Tag Archives: Binghamton Wrestling

All-American Donnie Vinson Joins Binghamton Staff for 2013-14

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Photo by BV

 

—Courtesy of Binghamton wrestling

Binghamton Wrestling is happy to announce that Donald Vinson will be joining Binghamton’s staff for the 2013/2014 wrestling year. Vinson is the program’s winningest wrestler and ended his career a four-time National Qualifier and an All-American, finishing 3rd in the country in 2012.

Vinson, who will be finishing his masters program during the year, will be working directly with our student-athletes academically and athletically. He will be working with our academic advisor (Jenny Barbee) to see that our wrestlers are getting things accomplished in the classroom and meeting their academic goals. He will assist our wrestlers with tutor scheduling, teacher hours, and study hall, overseeing that each individual is doing everything he can to get the best academic experience out of Binghamton University.

On the mat, Vinson will have two responsibilities: assisting with player development and directing our Binghamton Wrestling Camp sessions. He will be working with our athletes one-on-one throughout the week, perfecting their baseline wrestling technique and working on each individual’s strengths and weaknesses. As director of our fall wrestling camp, Vinson will be able to interact with wrestlers from the local community, building strong relationships with area athletes and coaches, while teaching our techniques and philosophies to a younger generation of great wrestlers.

Next Stop, Binghamton: State Finalist Steve Schneider of MacArthur Selects the Bearcats

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When asked about his goals, MacArthur senior Steve Schneider didn’t hesitate.

New York State champion. High school national champion.  NCAA champion.

On that last one, he and Binghamton University head coach Matt Dernlan are certainly on the same page. And that’s one of the reasons Schneider committed to the Bearcats a few days ago.

“Coach Dernlan sat across the table from me in my dining room with my parents and said that he would make me a national champion,” Schneider said. “To hear that in his voice, especially after all he did for Penn State, it gave me great vibes.  He sees my potential and my dedication and my motivation to get things done even though on paper, I don’t have all the trophies.”

He may not have all the trophies, but he has racked up plenty of impressive wins.  As a sophomore in 2011-12, he went 41-4 at 152 pounds and went into the Section 8 championships as the top seed.  However, he was upset by Mepham’s Dan Tracy, a wrestler he had defeated earlier in the year, and took third.  He waited patiently to see whether he would get the opportunity to compete at the Times Union Center.

“I had a heartbreaking loss in the semis, but I beat everyone in my weight class during the year,” he said. “My coaches thought I would get a wildcard to states, but it didn’t happen.”

Schneider still made the trip to Albany to cheer on some of his teammates, including 2012 state finalist Justin Cooksey.

“Even going just as a fan to support Cooksey let me get some nerves out,” Schneider said. “It’s important to go to big events like that because when you’re there for the first time it can affect you on the mat.  Being there before was a big part of why I did so well this year.”

It may have played a role in Schneider’s stellar junior campaign, but so did all the offseason work.

“After I lost in the counties, I was so motivated to devastate the county and win it all the next year,” Schneider said. “I trained my butt off. I did a lot of wrestling — so many tournaments — and a lot of lifting. I got a lot bigger and stronger. I didn’t only want to win the county, I wanted to win the state tournament too.”

It was an objective that he reminded himself about constantly.

“Last year, I wrote ‘160-pound New York State champion’ in my book every day,” Schneider said.

And he did make it to the 2013 state finals bout after an impressive campaign, which featured a third place showing at the Eastern States Classic. At that event, Schneider topped several wrestlers who placed in Albany in 2013, including Nick Gallo, Mike Beckwith and Andrew Psomas.

Photo by BV

That showing at SUNY Sullivan, his first Nassau County title, as well as his performance throughout the 47-4 season earned him the second seed at the Times Union Center.  But he found himself in a battle in the opening round with Amsterdam’s James Marquez, a bout he won 3-1 in extra time. [Marquez then won five in a row to take third].

