Category Archives: Section 8

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

Posted on by
Reply

 
 

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)?

Posted on by
Reply

 
 
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.

Dake, Nevinger, Santos, Bonanno, Vinson Among New York Representatives on the NWCA All-Academic Team

Posted on by
Reply

 
 
The National Wresting Coaches Association (NWCA) released the 82-member Division I All-Academic team for the 2012-13 campaign, including several New York wrestlers.

Four-time national champion Kyle Dake was one of four NCAA titlewinners on the squad (along with Oklahoma’s Kendric Maple, Oklahoma State’s Chris Perry and Penn State’s Quentin Wright). Joining Dake was fellow Big Red All-American Mike Nevinger.

Santos, Photo by BV

Another wrestler who stood on the podium in Des Moines, Columbia bronze medalist Steve Santos, made the squad, along with his teammates Jake O’Hara and Josh Houldsworth. The Lions were 28th in the team GPA standings (3.0212).

Also chosen for the team were a pair of 2012 All-Americans and current graduate students – Binghamton’s Donnie Vinson and Hofstra’s Steve Bonanno. The Pride 125 pounder, working toward his MBA, was ranked third on the individual academic list with a 3.77 grade point average.

Rounding out the Empire State representatives are Billy Watterson, a former Section 1 standout now at Brown and Section 3 star Ryan LeBlanc, who wrestles at Indiana.

For the full release, see here.

NWCA All-Academic Team – (Wrestlers with Connection to New York)

Donnie Vinson (Binghamton, 149 pounds) – Masters (Student Affairs)

Billy Watterson (Brown, John Jay HS, 125 pounds) – History

Jake O’Hara (Columbia, 157 pounds) – Financial Economics

Josh Houldsworth (Columbia, 165 pounds) – Financial Economics

Steve Santos (Columbia, 149 pounds) – Financial Economics

Mike Nevinger (Cornell, 141 pounds) – Mechanical Engineering

Kyle Dake (Cornell, 165 pounds) – Development Sociology

Steve Bonanno (Hofstra, 125 pounds) – Accounting (MBA)

Ryan LeBlanc (Indiana, Morrisville Eaton HS, 165 pounds) – Fitness Specialist

Pop & Flo National Duals: X-Cel Takes Third … and Much More from Lake Placid

Posted on by
Reply

 
 
A year after winning the tournament championship, X-Cel once again made a strong impression at the Pop & Flo National Duals with a third place showing.

“I really feel that the kids showed tremendous heart to come back and win against a team full of PA studs to take third,” said X-Cel coach Nick Garone. “But we felt that we went up there with the best team and still feel that way. The guys are really disappointed, but to go out of the tournament with a win in our last match was nice, especially for all of our seniors.”

The squad opened with three consecutive triumphs on Saturday to make the semifinal round against Iron Horse, the eventual champions.

In the semis, the New Jersey club got off to a fast start, capturing four of the first six bouts, including two pins, to take a lead that would never be relinquished in a 30-25 result. (One of those falls for Iron Horse was by Section 1 star John Muldoon of Pearl River, who was joined by fellow New Yorker Dale White on the title-winning team).

In the bronze bout, X-Cel rebounded to defeat Pennsylvania’s Young Guns despite dropping the first four bouts to fall behind 14-0. (The dual began at 130 pounds).

However, X-Cel took over from there, beginning with a 7-3 win by Connetquot’s Brendan Dent at 152. It was the first of seven consecutive victories for the Long Islanders, as Corey Rasheed picked up a forfeit at 160 and Steven Schneider (170), Gio Santiago (182) and Steven Mills (225) notched decisions. Putting up key bonus points were Chris Chambers (195) and Mike Hughes (285), who both recorded falls. After the heavyweight bout, X-Cel had turned a large deficit into a 30-14 lead.

“Brendan Dent started us off with a win, and that was great,” Garone said. “All our guys stepped up. Chambers had a really nice throw to get the pin and Hughes just worked the kid, kept working and working. At the end of the second, he closed it out with a really big pin for us. We knew were in good shape going into the lower half, even if we lost a few. Travis Passaro (125) ended the match with a really big one, beating the NHSCA National champ Josh Patrick in overtime, 1-0.”

It was one of many quality wins Garone pointed to from the two-day event. Those triumphs and the overall experience had Garone already talking about the return trip to Lake Placid in 2014.

“Everyone played a key role for us,” Garone said. “It’s a great bunch of guys. To take third at that tournament – it’s nothing to sneeze at. But it’s not what we wanted. Trust me when I tell you that we’ll work all year to get back to the top of the national scene.”

———

X-Cel was the highest placing team from New York in the field, but many other Empire State squads had success over the weekend.

The 32 teams in the high school competition were split into four divisions after the opening round matches. Here’s a rundown of the results for New York:

X-Cel wasn’t the only New York team in the “A” bracket, as Journeymen Black took eighth. The host squad won its first two duals against Pioneer and Doughboy Black on Saturday to make the quarterfinals before falling to a pair of Pennsylvania groups – Young Guns and Dark Knights. In the seventh place dual, Smitty’s Barn came out on top 41-22.

“B” Bracket (For the teams that lost in the first round of the “A” Championship bracket)

631 Elite began the experience in Lake Placid with a setback against the Finger Lakes Wrestling Club 39-28, but then went on a winning streak, taking three in a row over Atlas, Razor and Catamount to earn a spot in the title bout of the “B” Bracket. During that run, the team’s smallest margin of victory was 22 points.

The Long Island-based group kept it going, besting Apex II for the top spot in the “B” Division and finished the weekend with a 4-1 record. Picking up wins in the final dual for 631 were Matteo Devincenzo (106), Jesse Dellavecchia (113), Joe Calderone (120), Jack Taddeo (130), Jimmy Leach (135), Dennis Ferro (152), Dylan Kane (160) and Vincent Feola (225).

