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Have a question for “Kid Dynamite”?  Curious about what’s happening on the Cornell wrestling team?

Two-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake of the Big Red will join New York Wrestling News for a live chat on Monday, January 23 at 7 p.m. Eastern time.

Dake, currently the #1 ranked 157-pound wrestler in the country, is 22-0 this season with titles at the Body Bar Invitational, Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and the Southern Scuffle.  Even up a weight at 165, he got a clutch pin for the Big Red last week in a close win over Binghamton.

To join the online chat, click here and register.  (It’s free!)

You can also add your email for a reminder here!

“The Kid” is ready for your questions!

By Betsy Veysman

Nick Gwiazdowski picked right up where he left off.  The Binghamton freshman went undefeated as a high senior, winning all of his contested matched by pin.  So it wasn’t too surprising when his first college bout ended in a fall over Adam Barnett of George Mason.  For good measure, Gwiazdowski pinned his next opponent, Princeton’s Charles Fox, in the first round of the Binghamton Open the following day.  The heavyweight then went on to take the tournament title with a 4-0 performance, including, fittingly, a fall in the finals.

“Honestly, we expected success from Nick right away,” said Bearcats head coach Pat Popolizio. “I’ve known him for a long time and knew his personality and attitude. He’s a true competitor who loves the sport and puts the necessary time and hard work into it.”

Gwiazdowski, on the other hand, was a little surprised by the smooth transition.

“Before my first competition, I wasn’t sure what to expect,” he said. “The coaches were pretty confident in what I could do, but I wasn’t as confident.  But then after the Binghamton Open, I felt like it wasn’t such a big jump from high school.  I felt like I could do really well.”

The Duanesburg High product has continued his successful rookie campaign, amassing a 17-4 record, including nine bonus point victories (with six pins).   He upset Mike McClure of Michigan State, who was the fifth seed, in the opening round of the Reno Tournament of Champions and has registered other quality wins over Purdue’s Roger Vukobratovich and Eastern Michigan’s Wes Schroeder.   He also took advantage of the opportunity to avenge his last high school loss by defeating Oklahoma’s Kyle Colling in a January dual meet and he nearly led his team to an upset of Cornell on Sunday when his major decision over the Big Red’s Maciej Jochym tied the dual score.  (Cornell won on criteria).

But the focus for Gwiazdowski, currently ranked 12^th nationally by theopenmat.com, is not on his wins.  Three of his four losses this year have come to All-Americans, Levi Cooper of Arizona State (twice) and Alan Gelogaev of Oklahoma State.  His other setback was against Drexel’s Kyle Frey.  The two-time New York state champion is quick to recall his mistakes in those defeats, including some positioning errors and getting extended on shots. But he believes there is one thing he really needs to do to step up his game as the campaign progresses.

“The biggest thing for me right now is to ignore the name of the other guy and what singlet he’s wearing,” he said.  “It’s just wrestling.  There are no secret moves out there.  I made the mistake of thinking about whether I could beat the guy in front of me in the middle of those matches.  I know I just need to forget about who the opponent is and wrestle my match.“

Popolizio agreed. “Nick wrestled differently against those guys.  He was a little hesitant on his shots.  He gave them too much respect. If he doesn’t question his ability, but just goes out there and is aggressive and puts it on the line, he can make a lot of noise this year.”

Gwiazdowski, who weighs between 235 and 240 pounds, began the season with goals he now thinks were too conservative.  At this stage, he and his coach firmly believe he can be an All-American in St. Louis in March.

“A good thing about Nick is that he soaks everything up, comes back and works on any mistakes he makes,” Popolizio said. “He has a lot of hidden strength.  He’s not the biggest heavyweight, but he has great speed and conditioning.   It’s also very important that he wrestles harder as the match goes along.  All of those things combined make him a real candidate to make the podium.”

Ultimately, Popolizio believes the 2011 Junior Wade Schalles Award Winner as the nation’s best high school pinner can not only make the podium, but stand on top of it as an NCAA champion.  In fact, discussions about a national title factored heavily during the recruiting process.

Gwiazdowski admitted that the proximity to home and his familiarity with the coaching staff played key roles in his decision to join the Bearcats. But there was also something else that drew him to Binghamton.

“We’re looking for our first national champion here,” Popolizio said. “Nick could have gone to almost any program he wanted to, but he was excited about the prospect of being our first national champion.”

“That definitely was important in my decision,” Gwiazdowski agreed, adding he was also looking at Penn State and Lehigh. “Being an All-American or a national champion at a lot of other schools isn’t such a big deal; it’s been done so many times before.  But doing those things here on a team that is doing the right things and moving up the ladder was a really exciting opportunity.”

Gwiazdowski is hoping there’s more excitement to come in March.

