The LoHud Wrestling Blog

After a long wait, the 2010-11 Journal News All-Star teams have finally been released. It’s been a long process determining who deserves what spot, but everything seems to have fallen into place nicely. I wanted to take the opportunity to further detail some of my choices in a post that will properly conclude the season.

For those who didn’t see it in today’s paper, Fox Lane senior Steven Rodrigues and Somers junior Brian Realbuto are our Westchester/Putnam Co-Wrestlers of the Year.

While there were plenty of worthy choices (namely state champs Malcolm Allen and Ryan Osleeb), it was quite clear that Rodrigues and Realbuto had the best seasons top-to-bottom. They literally matched each other’s feats all season long.

Both went undefeated. Both won at Eastern States. Both made history (becoming two-thirds of the 200-win club). Both led their teams to top ten finishes at states. And both captured state titles. When I sat down and really thought about it, there really wasn’t anything that made one stand out above the other.

Yes, Realbuto had more wins (53) than Rodrigues (43), but it’s hard to fault S-Rod when he didn’t lose a single match all season. I found it difficult to say that someone who won every time they stepped onto the mat wasn’t deserving of the honor. That’s ultimately how I came to the decision, and the feeling around the office was that it was the right choice to make.

Suffern senior Nick Oliveto was the choice as the Rockland Wrestler of the Year.

Oliveto’s top competition for the award came from his own team (Asher Kramer placed fourth at states and Justin Artrip won a section title), but his overall resume was the most impressive.

One of the biggest differences between Oliveto and any other Rockland wrestler was his Eastern States title. That showed that he could compete with anyone in the state (and beyond) in what Suffern coach Chris Matteotti called his, “standout performance.”

His only loss in the regular season came against eventual state champ Nigel McNeil, and he beat the second-place finisher (Fox Lane junior Danny Ventura) twice before being upset at states. It was clear from talking to Nick that he was disappointed with his finish at states, but placing sixth is nothing to scoff at.

My coaches of the year were two Guccione’s (no relation). In Westchester/Putnam, New Rochelle coach Jim Guccione was the choice, and in Rockland, it was North Rockland coach Andy Guccione.

Jim was the name I had in mind after he led the Huguenots to a second place finish at sectionals and guided Allen to a state title, so when he was named the Section 1 Coach of the Year it just cemented my decision.

Andy took a team that wasn’t as top-heavy with talent as Suffern and won his fifth Rockland county championship in six years, mainly by dominating in wrestle backs.

Now, it’s time to get to the all-star teams. Just to set the record straight, we’ve always done these all-star teams as full 15-man lineups based on which weight each wrestler entered sectionals at. These lineups aren’t necessarily the top 15 wrestlers (although it’s pretty close), but rather the top guy from each county in each weight class. I was told this is how it’s done, so that’s how I made my selections. Obviously, there are some weight classes which are deeper than others, but I think this is a fun way to sort of imagine a county v. county dual meet. The one exception that I made was for North Salem state champ Ryan Osleeb. Usually, we have our wrestler of the year and then 14 other first-teamers. But since we had co-wrestlers of the year in Westchester/Putnam, I gave Osleeb a first-team spot at 130.

Without further ado, here are the full Journal News all-star teams:

Westchester/Putnam

96—

First team: Dylan Realbuto, Somers

Second team: Nick Barbaria, New Rochelle

Honorable mention: None

Not really too much to say about this one. Realbuto placed second at states, while Barbaria took third at sectionals behind North Rockland’s Blaise Benderoth.

103—

First team: Mike Parise, Brewster

Second team: Trey Aslanian, Edgemont

Honorable mention: Alex Delacruz, Ossining

This was one of the more difficult decisions on either all-star team. Aslanian looked great through three rounds at states and came away with a second-place finish in Division 2, while Parise made it to states on a wild card berth after losing in the final seconds at sectionals to eventual state champ Jimmy Duckham. Both had outstanding seasons, but the ultimate difference for me was Parise’s 5-2 win over Aslanian at Eastern States. Had Aslanian won a state title I would have had to go with him, but with there being somewhat of a drop off from D1 to D2, I went with Parise based on the head-to-head win.

112—

First team: Sam Speno, Fox Lane

Second team: Drew Longo, Ardsley

Honorable mention: None

This one basically picked itself. Speno placed second at states and was the man in this weight class all season.

119—

First team: Danny Ventura, Fox Lane

Second team: Jimmy Kyreakedes, Dobbs Ferry

Honorable mention: A.J. Barbaria, New Rochelle; Jimmy Duncan, Brewster

With Oliveto being a Rockland-guy, I was spared having to choose between him and Ventura. As a second-place finisher at states, Ventura clearly deserves the top spot. Kyreakedes placed at states in D2, so he was the pick for second-team.

