The LoHud Wrestling Blog

Division 1 –

1. Fox Lane: A Section 1 Dual Meet Championship cemented the Foxes place as the favorite to bring home a section title. FL pulled out wins against Mahopac and New Ro in the same day, and have yet to lose to any opponent within the section. From 96-152, they have multiple wrestlers capable of placing at the state level. The question will be how quickly can their inexperienced heavyweights develop. (Previous Rank: 1)


2. Mahopac: At this point, the Indians seem to be the biggest threat to Fox Lane. They started off strong against the Foxes in the Dual Meet semis, winning at 130 and 135, but Fox Lane took five of the next six matches before Mahopac’s heavyweights had a chance to do any damage. A second-place finish at their own tournament, which featured powerhouse schools from across the state, as well as a first-place finish at the North County Duals is evidence that the Indians are among the section’s elite. (PR: 3)


3. New Rochelle: The Huguenots round out what appears to be a pretty cut and dry top three. These three teams have been the most impressive so far, and fittingly finished in the top three at the Section 1 duals. New Ro is deep enough to compete with anyone, with the Barbaria brothers and Hunter Jones in the lighter classes, along with Jonathan Stokes, Tyler Lilly and Malcolm Allen forming a strong core of heavyweights. (PR: 5)


4. Brewster: It’s tough to sort out an order after the top 3, but the Bears have put up some strong showings against some high quality teams. An early win over John Jay was certainly the highlight of the season up to this point, and Brewster went 3-1 against some quality out of area opponents this past weekend at their own tourney. Mike Parise looks like a section champ at 103, and the Erickson’s have had some notable performances. (PR: 4)


5. John Jay: It’s been a bit of a rough start for the Indians, but I wouldn’t be so quick to count Bill Swertfager’s team out. JJCR went 2-5 at the Shenendahowa Civil War Duals, but the strength of the competition has to be taken into consideration. Teams such as Shenendahowa, Wantagh and Sachem East are state powers, and these tough tournaments should help this young Indians team grow up quickly. They also have a handful of legitimate seniors, such as Mark Swertfager, Lucas Myer, James Kelly and Wyatt Gilchrist. (PR: 2)


6. Somers: The Tuskers haven’t quite made the case for a leap in the rankings up to this point, but they also haven’t given us much reason to move them for this spot, either. A 12-6 record proves that Somers is among the better teams in the section, and next week’s home tournament should be a good test, when they will wrestle top 10 contenders such as Brewster and Yorktown. (PR: 6)


7. North Rockland: A close 39-33 loss to New Ro can’t go overlooked, as the Red Raiders had a lead before Stokes, Lilly and Allen did their damage in the heavy weight classes. A first-place finish overall at the Jerry Maguire tournament provided even further evidence that NR is for real, as Blaise Benderoth at 96, Matt Caputo at 112, Nick Didio at 140, Mike Caputo at 145, Mike DeRosa at 152, Rich Santana at 215 and Frank Lezamiz at 285 all took home first-place honors. (PR: 7)


8. Sleepy Hollow: The Headless Horsemen have had a relatively light schedule to begin the season, but they certainly opened some eyes at the North County Duals with a second-place finish overall — ahead of the likes of Somers and Yorktown. A 59-13 loss to Mahopac in the championship shows that Sleepy has a lot of work to do, but coach Brian Tompkins will make sure his team continues to improve as the season wears on. (PR: NR)


9. Yorktown: The ‘Huskers haven’t had the signature victory over a top D1 school that would justify a major move up the standings, but they’ve handled some quality D2 schools such as Pleasantville and Croton. The big tests are coming, but Jesse Jewell, Joe Mastro and David Barian have been impressive. (PR: 10)


10. Suffern: An injury to Asher Kramer provided the Mounties with a brief scare, but all seems to be well again after he was able to get back on the mat this week. Suffern seemed a bit overmatched at the Section 1 Dual Meet semis, proving that they have some work to do in order to move into the elite conversation. (PR: 8 )