By Betsy Veysman

Some have said that the Eastern States Classic serves as a preview of the New York State Championships.  Certainly, the tournament features some of the Empire State’s best talent.

The numbers speak for themselves. 12 of the top 20 Division I teams in the state will be at the event along with 7 of the top 20 Division II schools.  More than half of the state semifinalists in Albany last year competed in the event.  Twelve defending state champions will wrestle this weekend along with 17 state silver medalists.

“There are so many great wrestlers at Eastern States,” said Binghamton University head coach Pat Popolizio.  “With so many teams competing, when you win you know you’re at a level where you can compete in college.  Our roster at Binghamton is mostly made up of New York wrestlers and most of the recruits we’ve had have won or placed high at Eastern States.”

This year’s 10^th annual edition, which will take place on January 13 and 14 at Sullivan Community College in Loch Sheldrake, New York should again display top-notch wrestling. Over 100 squads will compete, including representatives from Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Virginia.  With 580 wrestlers in the field, the action will begin at 10:40 a.m. on the 13^th and will run through approximately 10 p.m. on Friday night.  Wrestling will resume on Saturday morning around 9:15 with medal round bouts scheduled to commence at 4:15 p.m.

With eight placers, Longwood won the team title by 36 points over runner up Shenendehowa in last year’s event, with Fox Lane, Long Beach and Hauppauge rounding out the top five.  Those teams are all back to contend, along with Intermat’s #42 team, Wantagh, which has eight grapplers seeded in the top 16, including #1 at 99 pounds Jose Rodriguez.  Shenendehowa offers seven seeded wrestlers, including two top seeds, Nick Kelley at 132 and Tony Fusco at 195.

The addition of prep power Wyoming Seminary should have an impact on the team race as well.  The Knights won the Bethlehem Holiday Classic and placed fourth and second, respectively, at the very tough Ironman and Beast of the East tournaments.  The Pennsylvania school has four nationally ranked wrestlers in the starting lineup: Dominick Malone (126), Eric Morris (170), AJ Vizzcarando (220) and Michael Johnson (285).  All four are top seeded this weekend, as is Evan Botwin at 120.  Seminary has 13 participants seeded in the top 16 in all.

“We feel adding Wyoming Seminary is a great plus because we get to see how our New York kids stand up against nationally ranked kids,” said Tournament Director Jeff Cuilty. “It’s a chance for some of the New York wrestlers to prove themselves.”

Five wrestlers who proved themselves last January as 2011 Eastern States individual champions return to defend their crowns:

• Travis Passaro stood on top of the podium at 103 a year ago after edging state runner up Mark Raghunandan of Long Beach as the sixth seed. He will have perhaps an even tougher challenge this season as the 11^th seed at 120 pounds, a weight filled with accomplished grapplers, including Jeff O’Lena of East Rochester, Matt Leshinger of Sayville, TJ Fabian of Shoreham Wading River, Justin Corradino of Warwick Valley, Mark West of Hauppauge (the 2010 Easterns States champion at 96 pounds), and Seminary’s Botwin.

• On the other end of the scale, Kacee Saure of Holley, the 285-pound victor, will be back at the same weight.  His challengers will include two of the Empire State’s top heavyweights, Cole Lampman of Shenendehowa and Ethan Stanley of Saugerties as well the top seed, Wyoming Seminary’s Johnson, currently ranked #16 in the country by Intermat.

• The Realbuto family from Somers boasted a pair of Eastern States trophies a year ago, with Dylan Realbuto the winner at 96 pounds and Brian the champion at 135.  After a state runner up finish as a sophomore, Dylan has moved up to the 113 pound class where some of the top opponents will include Raghunandan, Edgemont’s John Aslanian and Amsterdam’s Brandon Lapi.

• Intermat’s #9 overall recruit Brian Realbuto outpointed Holley’s Quinton Murphy in a high scoring 17-12 bout in last season’s finals in a matchup of state champions.  This time, the Cornell-bound Realbuto will have another Eastern States winner in the bracket – Long Beach’s Dylan Palacio.

• Palacio, who took third in New York in 2011 and is ranked in the Top 20 nationally, defeated Wayne’s Tory Cain 2-1 at 145 in the Eastern States title bout.  Besides the two defending champions, the 152-pound weight has some other firepower, including Seminary’s Cohl Fulk, Westfield’s Beau Donahue, Longwood’s Nick Hall, South Lakes’ Ryan Forrest and Super 32 placer John Keck from Shoreham Wading River.

Murphy became the winningest wrester in New York high school history last weekend when he captured the Niagara Frontier Officials Wrestling Tournament to earn his 276^th career triumph.  He has earned many titles during his career, including three state championships, but has taken third and second the last two years at Eastern States.