125—

First team: Peter Grippi, Fox Lane

Second team: Hunter Jones, New Rochelle

Honorable mention: David Occhipinti, Croton-Harmon; Justin Seim, Hackley; Jake Srednicki, Mahopac

Grippi had to be the first-team guy after placing second to a Rockland wrestler at sectionals (Artrip), but the tougher decision came for the second-team spot. Occhipinti was a section champ in D2, but Jones placed third at sectionals in D1 and seemed to have gone up against stronger competition all season. He gets the slight nod for his body of work.

130—

First team: Steven Rodrigues, Fox Lane/Ryan Osleeb, North Salem

Second team: James Kelly, John Jay

Honorable mention: Joe Caporale, Carmel; Brett Pastore, Irvington

I basically explained this one above. Kelly gets the second-team spot for placing second at sectionals.

135—

First team: Brian Realbuto, Somers

Second team: Tony Ferranti, Westlake

Honorable mention: Tom Grippi, Fox Lane; Chris Pecora, Carmel; Ben Miller, Mamaroneck

Another pretty clear choice.

140—

First team: Steve Pagliucca, Mahopac

Second team: Mark Swertfager, John Jay

Honorable mention: Eusebio Moronta, White Plains; Joe Mastro, Yorktown

Pagliucca beat Swertfager for a section title, so that pretty much made the decision for me.

145—

First team: Rino DeVita, Somers

Second team: Matt Pasqualini, Fox Lane

Honorable mention: Edgar Solis, Westlake; Jay Smith, John Jay; Donovan McSorely, Rye

DeVita’s the section champ, so he’s the pick.

152—

First team: Phil Siegel, Hen Hud

Second team: Ben Hofling, Sleepy Hollow

Honorable mention: Ignacio Mejias, Hackley; Max Josephson, Port Chester

Siegel seemed to improve as the year wore on, and he showed up at sectional time to place second. Hofling also had a nice tournament, placing fourth (the first and third place guys were from Dutchess).

160—

First team: Aaron Butler, New Rochelle

Second team: Shaquille Charles, Ardsley

Honorable mention: Dondrey Sharrock, Sleepy Hollow; Tom Viento, Mahopac; Harry Erickson, Brewster

Butler was the obvious choice as a section champ, while Charles gets the slight nod over Sharrock because of his head-to-head win at the Super 16.

171—

First team: Jacob Berkowitz, Scarsdale

Second team: John Grecco, Fox Lane

Honorable mention: Nate Tamura, Irvington; Scott Wymbs, Horace Greeley; Jack Braun, Scarsdale

In what turned out to be one of the deeper weight classes in the section, Berkowitz emerged as the man with a section title.

189—

First team: Mike Spinelli, Mahopac

Second team: Wyatt Gilchrist, John Jay

Honorable mention: Ray Messinger, Putnam Valley

While the top two guys (Joe Cummings and Scott Bova) came from Rockland and Dutchess, Spinelli’s third place finish at sectionals made him the choice. He looks like a section title contender for next season.

215—

First team: Lucas Myer, John Jay

Second team: Amos Pierrette, Woodlands

Honorable mention: Nick Coco, Eastchester; Tyler Lilly, New Rochelle; Dan Panken, Ossining

Both Myer and Pierrette were section champs, but Myer gets the top spot for facing tougher competition throughout the season and winning it in D1.

285—

First team: Malcolm Allen, New Rochelle

Second team: Andy Scopino, Mahopac

Honorable mention: Chris DiNardo, Irvington; Sean Barry, Hen Hud

This was another difficult choice. Scopino has head-to-head wins over Allen, but there just wasn’t any way I could not have a state champ as my first-teamer. As I said with the Parise-Aslanian debate, I usually would defer to the head-to-head results, except when it comes to a state champ.

Rockland

96—

First team: Blaise Benderoth, North Rockland

Second team: Dean Guevarra, Clarkstown North

Honorable mention: John Muldoon, Pearl River; Joe Dillon, Nanuet

Rockland had a very nice class of super light weights, led by Benderoth, who should have a section title or two ahead of him. Guevarra came on strong at the end of the season, and he gets the second-team nod.

103—

First team: Lucien Severe, East Ramapo

Second team: Troy Feniger, North Rockland

Honorable mention: Alex Oliveto, Suffern; Brian McLiverty, Clarkstown South

Another very tough decision (must be something about this weight class). Take a deep breath. Oliveto is 4-1 v. Severe, but 0-2 v. Feniger. Feniger is 0-2 v. Severe. So that’s pretty much a wash. Feniger placed the highest at sectionals (fourth), but Severe beat him for a Rockland county title. That’s why Severe is my pick.