Also placing in the same bracket were Iowa Style Black (fourth) and Razor (eighth). Iowa Style notched triumphs against Barre Wrestling Club and Doughboy Gold by a commanding combined score of 102-43 after an initial loss.

Razor was eighth, collecting a win over Metrowest United in Round 2, led by a pin by Chaz Leo at 225 and four major decisions.

“C” Bracket (For the teams that won in Round 1 and lost in Round 2 in the “A” Championship bracket)

In this bracket, Empire State teams claimed third through eighth places.

Cobra took the bronze after getting past Finger Lakes Wrestling Club 33-28, winning nine of the bouts. The contest featured a pair of two point decisions between All-State wrestlers as William Koll topped Kellen Devlin 2-0 at 125 and Vincent Deprez edged Connor Lapresi in sudden victory, 3-1, at 152. Both of those squads were 2-2 heading into their clash in the third place tilt.

Meanwhile, Ascend recorded fifth with a 55-9 victory over Journeymen Gold. It was the third dual win of the weekend for the Nassau County-based club, led by undefeated wrestlers Chris Koo and Jaison White.

In another battle of New Yorkers, Cellar Dwellers picked up seventh with a 53-10 decision over Iowa Style Gold. The Cellar Dweller squad began and ended the tournament with wins.

“D” Bracket

Port Jervis grabbed third, finishing with a 37-33 triumph over Metrowest United. The Section 9 squad also topped Powers Forty High 33-15 in its third meet of the weekend.

For full results, see tournaflex.com.

Long Island's X-Cel Advances to the Semifinals at Pop & Flo National Duals on Saturday

Posted on by
Reply

 
 
X-Cel won the title at the Pop & Flo National Duals last year.  The Long Island group will try to repeat that feat on Sunday after advancing to the semifinals on the first day of competition.

The squad looked completely dominant early, opening with a 84-0 blanking of Kryptonite Wrestling Club, followed by a 71-6 triumph over Journeymen Gold.  The quarterfinals brought a tougher challenge, however, as X-Cel squared off with Dark Knights of Pennsylvania.

Two-time state champion Nick Piccininni got the New Yorkers off to a good start with a major decision at 120 pounds.  However, the opponents from the Keystone State responded with three consecutive victories from 125 to 135 to take a 12-4 advantage.

Fabian, Photo by BV

The two teams then traded wins over the next several matches, beginning with a pin by Sacred Heart-bound TJ Fabian of Shoreham Wading River at 140.  The Dark Knights were victorious at 145 and 160, while state champion Louis Hernandez of Mepham earned a 5-4 win at 152 and Steven Schneider got his hand raised at 170 with an overtime triumph.  After regulation ended deadlocked at 1, and there was no scoring in sudden victory, Schneider rode his opponent out for the entire 30 seconds and then escaped when it was his turn on bottom to make the team score 19-16 in favor of the Pennsylvania squad.

After the Dark Knights extended their advantage to 22-16 with a decision at 182, Chris Chambers put four big points on the board for X-Cel with a major at 195, followed by a 9-3 decision by Steven Mills at 220 to put the Long Island group ahead for the first time since early in the dual.  When a forfeit at heavyweight was tacked on, X-Cel took a 29-22 lead as the meet returned to the lightweights.

At 106, the Dark Knights made things interesting, earning a fall to make it 29-28 in favor of X-Cel with just one match remaining.  In that contest, former Wantagh star Jose Rodriguez took control with an early takedown and got his hand raised to push X-Cel to the 32-28 win and to the semifinals on Sunday against Iron Horse (New Jersey).

The 32-team High School field included many squads from New York, including teams from Ascend, Cellar Dwellers, Cobra, Finger Lakes Wrestling Club, Iowa Style, Journeymen, Port Jervis, Razor and 631 Elite.

Meanwhile, close to half of the squads in the Youth field came from New York as well.

In addition to Sunday’s action to determine placement in the team standings, there will be some great bouts on Saturday night.  At 8:30 p.m., some of the top individuals will take the mat for an All-Star dual.

Included are a number of New Yorkers, for example (matches subject to change):

83: Adam Busiello (631 Elite) vs. Patrick Glory (A&B Core)

88: Dillan Palaszewski (Journeymen) vs. Gavin Teasdale (Young Guns)

106: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cobra) vs. Devin Brown (Young Guns)

120: Nick Piccininni (X-Cel) vs. Mickey Phillipi (Young Guns)

125: William Koll (FLWC) vs. Kevin Jack (Iowa Style)

140: Nick Kelley (Journeymen) vs. Anthony Ashnault (SKWC)

182: Dan McDevitt (Ascend) vs. Luke Farinaro (Iron Horse)

220: Rich Sisti (Apex) vs. Michael Boykins (Rt. 100)

100: Sam Sasso (Dark Knights) vs. Vince Andreano (APEX)

140: Jason Nolf (Young Guns) vs. Scott Delvecchio (Iron Horse)

152: BJ Clagon (Apex) vs. Miguel Calixto (Catamounts)

170: Chris Koo (Ascend) vs. Ethan Ramos (Iron Horse)

195: Reggie Williams (FLWC) vs. Evan Ramos (Iron Horse)

285: Mike Hughes (X-Cel) vs. Jesse Webb (Catamount)

Hofstra's Steve Bonanno Receives Another Scholar-Athlete Honor

Posted on by
Reply

 
 
Courtesy of gohofstra.com

Photo by BV

Hofstra wrestler Steve Bonanno has been voted to the 2013 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)-Capital One Academic All-District 1 Men’s At-Large first team, CoSIDA announced Thursday afternoon.

Bonanno (Wantagh, NY), a 2012 CoSIDA-Capital One Men’s At-Large Academic All-American second team selection in 2012, will now advance to the men’s at-large national ballot along with the first team honorees from the seven other districts. The 2013 CoSIDA-Capital One Academic All-America Division I Men’s At-Large Team, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected, will be announced on Thursday, June 6.