Other teams to watch: Carmel, Clarkstown North, Clarkstown South

Division 2 –

1. Nanuet: There’s little question that the Golden Knights are the heavy favorite in D2. A win over Suffern proves that Nanuet isn’t only among the top D2 schools, but one of the top schools in Section 1, period. Jesse Rahimzdeh, Rich Beckery, Kevin Brundage and Dan Breit are all off to hot starts. The Golden Knights have the heavyweights to match up with larger schools. (PR: 1)


2. Croton-Harmon: The Tigers make the biggest jump this week, and it’s rather difficult to argue with their success. A fifth-place finish at the North County Duals, ahead of Scarsdale, Westlake and Ossining, serves a statement that Croton is back. David Occhipinti was named most outstanding wrestler of the entire tourney, as the Tigers already have 11 wins this season after notching only one all of last year. (PR: NR)


3. Westlake: The Wildcats have separated from the pack a bit, along with Croton and Edgemont, as the strongest contenders to Nanuet. They have a win over the Panthers, and will be seeing the Tigers in the near future (01/12 at Croton-Harmon). That should sort things out a bit further. (PR: 2)


4. Edgemont: In my mind, this is a team that will continue to improve as the season progresses. Without a single senior on the entire team, there is a lot of inexperience for the Panthers, but also a lot of potential. I think they flashed that potential in yesterday’s 57-27 win over a tough Irvington team, in what coach George DiChiara called their “best performance of the year.” (PR: 3)


5. Pleasantville: The Panthers have been knocked around a bit so far this season, but that is largely the result of a very tough schedule, which has included meets against strong D1 programs. Lighter wrestlers such as Stephen Paternostro, Graham Williamson and Andrew Serino are improving. (PR: 5)

Other teams to watch: Irvington, Dobbs Ferry

Here’s the results from Wednesday:

Byram Hills 45, Lourdes 27
At Byram Hills, Tuesday
96 — Matt Slosberg (BH) pin. Christian Murphy, 1:20; 103 — Nicholas Quaid (OLL) by forfeit; 112 — double forfeit; 119 — double forfeit; 125 —Nicholas Jolly (OLL) pin. Alex Varnhagen, 4:55; 130 — Benjamin?Ratner (BH) pin. Evan Edwards, 1:45; 135 —Brandon Gundersen (BH) by forfeit; 140 — Brandon Lynn (BH) pin. Tyler Decker, 1:25; 145 — Kris Villaflor (OLL) pin. Steven Weiss, 4:30; 152 — Tyler Windheim (OLL) pin. Arian Pushka, 5:51; 160 — Daniel?Dixon (OLL) dec. Jacob Sklar, 8-5; 171 — Brady Condron (BH) dec. Nicholas Soto, 7-0; 189 —Paul Erlic (BH) pin. Harry?Stanford, 1:51; 215 — Keith Sherman (BH) pin. Ben Jordan, :49; 285 — Joseph Simon (BH) pin Angelo Estrada, 4:31.

Horace Greeley 42, Croton-Harmon 32
At Croton-Harmon
96 —Andrew Barsuch (CH) by forfeit; 103 — Kirby Atlas (HG) pin. Michael Motta, :24; 112 — Duval Frederich (CH) dec. Mitchell Klein, 2-0; 119 — Dan Guido (CH) dec. Bing Bing Xie, 8-6; 125 — David Occhipinti (CH) by forfeit; 130 — Jon Russo (HG) dec. Jake Dinkler, 5-0; 135 — John?Patrick O’Malley (CH) dec. Michael Orbeta, 5-1; 140 — John Martin (CH) pin. Matt Mercer, 2:53; 145 — Mike Nadler (HG) dec. Jordan Hartwig, 7-4; 152 — Brace Porter (HG) by forfeit; 160 — Justin Rodrick (HG) by forfeit; 171 — Scott Wymbs (HG) by forfeit; 189 — Chris Kraft (CH) pin. Billy Marino (HG) 5:31; 215 — Tyler Ferguson (HG) by forfeit; 285 — Danielle Giannettino (HG) by disqualification.