“My first match – the nerves were there,” he said. “You have to feel it to totally understand it.  I felt like I had stone feet. It was more mental than physical.  In overtime, I woke up and snapped right out of it.  After that, I felt like I opened up more each match. I thought I was getting better and better and I was ready to take another shot at Grimaldi.”

Tyler Grimaldi of Half Hollow Hills West was a returning state runner up who had handed Schneider two of his three losses during the season.  The two did indeed square off in the state title match this February, with Grimaldi (now a freshman at Harvard), grabbing a 9-3 victory.

“When you look up on that yellow mat in the finals and see all those faces – it’s just a different level of excitement,” Schneider said. “It was good to experience it already.  So next year in the state finals, I’ll be ready to take it home.”

Taking home a state championship in wresting isn’t something Schneider was thinking about when he first began in the sport in elementary school.  In fact, he said he got involved simply to “keep in shape for baseball.”

However, due largely to the efforts of youth coach Colin Curnuck, Schneider said he continued in wrestling and was hooked, especially when he began working out at Vougar’s Honors Wrestling in eighth grade.

“As soon as I walked into Vougar’s gym, he threw me in there with the big guys,” Schneider said. “I got pulled up to varsity as an eighth grader and started to really take it seriously.  I also started training with Jamel Hudson when I was a freshman and I stopped playing baseball. I chose wrestling.”

And last week, he chose Binghamton as his future home after also considering Hofstra and North Carolina.

“The coaching staff seems great – I think they are a great combination together,” Schneider said. “It feels like a good fit for me athletically and academically.  Not only am I going to Binghamton for wrestling, but I’m also going because it’s a great school and I know I’ll be able to achieve all of my academic goals while I’m there.”

Those academic goals include majoring in computer engineering.

Schneider, who said he will likely wrestle at 174 or 184 pounds for the Bearcats, mentioned that he is also excited about training with so many familiar faces.

“When I went for the unofficial visit, I felt like I knew almost everyone on the team already,” he said. “I feel like it will make me more comfortable there.  I’ve won with a couple of these guys already – Rob Person in Section 8 and Nick Kelley on the national level in Florida [Disney Duals]. There’s already a bond.  Also, Ryan Conrad was my drill partner in high school.  I think it will make the experience even better.”

As for now, he’s looking for an ‘even better’ high school season as a senior.  After the state tournament was over last season, he began writing ‘2014 New York State champion’ in his book every morning.

And whether he winds up going for the title at 170 or 182 pounds in 2013-14 (he said he isn’t sure yet), Schneider feels that he has benefited from nationally ranked competition at offseason events such as the Pop & Flo, Waterway and Disney Duals.

“The Disney Duals changes you – I came out a totally different person and wrestler,” he said. “Everybody that I lost to was top 10 in the country. The level of competition is insane.  It’s the best thing that happened to me before my senior year because I learn more from my losses than my wins.  I’ve gotten so much stronger since last year and I have so much motivation from the loss in the state finals. It’s not how you start; it’s how you finish.  My sophomore year was ok, my junior year was better and in my senior year, I’m ready to take home the gold.”

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Steve Schneider wanted to thank his youth coach, Colin Curnuck who kept him involved in wrestling.  He also wanted to thank his parents for all their support and Vougar Oroudjov for “always making sure there is someone in the room for me to train with, keeping my wrestling and academic goals on my mind and always having confidence in me.”

 

Binghamton Posts 2013-14 Schedule, Beginning with the Bearcat Open and Including Midlands and Several NY Duals

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In 2013-14, the Binghamton Bearcats will begin their second season under head coach Matt Dernlan and their first as members of the EIWA conference.

The squad will spend the opening month of the campaign in New York, starting with the always-competitive Bearcat Open at home on November 10.  A few weeks later, the team will make the trip to Ithaca for a pair of events — a dual with Cornell on November 23 and the New York State Championships the next day.  Then, during Thanksgiving weekend, the Bearcats will head to the Albany area for the Journeymen Duals.