For the rest of the article from the Hofstra Athletics website, see here.

VIDEO: Watch Freestyle Action from the New York State Championships Last Weekend

Posted on by
Reply

 
 
Champions were crowned over the weekend in Binghamton at the 2013 New York State Freestyle and Greco tournaments. If you missed the action, you can see the title bouts in the Junior Freestyle competition below plus a bonus match – a pool bout between All-Staters Reggie Williams and Gio Santiago at 195 pounds that featured a number of big moves and lots of excitement.

William Koll, Renaldo Rodriguez-Spencer, Kevin Thayer and Burke Paddock finished on top in both Freestyle and Greco, adding to the championships they won during the high school season in Albany.

For results from the weekend see here and here.

160 Pound Junior Freestyle Final: Burke Paddock vs. Alex Smythe

 

152 Pound Junior Freestyle Final: Kevin Thayer vs. Nigel Williams

 

132 Pound Junior Freestyle Final: William Koll vs. Jordan Maynard

 

138 Pound Junior Freestyle Final: Renaldo Rodriguez-Spencer vs. Sean O’Hagan

 

145 Pound Junior Freestyle Final: Connor Lapresi vs. Rocco Russo

 

195 Pound Junior Freestyle Final: Reggie Williams vs. Thomas Murray

 

195 Pound Pool Match: Gio Santiago vs. Reggie Williams

 

170 Pound Junior Freestyle Final: Troy Seymour vs. Liam Bass

 

182 Pound Junior Freestyle Final: Isaiah Zimmer vs. Tim Schaefer

 

113 Pound Junior Freestyle Final: John Twomey vs. Golan Cohen

 

120 Pound Freestyle Final: Matthew Morris vs. Daniel Murray

 

126 Pound Freestyle Final: Simon Greebel vs. Paul Smoot

 

220 Pound Junior Freestyle Final: Joe Nasoni vs. Luke McKee

 

285 Pound Junior Freestyle Final: Brad Lucas vs. Nolan Terrance

 

106 Pound Junior Freestyle: Josh LoGuidice vs. Nico Riccio

 

 

Wrestlers Complete Triple Crowns and Many Achieve Double Titles at the Freestyle and Greco State Championships

Posted on by
Reply

 
 
(For information and results from Saturday’s competition in Junior Freestyle and Cadet Greco, see this link. Videos will be posted in the next few days).

It isn’t easy to earn the Triple Crown in New York, capturing state titles in all three styles of wrestling.  But you might think otherwise when looking at the results from this weekend’s action at Broome Community College, as four grapplers (William Koll, Renaldo Rodriguez-Spencer, Kevin Thayer and Burke Paddock) added Freestyle and Greco Roman crowns to the championships they won in folkstyle back in February in Albany.

Paddock vs Smythe, Photo by BV

The quartet of wrestlers all demonstrated dominance on Sunday in Junior Greco competition. Both Thayer (152) and Paddock (160) faced the same opponent in the title bout as they did on Saturday in Freestyle.  This time, both made quick work of their foes, picking up first period pins.  And speaking of rematches, Rodriguez-Spencer (138) not only defeated Sean O’Hagan in the finals for the second straight day, he also did it by the same score – 5-0, 6-0.  Koll also won in straight periods, taking a 2-0, 11-4 triumph against Blake Retell at 132.

Those wrestlers weren’t the only double champions over the weekend.  Both ATWA’s Matthew Morris (120) and Reggie Williams (195) swept both Olympic styles in Binghamton.

On Saturday, Golan Cohen (113) and Rocco Russo (145) made the title bout in Freestyle, but took second place.  One day later, both returned to the finals and came out on top, with Russo’s victory coming by fall.

It was one of many titlewinning pins on the day, including by Sam Eagan at 220 and Jeff Urbina at 285.  In addition, Beat the Streets collected a pair of Junior Greco titles at 106 (Dolan McColgan) and 126 (Cheick Ndiaye), while crowns were also captured by Andrew Psomas of Farrell Lions at 170 and James Schreck of Sachem 3 at 182.

While there were a number of double champions in the Junior division, as discussed previously, there were more in the Cadet brackets, with 10 wrestlers grabbing a pair of titles over the weekend.

The first three classes were won by Drew Schafer (88), Brian Kelly (94) and Vinny Vespa (100).  After that, seven of the next eight weights featured repeat champions, starting with Parker Kropman at 106 and also including Nick Casella (120), Ian Lupole (126), Leonard Merkin (132), Sam Ward (138), Gino Titone (145) and Jesse Porter (152). The only exception was at 113, where Evan Barczak notched the freestyle championship a day after earning runner up honors in Greco.

The additional double titlewinners were Jacob Woolson (170), Aidan Mathews (195) and Peter Strassfield (285).  A day after registering a bronze showing in Greco, Jake Ashcraft stood on top of the podium at 160 pounds, while Jeremy Hughes picked up gold at 182 and James Bethel did the same at 220.

Full brackets are available at http://www.trackwrestling.com.

For the placewinners from Sunday’s action in Cadet Freestyle and Junior Greco, see below.