112—

First team: Asher Kramer, Suffern

Second team: Anthony Calvano, Nanuet

Honorable mention: Matt Caputo, North Rockland; Prashant Thakur, Nyack; Colby Kash, Clarkstown North

Kramer is clearly the man here, wrapping up an outstanding career. Calvano has a head-to-head win over Caputo and performed well at states, so he’s the pick for the second-team.

119—

First team: Nick Oliveto, Suffern

Second team: Paul Fields, Clarkstown North

Honorable mention: Adit Thakur, Nyack; Nick Altomare, Tappan Zee; Matt Dillon, Nanuet

Not much to debate here.

125—

First team: Justin Artrip, Suffern

Second team: Anthony Simini, North Rockland

Honorable mention: None

Winning a section title makes my decision easy, and that’s exactly what Artrip did.

130—

First team: James Georges, East Ramapo

Second team: Peter Uce, North Rockland

Honorable mention: Dan DeStefano, Suffern; Jesse Gedeiko, Clarkstown South

Georges won a county championship and placed the highest of any Rockland wrestler at sectionals (third). Uce had favorable results against DeStefano and Gedeiko.

135—

First team: Scott Murphy, Clarkstown North

Second team: Andrew Artrip, Suffern

Honorable mention: None

Murphy is a county champ and placed the highest at sectionals (fourth).

140—

First team: Mike Caputo, North Rockland

Second team: Jesse Rahimzadeh, Nanuet

Honorable mention: None

Caputo placed third at sectionals and beat Rahimzadeh in the county championship finals.

145—

First team: Dan Pragdat, Clarkstown South

Second team: Cameron Bruzzi, Pearl River

Honorable mention: None

Once again, I looked to the head-to-head and Pragdat majored Bruzzi at the county championships.

152—

First team: Greg Caneparo, Nanuet

Second team: Nick Giella, Suffern

Honorable mention: Mike Calabria, North Rockland

Caneparo was the obvious choice as the county champ and D2 section champ, but the second team spot was a bit tougher to pick. Giella beat Calabria in the semis at the county championships and had a few more wins for the season, so he’s my choice.

160—

First team: Christian Bouquet, Clarkstown North

Second team: Kenta Umezaki, Pearl River

Honorable mention: Rich Berkey, Nanuet; Nick Kantor, Suffern

Umezaki beat Bouquet in double overtime in the county finals, but Bouquet’s impressive run from the seventh seed to second place at sectionals was too much to ignore. He also came back to beat Umezaki at divisionals the next week, so they split for the season.

171—

First team: Tim Coyne, Tappan Zee

Second team: Gabe Guardarramas, Tappan Zee

Honorable mention: Charlie Regalbuto, Clarkstown North; Tyler Edwards, East Ramapo

This was the first and only time that we had two guys from the same team in the same weight class. Guardarramas was the county champ, so there was no way to leave him off.

189—

First team: Joe Cummings, Nyack

Second team: Dan Breit, Nanet

Honorable mention: Kyle Hartigan, Pearl River; Sean Galette, East Ramapo

Cummings was a wrestler who had to be consider of wrestler of the year, so he’s the clear choice here.

215—

First team: Anthony Paratore, Nanuet

Second team: Nick Ohrynowicz, Clarkstown South

Honorable mention: None

Paratore was the dominant wrestler in the county at 215, as he proved with a county championship. This one pretty much explains itself.

285—

First team: Steven Maldonado, Nyack

Second team: Adalberto Fijor, Clarkstown South

Honorable mention: None

Maldonado often gets lost in the top super heavyweights conversation because of the Allen-Scopino dominance, but he had an outstanding season in his own right, winning a county championship.

Before I say adios, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank all of you who have followed this blog all season. The wrestling fan base is truly one of the most informed and passionate that I have dealt with, and it has been a pleasure to cover the sport. I found myself immersed in it, in large part due to the fact that you all fueled my interest.

I appreciate all of your comments (well, most of them) and feedback throughout the course of the season. I’m happy to say that I have a newfound respect for the lifestyle of a wrestler, and they deserve all of the coverage (and more) because there may not be a group of high school athletes who work harder.

Obviously, my posts are going to be much less frequent in the offseason. Any time I find out any significant news, I’ll be sure to let you know. If you have any major concerns, you can always leave a comment and I will do my best to look into it.

I wish all of these wrestlers the best in the future, and I thank you all again for the support.