In addition to the dual meet with the Big Red early in the season, Binghamton will also square off with three other Empire State teams on the road –  Columbia, Hofstra and Buffalo.

Another highlight of the year will be the challenging Midlands tournament in Illinois.  To see the complete schedule, see this link.

Becoming Bearcats: Hilton Standouts Vincent and Anthony DePrez Discuss Choosing Binghamton

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In separate conversations, Vincent and Anthony DePrez were asked why they chose to commit to Binghamton. As often happens with twins, they provided very similar answers.

“The coaches are great,” Vincent said. “I really liked their attitude and the way they run the wrestling program.  The facilities are nice.  There are just a lot of good people there.”

“I really liked the coaches,” Anthony responded. “They are really good people. I liked the way they support the team in wrestling and with their education.  I also liked the wrestling room and the facilities.”

While the pair ended up choosing the same path for college, that wasn’t always a certainty.

“At first, we were looking at different places,” Anthony said.  “But I’m really happy that we both wanted Binghamton and we’ll be going to the same school together.”

According to Vincent, Anthony looked at Bucknell while he considered Army.  But a trip to the Binghamton campus in July had a strong impact on both brothers.

“I knew it was a great place for me right away,” Vincent said. “The visit made me want to make a final choice pretty quickly.”

The DePrez brothers did that, and now they can focus fully on their senior years.

“The pressure is off now,” Anthony said. “No more stress. Now, I can just think about school and wrestling.”

The two have done plenty of wrestling in the offseason, competing at events such as the FloNationals in Pennsylvania, the Athens Duals, Ragin Raisins Duals and NUWAY Summer Championships in New Jersey.

According to Anthony DePrez, the brothers also wrestle during the week at the G2 World Wrestling Academy and at “The Garage” (at the house of teammate and state champion Yianni Diakomihalis).  In addition, they’ve been lifting and doing other training.

All the work is aimed toward a senior year to remember after both Vincent and Anthony (along with younger brother Lou) earned spots at the state tournament in 2013.

Vincent collected his third All-State honor, taking second place for the second year in a row (at 113 and 138 pounds as a sophomore and junior, respectively).  He also nabbed fourth as a freshman at 103 pounds.  Anthony won a bout in Albany in his first appearance at the event, as did then-eighth grader Lou DePrez at 120 pounds.

“It was really nice to have all three of us wrestling there last year,” Vincent said. “Having more people there with you, to be there for you, is pretty cool.”

What would also be “pretty cool” is the one thing Vincent said is missing from his resume.

“This year, my goal is to win a state title,” he said, mentioning that he will likely compete at 145 pounds.  “It’s just about the state title.  That’s what I want.”

Anthony aims to join him on the medal stand, at 152 pounds.

“Last year at states was a cool experience, but it was kind of nerve wracking,” he said. “I think I could have done better and this year, I won’t be nervous.  I’ll relax and wrestle the way I know how.  My goal is to place at least top three.”

In addition to individual achievements, there are high hopes for the Hilton squad.  With four returning state qualifiers and a number of other strong grapplers, the brothers were excited about the team outlook for 2013-14.  (The fourth DePrez brother, Sam, will join the squad as a seventh grader as well).

“I think we can be really good as a dual meet team, maybe ranked close to the top in the state,” Vincent said.

“We have a lot of good wrestlers coming back,” Anthony added. “I think we could have at least six guys go to states this year.”

And then it will be off to the EIWA conference, where the brothers said they expect to compete somewhere between 157 and 174 pounds for the Bearcats.

“I know Binghamton is the right place,” Vincent said. “We’re both really excited.”

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Vincent and Anthony DePrez wished to thank their parents, family and all their coaches, including Adam Burgos, Craig Gross and Ilias Diakomihalis.

 

Vincent and Anthony DePrez Commit to Wrestle at Binghamton

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Binghamton’s last recruiting class featured a number of New York’s top wrestlers.  This year looks like it will be more of the same as the Bearcats secured commitments from Hilton twins Vincent and Anthony DePrez on Wednesday.