 

CADET FREESTYLE RESULTS

Cadet FS – 88 Results
1st Place – Drew Schafer of Superior Wrestling Academy
2nd Place – Justin Lopez of Yonkers
3rd Place – Darwingh Alvarez of Beat the Streets New York City
4th Place – Oscar Lainez of Middletown
5th Place – David Ciciarella of Mohawk Valley Wrestling Club

Cadet FS – 94 Results
1st Place – Brian Kelly of Kings Park Wrestling
2nd Place – David Wolanski of SCHENECTADY

Cadet FS – 100 Results
1st Place – Vincent Vespa of rock hard wrestling
2nd Place – Anthony Sparacio of North Babylon
3rd Place – John Luke Destefano of Beat the Streets New York City
4th Place – Nicholas Forte of Journey
5th Place – Shane Gibbons of Massapequa
6th Place – Maxim Pasichnik of BTS PS 186

Cadet FS – 106 Results
1st Place – Parker Kropman of Titan World Wide Wrestling Clu
2nd Place – Dean Raymond of Team Worldwide Wrestling Club
3rd Place – Sean Miller of Ascend Wrestling Club
4th Place – Johnathon Lauricella of Genesee Valley Wrestling Club
5th Place – Theodore Powers of MEXICO
6th Place – John Devine of Titans

Cadet FS – 113 Results
1st Place – Evan Barczak of rock hard wrestling
2nd Place – Chris Donnelly of Ascend Wrestling Club
3rd Place – Taylor Picciano of Kings Park Wrestling
4th Place – John Kalinoglu of Massapequa
5th Place – Michael Venosa of Section 5
6th Place – Kevin Kelly of rock hard wrestling

Cadet FS – 120 Results
1st Place – Nicholas Casella of Vougar Honors Wrestling Inc.
2nd Place – Benjamin Lamantia of Vougar Honors Wrestling Inc.
3rd Place – Dominic Inzana of Saratoga Springs
4th Place – Jackie Gold of Rocky Point
5th Place – Hunter Howland of MEXICO
6th Place – Brandon Santiago of Beat the Streets New York City

Cadet FS – 126 Results
1st Place – Ian Lupole of Team Worldwide Wrestling Club
2nd Place – Christian Briody of Ascend Wrestling Club
3rd Place – Michael Berkowitz of Vougar Honors Wrestling Inc.
4th Place – Blake Jackson of Superior Wrestling Academy
5th Place – James Rosado of Beat the Streets New York City
6th Place – Nichholas Petralia of Section 8

Cadet FS – 132 Results
1st Place – Leonard Merkin of elite wrestling academy
2nd Place – Freddy Eckles of Buffalo Grapplers Wrestling Cl
3rd Place – Mike D`Angelo of Ascend Wrestling Club
4th Place – Da`mani Burns of Newburgh Wrestling Club
5th Place – Jake Colonna of North Babylon
6th Place – Christopher Ladd of Sachem 3 Style Wrestling Club

Cadet FS – 138 Results
1st Place – Samuel Ward of Ascend Wrestling Club
2nd Place – Kevin Jackson of Ascend Wrestling Club
3rd Place – Jilling Frank of Lindenhurst
4th Place – Wyatt DeMarree of Section 5
5th Place – Steven Prinston of Beat the Streets New York City
6th Place – Marc Paez of Long beach

Cadet FS – 145 Results
1st Place – Gino Titone of Connetquot Wrestling Club
2nd Place – Jakob Restrepo of Vougar Honors Wrestling Inc.
3rd Place – Jordan Bushey of Cellar Dwellers
4th Place – Thomas Wightman of Section 9
5th Place – Steven Culbert of Journeymen Wrestling
6th Place – Brian Bucci of Section 9

Cadet FS – 152 Results
1st Place – Jesse Porter of Journeymen Wrestling
2nd Place – Ronaldo Rodriguez of Beat the Streets New York City
3rd Place – William Marcil of ATWA
4th Place – John Vouzonis of Ascend Wrestling Club
5th Place – Dylan Gifford of Veritas
6th Place – Dylan Studer of Team Worldwide Wrestling Club

Cadet FS – 160 Results
1st Place – Jacob Ashcraft of Journeymen Wrestling
2nd Place – Collin LaBombard of Cellar Dwellers
3rd Place – Andy Cummings of Journeymen Wrestling
4th Place – Max Zhitnik of Tiger Style Wrestling
5th Place – Vance Cuffie of Beat the Streets New York City
6th Place – Zafar Iskandarov of Beat the Streets New York City

Cadet FS – 170 Results
1st Place – Jacob Woolson of Mohawk Valley Wrestling Club
2nd Place – Dakota Wolley of Genesee Valley Wrestling Club
3rd Place – Richie Jones of Cobra
4th Place – Tom Lane of Section 8
5th Place – Tredd Smith of Section 8
6th Place – Madhur Karki of Titan World Wide Wrestling Clu

Cadet FS – 182 Results
1st Place – Jeremy Hughes of Section 8
2nd Place – James Campbell of Titan World Wide Wrestling Clu
3rd Place – Marcello Gennaro of Section 9
4th Place – Colby Staley of ATWA

Cadet FS – 195 Results
1st Place – Aidan Mathews of Dark corner
2nd Place – Nick Mcshea of rock hard wrestling
3rd Place – Tyler Hall of Section 6
4th Place – Christopher Halleran of Tiger Style Wrestling

Cadet FS – 220 Results
1st Place – James Bethel of Dark corner
2nd Place – Khaled Abdoun of Journeymen Wrestling
3rd Place – Chris Tangora of Section 2
4th Place – Elijah Sampo of Mohawk Valley Wrestling Club
5th Place – Chazz Leo of Section 11
6th Place – George O`Mahony of Massapequa

Cadet FS – 285 Results
1st Place – Peter Strassfield of Southampton High School Wrestl
2nd Place – Alex Gonzalez of Geneva
3rd Place – Jordan Keys of Journeymen Wrestling
4th Place – Garyn Huntley of Veritas
5th Place – Victor Palmer-Ortiz of Mohawk Valley Wrestling Club
6th Place – Jake Lanzillo of Averill Park

 

JUNIOR GRECO ROMAN RESULTS

JUNIOR GR – 106 Results
1st Place – Dolan Mccolgan of Beat the Streets New York
2nd Place – Nico Riccio of Journeymen

JUNIOR GR – 113 Results
1st Place – Golan Cohen of Titan
2nd Place – Chris Cuccolo of Pine Bush
3rd Place – Noah Malamut of Poly Prep High School Wrestlin
4th Place – Matthew Stallone of Sachem 3 Style Wrestling Club
5th Place – alex kellar of Section 4
6th Place – Shamar Griffith of Beat the Streets New York