The Indiana recruit will look to add another crown to his resume at a loaded 138-pound class which includes another second place finisher from the 2011 Eastern States, John Glenn’s James Dekrone as well as former state placers Malik Rasheed of Longwood, Brendan Goldup of LaSalle and Anthony Finocchiaro of Canastota.  Ty White of Wyoming Seminary will also take the mat at the Paul Gerry Fieldhouse, as will a long list of other top Empire State wrestlers including Shenendehowa’s David Almaviva, Westfield’s Derek Arnold, CBA/Jamesville Dewitt’s Aaron Benedict, Hauppauge’s Sam Schwartzapfel, Wantagh’s Dan McDevitt and Fox Lane’s Tom Grippi.

“138 is definitely a class that jumps out as really strong and deep,” Cuilty said. “There will be some great wrestling there.”

The same can be said of the tournament as a whole.

For a full listing of the seeds for the 2011 Eastern States, please follow the link:

http://sectionixwrestling.com/

By Betsy Veysman

Wrestling fans will get a unique opportunity to see top-notch talent ranging from elementary school through college on January 8 at Cornell University as both the NYWAY Big Red Kickoff Tournament and a dual meet between two top 15 NCAA programs, Cornell and Lehigh, will take place at Bartels Hall in Newman Arena.

“I’m not sure where else you would get a chance to see future greats and current greats wrestle on the same day at the same place,” said Cornell head coach Rob Koll.  “It’s a great way for people to see great wrestling and it’s also a great way for us to continue to build our Cornell fan base.”

The action will begin at 9 a.m. with Session I of the NYWAY Big Red Kickoff Tournament.  The event will feature star youth grapplers from New York, California, Michigan, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, among others, in five age groups ranging from 6 and under to the highest group, the 13/14-year old bracket.

In order to compete, wrestlers must preregister by January 6 at 5 p.m. at www.nyway.org.  The registration fee includes a ticket to the Big Red-Lehigh dual. All participants must have a paid NYWAY membership.

NYWAY State President Clint Wattenberg is excited about the event, which serves as the official NYWAY kickoff.  The organization has already amassed over 1450 members in just six months of operation.

“It’s going to be amazing,” Wattenberg said. “We will be able to bring a great product to kids from around the state and the country.  It allows the kids to also be involved in an incredible Cornell dual.  It will bring youth and college wrestling together to support both levels of the sport.”

The college competition will begin at 1 p.m., after the first session of the youth tournament has been completed.  The center mat will be set up for the battle between fourth-ranked Cornell and 12th ranked Lehigh.  The East Coast rivals have had close matchups the past two campaigns, while the Big Red has captured the past five EIWA titles, with the Mountain Hawks placing second in two of those years.

Eleven ranked wrestlers will compete, with three bouts pitting nationally ranked grapplers against each other.  At 141, a pair of multi-time New York state champions, #8 Stephen Dutton and #15 Mike Nevinger, will face off.  At 184, two All-Americans, #1 Robert Hamlin and #4 Steve Bosak, will compete and at 197, #1 Cam Simaz will take on #8 Joe Kennedy.  Spectators will also get a chance to watch two 2011 NCAA Champions, 157-pounder Kyle Dake of Cornell and heavyweight Zach Rey of Lehigh. (Intermat rankings as of December 29)

“It’s a great opportunity to see two of the top teams on the East Coast,” Koll said. “With the fans from the youth tournament and the local fans, we expect a sellout. A big turnout would be great, especially with the college students out of town on break.”

As is customary, the Cornell wrestling team will conduct an autograph session following the dual meet, after which the Big Red Kickoff tournament will run to its conclusion. (Session II is slated to start at approximately 4 p.m.).  First through fourth place finishers will earn awards.

“We’re really excited to package great wrestling for fans of the sport,” Koll said. “We are trying to introduce young wrestlers to Cornell wrestling and cultivate future Cornell wrestlers.  Years ago we ran an AAU tournament here and I think even 10 or 15 years later, people came up to me saying that they were there when they were in elementary school and it introduced them to Cornell wrestling.   That’s what we’re hoping for.”

As for NYWAY, Wattenberg is hoping the tournament will allow the organization to continue its growth and its mission of supporting youth folkstyle development.

“We’ve had a great start, especially since we haven’t had a tournament yet, which is what typically drives membership,” he said.  “We’ve had motivated individuals around the state get things off the ground.   We’re pleased about what has happened so far, but we’re missing some downstate representation and are looking to improve that.”

Wattenberg concluded by encouraging anyone with input or interest in getting involved to contact him through the www.nyway.org website or at clintwattenberg@nyway.org.

For more information on the January 8 events, see http://www.nyway.org.