Both qualified for the state tournament a year ago, along with younger brother Lou, who made it to Albany as an eighth grader at 120 pounds.

Trips to the state capital have been frequent for Vincent, who has made the podium three times at the Times Union Center, including runner up finishes in 2012 (at 113 pounds) and 2013 (at 138).  He nabbed fourth at 103 as a freshman.

In his junior campaign, Vincent picked up 51 victories, with his only losses coming against the state champions in Division I (Nick Kelley) and Division II (Nick Tighe).  Both will be his teammates at Binghamton.

Meanwhile, Anthony earned his spot in Albany at 145 pounds in February after compiling a stellar 50-3 mark with 42 bonus point victories.

The twins will be now part of the middleweight future for the Bearcats, likely between 157 and 174 pounds.

An interview with Vincent and Anthony DePrez about their college decision is here.

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Binghamton Recruiting 2013: A Look Back at the Making of the Highly-Ranked Class

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Recruiting for the Class of 2014 has been officially underway for a little over a week.  However, before we completely shift our focus forward, we took a quick look back at the class that Binghamton put together for the fall of 2013.

According to the rankings produced by a number of wrestling publications, Binghamton had the best recruiting class of the Division I programs in New York this year. Flowrestling slotted the Bearcats into the #25 spot nationally while D1 College Wrestling.net, placed the team at #24. (Columbia also made an appearance in Flo’s article, garnering an honorable mention nod).

When looking at the Binghamton class, what immediately stands out is the strong Empire State presence. Among the seven New Yorkers are eight state championships, 21 All-State showings and more than 10 All-American performances. There’s representation from Section 3 with three-time state titlewinner Nick Tighe and two-time champion Zack Zupan as well as a pair of Shenendehowa standouts – 2013 state gold medalist Nick Kelley and third placer David Almaviva. Adding to the mix in the lightweights are two-time state champion Kyle Kelly from nearby Chenango Forks and Nassau County’s Robert Person, with the upperweights adding Bryce Mazurowski, who was the Division II state runner up as a junior and senior at 195. When the “Top Seniors in New York” feature was done prior to the start of the campaign, Zupan, Kelley and Tighe were ranked 1-2-3.

So, how did Binghamton land many of the Empire State’s best and a top 25 class nationally in Matt Dernlan’s first year as head coach? The program’s recruiting coordinator, Jasen Borshoff, provided some insight.

“We sat down and talked about how we wanted to keep the best kids in state and get them to Binghamton,” Borshoff said. “If you look at the results from the last 10 years, you see New York is way up there in All-Americans. We felt that if you can keep the best New York kids here, you can succeed at the national level. That’s not to say we won’t recruit some kids from out of state. We probably will since we’re close to Pennsylvania and Ohio. But we believe we need to keep New York’s best here and we can win with New York wrestlers.”

Borshoff continued by referencing the 30 for 30 ESPN special about the University of Miami football team during their championship years.

“That part of Florida produces all these awesome football players,” he said. “Miami set up a 200 mile radius and said they weren’t going to let those kids go anywhere else. They were determined not to be outrecruited in their area.  That’s the mentality we have here with New York wrestlers. We don’t want to let anyone outrecruit us for the best around here.”

The Bearcats were able to do it by targeting a relatively small set of wrestlers.

“In the past, I probably called over 100 kids in the summer and hadn’t seen many of them wrestle,” he said. “But last year, before the New York State tournament, we were looking at around 16 kids, who we watched wrestle and got to know pretty well. We kept a pretty small focus.”

With that focus, they were able to emphasize the direction that the new staff planned for the Bearcats going forward.

“Most of the guys weren’t really interested in Binghamton at first – they wanted to go out of state or had other schools in mind,” he said. “Coach Dernlan got in front of them at their houses and told them all about the vision and philosophy. Things went from there and they came on board. Hopefully, we can reproduce that success with this year’s class and set ourselves up even more for the next several years here.”