JUNIOR GR – 120 Results
1st Place – Matthew Morris of ATWA
2nd Place – Pedro Rosales of Bearcave
3rd Place – ryan burns of Cobra Wrestling Academy
4th Place – Alpha Diallo of Beat the Streets New York
5th Place – Rashid Powell of Beat the Streets New York
6th Place – Kyle Kelly of Team Worldwide

JUNIOR GR – 126 Results
1st Place – Cheick Ndiaye of Beat the Streets New York
2nd Place – Richard Antonacci of Ascend Wrestling Club
3rd Place – Andrew Taber of North Rose-Wolcott High School
4th Place – Daniel Amancio of Bronx
5th Place – Paul Smoot of Rock Hard Wrestling
6th Place – Ray Konvicka of MVWC

JUNIOR GR – 132 Results
1st Place – William Koll of Finger Lakes Wrestling Club
2nd Place – Blake Retell of Journeymen
3rd Place – Ryan Snow of Section 3
4th Place – Nathan Hayes of Team Worldwide
5th Place – Carl Rouse of Team Worldwide
6th Place – Thomas Walsh of Titan

JUNIOR GR – 138 Results
1st Place – Renaldo Rodriguez-Spencer of Buffalo Grapplers
2nd Place – Sean O`Hagan of Sachem 3 Style Wrestling Club
3rd Place – Eric Bergin of Beat the Streets New York
4th Place – Jay Oates of ATWA
5th Place – Nick Strand of Westhampton Beach High School
6th Place – Nathaniel Vargas of Guilderland HS

JUNIOR GR – 145 Results
1st Place – Rocco Russo of New York Super Six
2nd Place – Codie Gilllette of ATWA
3rd Place – Saidyokub Kahramonov of Beat the Streets New York
4th Place – Nathaniel Palmer of ATWA
5th Place – Jay Kindlon of New York Titans
6th Place – Colin Hay of Miller Place Takedown Clubcoli

JUNIOR GR – 152 Results
1st Place – Kevin Thayer of Veritas
2nd Place – Nigel Williams of Beat the Streets New York
3rd Place – Max Garkusha of Beat the Streets New York
4th Place – Askar Raimbek of Beat the Streets New York
5th Place – Tanner Phillips of ATWA
6th Place – Mirlan Jumabaev of Beat the Streets New York

JUNIOR GR – 160 Results
1st Place – Burke Paddock of Team Ten
2nd Place – Alexander Smythe of New York Super Six
3rd Place – Michael Tropiano of Vougars Honor Wrestling (VHW)
4th Place – Jimmy Marquez of Journeymen
5th Place – Derrick Gardner of Averill Park
6th Place – Jordan Formicola of falcons

JUNIOR GR – 170 Results
1st Place – Andrew Psomas of Farrell Lions
2nd Place – Liam Bass of Westhampton Beach High School
3rd Place – Troy Seymour of ATWA
4th Place – David Bunn of Copiague
5th Place – Garrett Davis of New York Titans
6th Place – Mark Anthony Perez of Unattached

JUNIOR GR – 182 Results
1st Place – James Schreck of Sachem 3 Style Wrestling Club
2nd Place – Isaiah Zimmer of Team Worldwide
3rd Place – Cedrick Stephens of Beat the Streets New York
4th Place – Mark Tracey of Sachem 3 Style Wrestling Club
5th Place – Ronnie King of Islip
6th Place – Alex Moss of MVWC

JUNIOR GR – 195 Results
1st Place – Reggie Williams of Team Worldwide
2nd Place – Giovanni Santiago of Sachem 3 Style Wrestling Club
3rd Place – Roland Zilberman of Beat the Streets New York
4th Place – Nathanael Rose of Beat the Streets New York
5th Place – Richard Duermeyer of Buffalo Grapplers
6th Place – Maleke Cunningham of Beat the Streets New York

JUNIOR GR – 220 Results
1st Place – Sam Eagen of Empire/Titan
2nd Place – Luke McKee of ATWA
3rd Place – Rafael Rokosz of Southhampton HS
4th Place – Endy Nunez of Rams Wrestling Club
5th Place – Sean Fergusan of Rocky Point
6th Place – Allen Michael Rios of Team Worldwide

JUNIOR GR – 285 Results
1st Place – Jeff Urbina of Copiague
2nd Place – Nolan Terrance of ATWA
3rd Place – Matthew Abbott of Team Worldwide
4th Place – Mason Cross of New York Titans
5th Place – Quasar Hampton of Beat the Streets New York
6th Place – Mark Ifraimov of Beat the Streets New York

State Champs Koll, Rodriguez-Spencer, Lapresi, Thayer and Paddock Win Junior Freestyle Crowns

Posted on by
Reply

 
 
Connor Lapresi was looking to not only win, but win quickly at the New York State Junior Freestyle championships in Binghamton. After all, he wanted to get back home to attend the prom on Saturday night.

Lapresi delivered, earning a technical fall in the 145-pound finals, 6-0, 7-0 over Rocco Russo.

The future Bucknell grappler wasn’t the only wrestler to win by tech in straight periods in the championship round.

Matt Morris of ATWA did the same at 120 pounds, as did Troy Seymour at 170 and Renaldo Rodriguez-Spencer at 138. The Cheektowoga star began his match with a big five-point throw which quickly ended the first period of his 5-0, 6-0 triumph.

Like Rodriguez-Spencer, Burke Paddock, William Koll and Kevin Thayer collected gold medals at the state championships in Albany this February. The trio also won it all on Saturday.

Paddock edged state medalist Alex Smythe 1-0 in the first period before taking the second 6-0 at 160, while Koll was in control the whole way in his 4-2, 7-0 victory against Jordan Maynard at 132 pounds.

