Tag Archives: Max Antone

Niagara CCC Adds Impact Newcomers (Including State and National Champs) to Strong Group of Returners; Looks For Big Year

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Which New York college team could start a Fargo National champion, a three-time state champion and a two-time New York titlewinner in the middleweights this year?

If you answered Niagara County Community College, you’re correct.

The squad accomplished quite a bit during last season, collecting conference and region titles and a fourth place showing at the NJCAA National Duals, according to head coach Keith Maute.  With some quality returners and talented newcomers, expectations are once again high.

“We did some really good things last year,” Maute said. “We didn’t have a great national tournament, but ended up with two All-Americans.”

Those All-Americans, Kris Schimek and Irvin Buck, won’t be in the lineup for the Thunderwolves this year.  But there will still be plenty of threats to make the podium at the end of the campaign.

One will be Kevin Strong (149), who fell just one win shy of being on the medal stand a year ago.  According to Maute, Strong faced a tough road at the Nationals, losing by a point to the eventual champion and then in the Round of 12 to the bronze medalist.

In addition, Max Antone and Gunner Thomas, both regional champions in 2013, will return, but in different spots.  Antone will move from heavyweight to 197, while Thomas will transition from 197 to 184.  (Maute said Cedrick Stephens, a New York State qualifier, will also contend at 184). Meanwhile, Tyler Bruce will get a chance to show what he can do.  Maute said Bruce won close to 30 matches last year, but couldn’t consistently break into the starting group.

Bruce, a 157-pounder, could be surrounded in the lineup by some of the incoming talent.  A pair of transfers from Buffalo, Chris Nevinger (a three-time state champion from Letchworth Central) and Jimmy Kloc (a 2011 and 2012 gold medalist from Iroquois), both look to win big right out of the gate.  Nevinger will be at 165 while Kloc could compete at 141 or 149. (Maute mentioned that Barry Hart and Michael Carson add great depth in the middleweights and are working extremely hard).

In addition, Mark Havers, the aforementioned Fargo National champion, joined Niagara from Clarion.  The two-time Pennsylvania state finalist will take the mat at 174 for NCCC this winter.

“I expect all of those guys to do very well,” Maute said. “They’re all really good wrestlers who are ready to contribute.”

They all certainly came in with strong credentials.  The same could be said at the heavyweight spot, where Maute has a plethora of options.  Fans in Albany have seen Aaron Kroll, El Shaddai Van Hoesen, Kacee Sauer and Matt Montesanti wrestle in the state finals over the past few years. They’re all on the roster, as is Jim Donner, another formidable big man.

“They’re all pretty good,” Maute said. “Donner’s a little older and he wrestled Division I a few years ago.  It’s hard to pick just one to talk about.  There will definitely be interesting wrestleoffs for that heavyweight spot.  We’ll see who comes out on top and some will probably redshirt.”

In the lightweights, Cody Carberry returns after competing as a bit of an undersized 125 for NCCC a year ago.  Maute said Eric Velez, Marcus Popp, Jude Gardner and Lance Compton will be in the mix for starting roles.

“Eric Velez is going to be very good,” the coach said. “Out of high school he went to Brockport and he’s been working, taking care of his family.  He did some MMA, stayed in good shape.  I’m looking forward to seeing him.  We have a lot of good guys who can step in across the lineup.  We feel like we have a really nice roster.”

That roster will once again look to make an impact at the National Duals.  But first Maute said he looks forward to competing with all the other Empire State teams at the New York State Intercollegiates in November in Ithaca.

“We’re really excited about the team we have,” Maute said. “We have to get everyone in the right weights, stay healthy and stay on the right path academically and we’ll be ok.  This is the long part – the preseason. We’re looking forward to getting on the mat with some competition and seeing how this all plays out.”

NCCC Roster (As Provided by Keith Maute)

NAME WEIGHT
CODY CARBERRY 125
ERIC VELEZ 125/33
DOMINIC RICCIO 125
ADAM ARENA 125
JORDAN JACKSON 125
JOE DOWDALL 125/33
MARCUS POPP 133/41
LANCE COMPTON 133/41
JUDE GARDNER 141/49
NICK ROBERTS 141/49
JIM KLOC 141/49
KEVIN STRONG 149
TIAL THANG 149
STEPHEN LEIBLER 149
CARMEN ODONNELL 141/149
BARRY HART 149
TJ ACKER 149
CONNOR KLEITZ 149
TYLER BRUCE 157
MICHAEL CARSON 157
THOMAS CONFER 165/74
AXIL JAKUBOWSKI 157
CHRIS NEVINGER 165
MARK HAVERS 165/74
JOE MCGRATH 165
NOAH JONES 165
TY CHRISTOPHER 174
JUSTIN STEVENSON 174
SHANE CURREY 174
TREY BRUNI 184
GUNNER THOMAS 184
CEDRICK STEPHENS 184
MAX ANTONE 197
BRIAN KERWIN 197
NICO BURGOS 197
STEVE WARTHLING 197
JIM DONNER 285
KACEE SAUER 285
EL SHADAI VANHOESSEN 285
AARON KROLL 285
FRANK SHOMERS 285
MATT MONTESANTI 285
RION ELSON 285
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Overcoming Forfeits and Wrangling Snakes: NY Kong Represents the Empire State at Disney Duals

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Team NY Kong, Photo courtesy of Steve Hromada/Anthony Ciolino


There were some twists and turns along the way, but the Empire State’s debut in the All-Star division at the AAU Scholastic Duals (aka Disney Duals) was a success, as Team New York Kong took eighth place in Orlando in a competition that featured teams from all over the country.