The wrestlers are excited to get started, as all will be spending the summer on campus, getting their feet wet both academically and on the mat.

“We think we have a bunch of tough kids coming in,” Borshoff said in late June. “They’ll all be here in early July. They’ll be taking classes. They’ll be putting in work. We believe some of them will be starters this season. The great thing is, every single one of them asked to come up for the summer. They want to be here, getting started. That’s exactly what we want. We believe we have the best recruiting class in Binghamton wrestling history.”

 

College Commitments – What are the Destinations for the Class of 2013 Wrestlers?

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On July 1, recruiting season officially begins for the Class of 2014.  With that in mind, we will be bringing some recruiting-related content, including articles from the perspective of college coaches and a New York State champion headed to Division I wrestling this fall.

For now, here’s a list of where New Yorkers are going for the 2013-14 campaign (as well as out of staters who will attend Empire State institutions). These are commitments we have been made aware of, but if you see something that should be added or changed, please contact newyorkwrestlingnews@gmail.com.

 

Alfred

Zack Bacon, Hornell (NY), Football

Kevin Thayer, Unatego (NY)

Air Force

John Diekel, Whitehall (NY)

Conor O’Hara, Sachem East (NY)

Arizona State

James Brundage, Ossining (NY)/Rider

Kyle Colling, Pioneer (NY)/Oklahoma

Army

TJ Brandt, Altoona (PA)

Christian Doyle, McKinney Christian Academy (TX)

Logan Everett, Williamson (PA)

Nick Frank, Urbana (MD)

Ruben Jurado, Concord (NC)

Mason Kumashiro, Los Alamitos (CA)

Lincoln Mallinger, St. Michael-Albertville (MN)

Tristan Manderfield, Foley (MN)

Mark Marchetti, Father Ryan (TN)

Russell Parsons, Blair Academy (NJ)

Trevor Smith, Ripon (CA)

Troy Taylor, Ironwood Ridge (AZ)

Jack Wedholm, Blair Academy (NJ)

Binghamton

David Almaviva, Shenendehowa (NY)

Thierno Diallo, Duval (MD)

Nick Kelley, Shenendehowa (NY)

Kyle Kelly, Chenango Forks (NY)

Bryce Mazurowski, Avon (NY)

Robert Person, Bellmore JFK (NY)

Nick Tighe, Phoenix (NY)

Zack Zupan, Canastota (NY)

Bloomsburg

Kevin Rodriguez, Patchogue Medford (NY)

Brockport

Jeff Bechen, Whitman Hanson (MA)

Peter Ottaviano, Colts Neck (NJ)

Pete Hailer, Milton (MA)

Dillon Stowell, Gouverneur (NY)

Boston

Lewis Yablans, Jericho (NY)

Brown

James Corbett, Wantagh (NY)

Bucknell

Connor Lapresi, Lansing (NY)

Buffalo

James Benjamin, Vestal (NY)

Jake Campana, Southern Regional (NJ)

Roy Daniels, Olentangy Liberty (OH)

Corey Hollister, Perry (NY)

Alex Francik, Vestal (NY)

Nick Flannery, Cleveland State

Carmine Goldsack, Bergen Catholic (NJ)

Anthony Liberatore, Williamsville South (NY)

Brandon Muntz, Falconer (NY)

Rrok Ndokaj, Monsignor Farrell (NY)/Bloomsburg

Tyler Rill, Mount St. Joseph’s (MD)/Bloomsburg

Mike Silvis, Holley (NY)

Andrew (AJ) Voelker, Monroe Woodbury (NY)

Austin Weigel, Onteora (NY)

Clarion

Quinton Murphy, Holley/Indiana (NY)

Tim Schaefer, Warsaw (NY)

Danny Sutherland, Mepham, Nassau CC (NY)

Coast Guard Academy

Dan Fiorvanti, Commack (NY)