Photo by BV

In a back and forth match featuring a number of big moves, Thayer dropped the opening stanza to Beat the Streets grappler Nigel Williams 9-3, but bounced back from a deficit in the second to win 7-6. Thayer then grabbed the decisive final period, 7-0.

In another bout that went three stanzas, Isaiah Zimmer lost period one to state runner up Tim Schaefer of Team Ten. However, Zimmer scored late in the second and third periods to pick up the 182-pound crown.

At 195, fellow Section 4 wrestler Reggie Williams bested Thomas Murray in a clash of All-State wrestlers. Williams won a thrilling match earlier in the day against 2013 state bronze medalist Gio Santiago, coming back from a sizable deficit.

The final two matches flew by, as both were decided by fall in less than two minutes in favor of wrestlers from the Mohawk Valley Wrestling Club. At 220, Joe Nasoni got his hand raised while Brad Lucas did the same at 285.

Also capturing a title by pin was Ascend’s Simon Greebel, who got the fall in the second after dropping the first stanza 2-0 to Paul Smoot at 126.

Coming out on top in the first match of the championship round was Josh LoGuidice at 106. Next up was John Twomey of Vougar’s Honors Wrestling, who was the victor at 113. Twomey topped state medalist Golan Cohen in straight periods to take gold.

In Cadet action on Saturday, a number of champions were crowned in Greco Roman.  To see all the champions and placewinners in Cadet Greco, see below.  (The results from Junior Freestyle are below as well).

For the brackets, see http://www.trackwrestling.com.

 

CADET GRECO

CADET GR – 88 Results

1st Place – Justin Lopez of Yonkers
2nd Place – Oscar Lainez of Middle Town
3rd Place – David Ciciarelli of Mohawk Valley Wrestling Club
4th Place – Darwingh Alvarez of Beat the Streets New York City

CADET GR – 100 Results

1st Place – John Luke Destefano of Beat the Streets New York City
2nd Place – Shane Gibbons of Massapequa
3rd Place – Maxim Pasichnik of BTS PS 186
4th Place – Devin Cohan of The Quarry Wrestling Club

CADET GR – 106 Results

1st Place – Parker Kropman of Titan World Wide Wrestling Club
2nd Place – Sean Miller of Ascend Wrestling Club
3rd Place – Dean Raymond of Team Worldwide Wrestling Club
4th Place – Josh Bourne of Long beach
5th Place – Kyle Aslanian of Edgemont Wrestling Club
6th Place – Joseph Marino of Beat the Streets New York City

CADET GR – 113 Results
1st Place – Max Tempel of Section 2
2nd Place – Evan Barczak of rock hard wrestling
3rd Place – Taylor Picciano of Kings Park Wrestling
4th Place – John Kalinoglu of Massapequa
5th Place – Brandon Goddeau of ATWA
6th Place – Jacob Lehr of Team Worldwide Wrestling Club

CADET GR – 120 Results

1st Place – Nicholas Casella of Vougar Honors Wrestling Inc.
2nd Place – Noah Handy of Mohawk Valley Wrestling Club
3rd Place – Donny McCoy of New York Super Six Wrestling A
4th Place – Matthew Krause of Ascend Wrestling Club
5th Place – Ramel McIntosh of Beat the Streets New York City
6th Place – Brandon Santiago of Beat the Streets New York City

CADET GR – 126 Results

1st Place – Ian Lupole of Section 4
2nd Place – Christian Briody of Ascend Wrestling Club
3rd Place – Michael Berkowitz of Vougar Honors Wrestling Inc.
4th Place – James Lamson of Watertown
5th Place – Cole Simmons of New York Super Six Wrestling A
6th Place – William Yee of Brooklyn

CADET GR – 132 Results
1st Place – Leonard Merkin of elite wrestling academy
2nd Place – Mike D`Angelo of Ascend Wrestling Club
3rd Place – Freddy Eckles of Buffalo Grapplers
4th Place – Damani Burns of Newburgh Wrestling Club
5th Place – Christopher Ladd of Sachem 3 Style Wrestling Club
6th Place – Bruce Cipollone of Mohawk Valley Wrestling Club

CADET GR – 138 Results

1st Place – Samuel Ward of Ascend Wrestling Club
2nd Place – Jilling Frank of Lindenhurst
3rd Place – Zachery Bendick of Team Worldwide Wrestling Club
4th Place – Marc Paez of Long beach
5th Place – Steven Prinston of Beat the Streets New York City
6th Place – Eugene Khalabudnyak of Beat the Streets New York City

CADET GR – 145 Results

1st Place – Gino Titone of Connetquot Wrestling Club
2nd Place – Jordan Bushey of Cellar Dwellers
3rd Place – Jason Hoffman of Journeymen Wrestling
4th Place – Kevin Parker of Journeymen Wrestling
5th Place – Thomas Wightman of Section 9
6th Place – Jason Colon of Mohawk Valley Wrestling Club

CADET GR – 152 Results

1st Place – Jesse Porter of Journeymen Wrestling
2nd Place – William Marcil of ATWA
3rd Place – Karl Weisner of Farrel
4th Place – John Vouzonis of Ascend Wrestling Club
5th Place – Dylan Studer of Team Worldwide Wrestling Club
6th Place – Elijah Vasquez of Beat the Streets New York City

CADET GR – 160 Results

1st Place – Zafar Iskandarov of Beat the Streets New York City
2nd Place – Vance Cuffie of Beat the Streets New York City
3rd Place – Jacob Ashcraft of Journeymen Wrestling
4th Place – Andy Cummings of Journeymen Wrestling
5th Place – Phillip Gray of Team Dynamic
6th Place – Ryan Wilcox of The Quarry Wrestling Club

CADET GR – 170 Results

1st Place – Jacob Woolson of Mohawk Valley Wrestling Club
2nd Place – Dakota Wolley of Genesee Valley Wrestling Club
3rd Place – Paul Brachfeld of Massapequa Park
4th Place – Madhur Karki of Titan World Wide Wrestling Clu
5th Place – Steven Walters of Beat the Streets New York City