“I’m so proud of these kids,” said coach Anthony Ciolino.  “What they did was awesome. To go to a national tournament, one of the toughest I’ve been to, and get to the All-American round is unbelievable, especially when you’re giving up as many points as we had to.”

According to Ciolino, who hadn’t participated in an AAU event before, the rules of the organization in New York limited the number of scoring team members by region of the state.  When he arrived in Florida, Ciolino was informed that some of the grapplers who had made the trip would not be allowed to figure into the scoring and therefore, every dual meet essentially began with a 12-0 deficit.

“We brought a great team – every one of the guys was an All-State wrestler,” Ciolino said. “I couldn’t believe we had to tell wrestlers like [state second placer finishers] Jacob Berkowitz, El Shaddai Van Hoesen and Nicky Hall that they could wrestle but their matches would be scored as forfeits for the other team.  Those guys wrestled very well, but every dual, 182 and 285 didn’t count.”

Early on, that didn’t matter.  The squad opened with four blowout victories over opponents from Ohio, Michigan and Delaware and went 6-1 overall in pool action, with the one setback against Pennsylvania’s Team Diesel, which was the eventual runner up.

The team then won its next two meets against teams from Missouri and Georgia before dropping its final two contests to Keystone Elite (PA) and Michigan’s MYWA Blue, bouts both Ciolino and Cornell-recruit Dylan Palacio felt would have gone differently with a full strength side.

“Looking at it, I think we were the third-best team there,” Palacio said.  “Diesel beat us, no question.  They were just really, really good.  But the other duals we could have won.  At that level, with nationally ranked kids everywhere, giving up 12 points in a dual [and 18 against Michigan with one team member having to leave], there’s no way to come back.  We took the challenge with a grain of salt and made the top eight.”

In the process of making the top eight, many individuals stood out.  Among them was a pair of undefeated wrestlers – Palacio and Frewsburg’s Nick Mitchell.

Palacio topped multiple nationally-ranked foes, including Pennsylvania state champion Garrett Peppelman, in his only close bout.  In fact, Peppelman took an early 5-0 lead, but Palacio chipped away at the deficit, eventually notching back points very late in the third period to get the victory.

“I wasn’t happy with how I wrestled in that match,” Palacio said. “I had to claw my way back.  There was a point in the match where I had to ask myself if I believed I could win.  But there was no going back. I wasn’t tired. I believed I should win every time I wrestled and I got it done.”

Nick Mitchell, Photo by Boris Veysman

Mitchell, who will attend Edinboro in the fall, got the job done as well.

“Nick Mitchell is one of the slickest kids in New York State.  He was really, really good,” Palacio said. “People like to talk about who’s better, D1 or D2 [Division 1 or 2] in New York.  After this weekend, I know that D2 kids are for real.  I might have been skeptical, but they shut me up really quickly.”

According to Ciolino, several other wrestlers registered seven or more victories for NY Kong during the event in addition to Mitchell and Palacio, including Marathon’s Lucas Malmberg, Lansing’s William Koll, Wayne’s Alec Dierna, Shenendehowa’s Nick Kelley, Williamsville East’s Dylan Cohen, Longwood’s Corey Rasheed, Medina’s Tristan Hamner and Niagara Wheatfield’s Max Antone.

“Hamner really battled and beat some very good kids,” Palacio said. “Antone surprised me. He was so athletic, doing flips and cartwheels.  I was in a state of shock.”

A similar state of shock may have been felt by a crowd at the team’s hotel as they saw a large snake on the premises. According to Ciolino, there was Palacio, standing near the lizard, speaking in an Australian accent, instructing people and trying to keep them calm.

“I was acting like the snake wrangler,” he said. “Everyone was listening to me.  That was a funny time, and there were so many others.  There was stuff like that all week. Everyone was funny and laid back.  We became really close – it was like wrestling with my friends and wrestling with family and there’s nothing better than that.”

“I couldn’t believe how the team jelled,” Ciolino agreed. “It didn’t feel like I brought a team from every corner of the state, even though that’s what I did.  It felt like the team was a bunch of guys who went to high school together.  They had a great time at the pool, at Disney World, playing jokes on each other. It was unbelievable.”

Despite some of the initial issues, it’s an experience Ciolino is hoping to repeat again in 2013.

“A lot of the juniors already told me they want to come back,” he said.  “It’s not a hard sell.  It’s a great place to be and you know the kind of competition you’ll see here.  The national exposure is great.  I had college coaches asking me about some of the guys. Now I know the rules and we want to do it again.”

That was a sentiment echoed by Palacio, although he’s headed to college.

“I went with a North Carolina team last year but this was way better,” he said. “I would love to do it all over again.  We took the good with the bad but in the end, I think we showed everyone that New York is for real.”

 

[Ciolino wished to thank Steve Hromada and Kim McClaugherty for all their work during the trip].

Team Members:

Lucas Malmberg, Marathon

Justin Cooksey, MacArthur

Jimmy Overhiser, Corning

William Koll, Lansing

Alec Dierna, Wayne

Nick Kelley, Shenendehowa

Dylan Cohen, Williamsville East

Corey Rasheed, Longwood

Tristan Hamner, Medina

Nicky Hall, Longwood

Dylan Palacio, Long Beach

Nick Mitchell, Frewsburg

Jacob Berkowitz, Scarsdale

Austyn Hayes, Phoenix

Max Antone, Niagara Wheatfield

El Shaddai Van Hoesen, Columbia