Coker

John Florio, Valley Central (NY)

Columbia

Chris Araoz, Wantagh (NY)

Britain Carter, Maple Mountain (UT)

Mike Fetchet, South Fayette (PA)

Troy Hembury, Muncy (PA)

Matt Leshinger, Sayville (NY)

Justin Mann, Ladue (MO)

Vince Pallone, Mendham (NJ)

Andrew Psomas, Monsignor Farrell (NY)

Garrett Ryan, Wyoming Seminary (PA)

Markus Scheidel, St. Edward (OH)

Cornell

Dan Choi, Syosset (NY)

Jake George, Long Branch (NJ)

Griffin Higginbotham, Union Grove (GA)

Dylan Realbuto, Somers (NY)

Jake Taylor, Bald Eagle Area (PA)

Ty Walter, Mifflinburg (PA)

Cortland

Chris Alianakian, Kellenberg (NY)

Colin Barber, Westfield (NJ)

Nick Bellanza, John Glenn (NY)/Jacksonville

Mat Bradice, William Floyd (NY)

Brian Bulger, Westfield (NJ)

Chris Cataldo, MacArthur (NY)

Lucas Ciancamino, Sayville (NY)

Antonio DeLuco, Rome Free Academy (NY)

Brendan Dent, Connetquot (NY)

Matt Dillon, Nanuet (NY)

Troy Feniger, North Rockland (NY)

Jake Green, Chenango Forks (NY)

Casey Lanave, Chenango Forks (NY)

Tyler Lilly, New Rochelle (NY)

Lance Moore, Johnson City/Binghamton (NY)

Jagger Rebozo, Half Hollow Hills West (NY)

Mark West, Hauppauge (NY)

Duke

Alex Tanzman, Westhampton Beach (NY)

East Stroudsburg

Eric Januszkiewicz, New Paltz (NY)

Edinboro

Terrence Cheeks, Newburgh (NY)

Lester Enriquez, Hewlett (NY)

Franklin & Marshall

Tommy Quinlan, Fayetteville-Manlius (NY)

Gannon

Eric Lewandowski, Lancaster (NY)

Harvard

Tyler Grimaldi, Half Hollow Hills West (NY)

Hofstra

Mike Hughes, Smithtown West (NY)

Kyle Krasavage, Wyoming Valley West (PA)

Ithaca

Travis Berube, St. Joseph’s Collegiate (NY)

Jimmy Kaishian, Yorktown (NY)

Steven Sabella, Yorktown (NY)

Joe Sprung, Berne-Knox-Westerlo (NY)

Carlos Toribio, Brentwood (NY)

Lake Erie College

Keanu Thompson, Grand Street (NY)

Lehigh

Drew Longo, Ardsley (NY)

Thomas Murray, Yorktown (NY)

Life University (Georgia)

Rowdy Prior, Phoenix (NY)

Maryland

Chris Reilly, Half Hollow Hills West (NY)

Mercyhurst

Austin Hedges, Letchworth (NY)

Dan Reagan, Lewiston Porter (NY)

Messiah

Lucas Malmberg, Marathon (NY)

Nassau

Josh Bonneau, Minisink Valley (NY)

Gio Santiago, Sachem North (NY)

Vinny Turano, Wantagh (NY)

Nebraska

Anthony Abidin, Nassau CC (NY)

Niagara CCC

Jude Gardner, Fredonia (NY)

North Carolina

Jacob Pincus, Pittsford (NY)

NYU

Roman Accetta, Poly Prep (NY)

John Messinger, Putnam Valley (NY)

Amit Naik, Providence Day (NC)

Nick Matthews, West Morris (NJ)

Joey Rizzolino, Campbell

Ethan Walker, Heritage Hall (OK)

North Carolina State

Shayne Brady, Carthage (NY)

Joe Mastro, Yorktown (NY)

Oklahoma State

Chris Koo, Great Neck South (NY)

Oswego

Simon Greebel, Hewlett (NY)