CADET GR – 182 Results

1st Place – Colby Staley of ATWA
2nd Place – James Campbell of Titan World Wide Wrestling Club
3rd Place – Joe Sabia of Journeymen Wrestling

CADET GR – 195 Results

1st Place – Aidan Mathews of Dark corner
2nd Place – Tyler Hall of Section 6

CADET GR – 220 Results

1st Place – Khaled Abdoun of Journeymen Wrestling
2nd Place – James Bethel of Dark corner
3rd Place – Elijah Sampo of Mohawk Valley Wrestling Club
4th Place – George O`Mahony of Massapequa
5th Place – Albi Miraka of Beat the Streets New York City
6th Place – Marc Diaz of Beat the Streets New York City

CADET GR – 285 Results

1st Place – Peter Strassfield of Southampton High School Wrestling
2nd Place – Garyn Huntley of Veritas
3rd Place – Victor Palmer-Ortiz of Mohawk Valley Wrestling Club
4th Place – Kyle Kanige of Center
5th Place – Jake Lanzillo of Averill Park

 

JUNIOR FREESTYLE

JUNIOR FS – 106 Results

1st Place – Joshua LoGiudice of JOURNEYMEN WRESTLING CLUB
2nd Place – Dolan Mccolgan of Beat the Streets New York
3rd Place – Nico Riccio of Journeymen

JUNIOR FS – 113 Results

1st Place – John Twomey of Vougar Honors Wrestling (VHW)
2nd Place – Golan Cohen of Titan
3rd Place – Noah Malamut of Poly Prep High School Wrestlin
4th Place – Matthew Stallone of Sachem 3 Style Wrestling Club
5th Place – Tyler Aslanian of Edgemont Wrestling Club
6th Place – Chris Cuccolo of Pine Bush

JUNIOR FS – 120 Results

1st Place – Matt Morris of ATWA
2nd Place – Daniel Murray of Vougar Honors Wrestling (VHW)
3rd Place – Steven Sewkumar of Ascend Wrestling Club
4th Place – Ryan Burns of Cobra Wrestling Academy
5th Place – Michael Carr of Team Worldwide
6th Place – Kyle Kelly of Team Worldwide

JUNIOR FS – 126 Results

1st Place – Simon Greebel of Ascend Wrestling Club
2nd Place – Paul Smoot of Rock Hard Wrestling
3rd Place – Cheick Ndiaye of Beat the Streets New York City
4th Place – Timothy Johnson of Vougar Honors Wrestling (VHW)
5th Place – Dillon Stowell of F-10
6th Place – Richard Antonacci of Ascend Wrestling Club

JUNIOR FS – 132 Results

1st Place – William Koll of Finger Lakes Wrestling Club
2nd Place – Jordan Maynard of JOURNEYMEN WRESTLING CLUB
3rd Place – Blake Retell of Journeymen
4th Place – Travis Alexander of Ascend Wrestling Club
5th Place – Ryan Snow of Section 3
6th Place – Kyle Maddock of Westhampton Beach High School

JUNIOR FS – 138 Results

1st Place – Renaldo Rodriguez-Spencer of Buffalo Grapplers
2nd Place – Sean O`Hagan of Sachem 3 Style Wrestling Club
3rd Place – Jay Oakes of ATWA
4th Place – Devon Hoyte of Beat the Streets New York City
5th Place – Anthony Messina of Sachem 3 Style Wrestling Club
6th Place – David Rodriguez of Port Richmond HS

JUNIOR FS – 145 Results

1st Place – Connor Lapresi of Finger Lakes Wrestling Club
2nd Place – Rocco Russo of New York Super Six
3rd Place – Sean McKenna of MVWC
4th Place – Codie Gilllette of Saranac
5th Place – Saidyokub Kahramonov of Beat the Streets New York City
6th Place – James McLean of Genesee Valley Wrestling Club

JUNIOR FS – 152 Results

1st Place – Kevin Thayer of Veritas
2nd Place – Nigel Williams of Beat the Streets New York City
3rd Place – Vinny Romeo of Titan World Wide
4th Place – Shaquille Jones of Beat the Streets New York
5th Place – Marc D`chiutiis of Beat the Streets New York City
6th Place – Derrick Rice of Beat the Streets New York City

JUNIOR FS – 160 Results

1st Place – Burke Paddock of Team Ten
2nd Place – Alexander Smythe of New York Super Six
3rd Place – Chris Koo of Ascend Wrestling Club
4th Place – Matt Fisher of MVWC
5th Place – Cody Nichols of Veritas
6th Place – Connor Lawrence of Journeymen

JUNIOR FS – 170 Results

1st Place – Troy Seymour of ATWA
2nd Place – Liam Bass of Westhampton Beach High School
3rd Place – Konstantin Parfiryev of Beat the Streets New York City
4th Place – Connor O`Gallagher of Rocky Point
5th Place – David Bunn of Copiague
6th Place – Michael Urso of W.T. Clarke High School Wrestl

JUNIOR FS – 182 Results

1st Place – Isaiah Zimmer of Team Worldwide
2nd Place – Tim Schaefer of Team Ten
3rd Place – Cedrick Stephens of Beat the Streets New York City
4th Place – Jake Webber of New York Super Six
5th Place – Austin Weigel of Journeymen
6th Place – Marcus King of Beat the Streets New York City

JUNIOR FS – 195 Results

1st Place – Reggie Williams of Team Worldwide
2nd Place – Thomas Murray of Askren WC
3rd Place – Giovanni Santiago of Sachem 3 Style Wrestling Club
4th Place – Levi Ashley of JOURNEYMEN WRESTLING CLUB
5th Place – Nathanael Rose of Beat the Streets New York City
6th Place – Maleke Cunningham of Beat the Streets New York City

JUNIOR FS – 220 Results

1st Place – Joe Nasoni of MVWC
2nd Place – Luke McKee of ATWA
3rd Place – Sam Eagan of Empire/Titans
4th Place – Javaughn Grant of Beat the Streets New York City
5th Place – Rafael Rokosz of Southhampton HS
6th Place – Aaron Gondola of Beat the Streets New York City

JUNIOR FS – 285 Results

1st Place – Brad Lucas of MVWC
2nd Place – Nolan Terrance of Massena
3rd Place – Matthew Abbott of Team Worldwide
4th Place – Quasar Hampton of Beat the Streets New York City
5th Place – Mason Cross of New York Titans
6th Place – Ben Newcomb of Titan

"Blessing in Disguise": Robert Person to Start the Next Chapter at Binghamton

Posted on by
1

 
 
Robert Person called it a “blessing in disguise.”

