin Saturday morning.

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