Taylor Jones, Palmyra Macedon (NY)

Penn

Dan McDevitt, Wantagh (NY)

Jun Yoo, Jericho (NY)

Princeton

Trey Aslanian, Edgemont (NY)

RPI

Steven Mills, Sachem North (NY) – Football

Roger Williams

Tom Carta, South Glens Falls (NY)

Sacred Heart

Nick Allesandrini, St. Anthony’s (NY)

TJ Fabian, Shoreham Wading River (NY)

Tom Filipkowski, Mattituck (NY)

Matt Fisher, Oneida (NY)

Brendan Goldup, LaSalle (NY)

Daniel Hayden, East Islip (NY)

Patrick Henn, Lindenhurst (NY)

Austin Hulse, Stony Brook School (NY)

Nick Lupi, Huntington (NY)

Zak Mullen, Shoreham Wading River (NY)

Alex Swanson, Smithtown West (NY)

Johnny Vrasidas, St. Anthony’s (NY)

Springfield

Corey Ali, Shenendehowa (NY)

Hunter Ayen, Gouverneur (NY)

Zach Joseph, Shenendehowa (NY)

David Varian, Yorktown (NY)

Stanford

Kevin Tynes, Brooklyn Tech (NY)

Virginia

Drew Hull, Royalton Hartland (NY)

Waynesburg

Tim Raner, Mexico (NY)

Wesleyan

Robert Rosenberg, Hewlett (NY)

Western New England

Andrew Cole, Ogdensburg (NY)

Matt Jarvis, Carle Place (NY)

West Virginia

John Pellegrino, Division (Nassau CC) (NY)

Gunnar Van Curen, Portville (NY)

Wheeling Jesuit

Justin Jimenez-Castillo, Irvington (NY)

Wilkes

Pankil Chander, Lawrence (NY)

Binghamton All-American Justin Lister Honored For Saving Colleague's Life

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Courtesy of bubearcats.com, Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)

Photo by The Morning Journal (Ohio)

VESTAL, N.Y.—After an accomplished wrestling career that included All-America honors, former Binghamton student-athlete Justin Lister has wasted no time in asserting himself in his professional career. Lister, a first-year state trooper in Ohio, has received a Certificate of Recognition by the Ohio State Highway Patrol for saving the life of a dispatcher.

Lister, 24, who graduated in spring 2012, was honored in a ceremony on Tuesday, five weeks after his quick thinking and action saved the life of dispatcher Chelsea Saylor, 25. On May 12 in Sandusky, Ohio, Saylor was on her lunch break and began choking on her food. Lister noticed and immediately administered the Heimlich maneuver.

For the remainder of the story from the Binghamton Athletics site, see this link.

For the story in “The Morning Journal” (Ohio) newspaper, see here.

Memorial Day: Remembering Navy SEAL and Former Wrestler Jonathan Kaloust

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On Memorial Day, we remember many members of the United States Armed Forces, including Massapequa and Binghamton wrestler Jonathan Kaloust. For more on Kaloust, see the release below courtesy of Bubearcats.com.

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VESTAL, N.Y.—Former Binghamton wrestler and 2010 graduate Jonathan Kaloust was killed [earlier this month] in a Navy training exercise at Fort Knox in Kentucky.

Kaloust, 23, of Massapequa, was a Navy SEAL and Special Warfare Operator Third Class who was based at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Fort Story, Va.

He is survived by his parents, Gary and Irene Kaloust, and a sister, Melanie.

Kaloust wrestled at the University from 2007-10 before earning his degree in political science. He was an all-star scholastic athlete at Massapequa High on Long Island and won 10 career matches as a walk-on at Binghamton. He was a dedicated team member and valuable training partner in the practice room.

He joined the Navy in March 2011.

Kaloust’s high school wrestling coach, Al Bevilacqua, told LongIsland.com that Kaloust “was a born leader, he was always someone others wanted to be like. Jon’s just one of the exceptional kids.”

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

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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.

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