The Bellmore JFK wrestler was referring to the interesting path that led to his commitment to Binghamton University last week, a place he feels is a great fit for his future both on the mat in the classroom.

“I’m really happy with Binghamton,” he said. “It’s very good academically and when I visited, I loved the campus.  The kids on the team made me feel welcome and everyone was friendly and approachable.  I got to know Coach [Jasen] Borshoff and Coach [Matt] Dernlan and they’re great.  I didn’t get to meet Teyon Ware, but it’s exciting to have a World Team member in the room. I think it worked out for the better for me.”

Person’s excitement about his future is a bit of a contrast to what he was feeling about a month ago.  On April 1, in the late morning, he dialed the wrestling offices at Boston University.

“I called [head coach] Carl Adams and told him I would be coming to Boston,” Person said. “He was happy and I was happy.  And then six hours later, I went onto Intermat to report my commitment.  On the front page, it said ‘Boston University Drops Wrestling.’  I was thinking, it’s April Fool’s Day, maybe my dad is somehow messing with me.”

But it wasn’t a joke.  The administration at the former CAA institution had announced just a few hours after Person’s call that they would be shutting down the program after the 2013-14 campaign.

“After the biggest decision of my life, there was a huge letdown,” he said. “It was devastating.”

Person and his club coach Craig Vitagliano of Ascend quickly sprung into action, looking into options.

Person said he originally hadn’t considered Binghamton because he was looking to go outside of New York to experience something different.  But when he looked more closely, he realized the school offered all the things he was looking for in a college.  He also connected with American and Franklin & Marshall over the past month and visited those institutions as well.

“I can’t be more appreciative to Coach [Mike] Rogers [of Franklin & Marshall] and Coach Teague Moore [of American],” he said. “They were really good to me and although I didn’t choose to go to those schools, I will forever be grateful to them.”

According to Vitagliano, one of the reasons those coaches were willing to get involved late in the process with Person was because of the potential he has to make an impact at the Division I level.

“He was a two-time state placewinner before this year [sixth in 2011, fifth in 2012] and was ranked number one in the state early in the season,” the Ascend Wrestling coach said.  He’s as good a technician as I’ve coached with amazing level changes and flexibility.  He’s like a Gumby doll.  With all of that, he was expected to place high or win the state this year.  After he went 0-2 a lot of coaches forgot about him or didn’t pursue him.  But most people didn’t know what he was dealing with in Albany and you might not pursue him as a coach if you don’t know the story.”

So, what’s the story?

“This year was disappointing for me,” Person said.  He came into the Eastern States Classic as the number four seed, but didn’t place after going 3-2 while competing with bronchitis.

One of his losses was to Nassau rival Chris Cataldo of MacArthur in an 11-9 contest.

“Not taking anything away from Chris, who wrestled a great match, but that was a wake up call for me,” Person said.  “I started training 10 times harder after that tournament.  I was ready to wrestle and do my thing.  I was so excited for a chance to wrestle him again at [the Section 8 tournament].

Just 15 seconds into the county final match, however, Person felt significant pain in his leg and took injury time.

“I felt something pulling.  I had no idea what it was, but I knew I had to keep going,” he said. “I kept hitting duck unders because it was all I could do.  Adrenaline pushed me through the match.”

“It was amazing how he wrestled through it,” Vitagliano added. “He hit three or four duck unders that were so slick, people are still talking about them.  I thought it would be a close match, but he blew the match wide open.”

He sure did, winning the Nassau crown with a dominant 19-8 major decision to punch his ticket to Albany after a 37-2 regular season record with 23 pins.

There was a problem, though.

“I thought I would wake up the next day and be at 100%,” Person said. “My leg hurt a lot but I thought I probably just tweaked it.  But it started to hurt more and more.  I went to the doctor two days later and found out I tore my hamstring and would be out for six to eight months.”

With the state tournament less than two weeks later, Person knew he had a decision to make.  And it was an easy one.

“I wanted to leave on my own terms no matter what,” he said. “It was rough, going 0-2 at states. I worked so hard all year. But I was proud of myself for going out there and trying to wrestle.”

Months later, Person continues to rehab the injury, going to physical therapy three times per week.  He said he still hasn’t been cleared to get on the mat, but has been working in the weight room and is hoping to be able to start wrestling by July.

“I’m looking to lift into the 125-pound weight class,” he said. “I haven’t been cutting much weight and I think a lot of my success was because of that.  I think my technique is on par, but my strength will be the biggest factor as to how well I do in college.”

Vitagliano agrees.

“He needs to get stronger and we all know that,” Vitagliano said. “He needs to hit the weights hard because that’s all he’s lacking now – strength.  He’s technically as good as anyone I’ve ever coached. He’s also a really good kid with a great sense of humor and a supportive family. It was tough for him to end the way he did because he wrestles with a lot of the guys that placed and is right there with them.  It was a disappointing end, but I think he has a bright future at Binghamton.”

Perhaps it all was a blessing in disguise.

——————————————

Robert Person wished to thank Craig Vitagliano, his parents, and his high school coach at Bellmore JFK, Brian DeGaetano.