The LoHud Wrestling Blog

To get everyone ready for the Super 16 and Rockland County Championship tournaments this weekend, I’ve gone through the seeds for each and come up with some predictions. There are some strong wrestlers in the 3-6 range at the Super 16, which could lead to some upsets, but the RCC seeds seem a bit more cut and dry.

I’ll be at Tappan Zee for the RCCs, and my colleague Rob Cristino will be at Carmel for the Super 16. The finals at the RCCs are supposed to begin around 5 p.m., with the Super 16 shooting for 4 p.m. Follow me on Twitter @vzmercogliano for updates.

Super 16

99: No. 2 Brendon Fay (Fox Lane) over No. 1 Andrew Barsuch (Croton-Harmon) – Fay majored Barsuch in the beginning of the season. Also watch out for Mahopac’s Joe Frezza.
106: No. 1 M. Menzer (Center Moriches) over No. 2 Mike DiNardo (Mahopac) – DiNardo is ranked fifth in my power rankings, but Menzer is a strong out of section wrestler. Also watch out for Hen Hud’s Jack Wagner.
113: No. 1 Alex Delacruz (Ossining) over No. 3 Zack Boker (Mahopac) – Delacruz is ranked second, and Boker fifth. Delacruz looks like a guy who should qualify for states. Also look out for Fox Lane’s Frank Surace.
120: No. 3 Jimmy Kaishian (Yorktown) over No. 1 D.J. Frederich (Croton-Harmon) – Both Kaishian and Frederich have impressive wins over Delacruz, but have not seen each other this season. Also look out for Fox Lane’s Ben Ettlinger, who beat Frederich (12-9) in the beginning of the season. He’d just have to get past Kaishian to see him.
126: No. 1 Sam Speno (Fox Lane) over No. 2 Drew Longo (Ardsley) – This is a very juicy matchup between two previous state placers and likely section champs in D1 and D2. Other than B-Real, but Speno might be the best pound-for-pound wrestler in the section. Also watch out for Harrison’s Gavin Menchel.
132: No. 1 Danny Ventura (Fox Lane) over No. 2 David Occhipinti (Croton-Harmon) – Again, we’ve got a matchup featuring likely section champs from D1 and D2. Also look out for Sleepy Hollow’s Edwin Jiminez.
138: No. 1 Tom Grippi (Fox Lane) over No. 3 Jake Srednicki (Mahopac) – This is one of the best potential matchups of the day, in what should be a preview of the D1 section final. Grippi beat Srednicki by one point at the Mahopac Duals, so Srednicki will have plenty of incentive to even the score. Also look out for Westlake’s Dean Rogener.
145: No. 3 Joe Mastro (Yorktown) over No. 1 Giancarlo Morreale (Fox Lane) – These two haven’t seen each other yet this season, but Mastro has been on fire recently. I think he’s the hottest hand in a very deep field. I also like sixth-seeded Josh Perlmutter from Hen Hud, who was pinned by Mastro and beaten by Morreale (4-2) this season.
152: No. 1 Edgar Solis (Westlake) over No. 3 Vince Pecora (Carmel) – Solis, a defending section champ in D2, should benefit from a field that doesn’t include many contenders from D1. Also look out for Hen Hud’s Lance Perlmutter.
160: No. 1 Matt Pasqualini (Fox Lane) over No. 2 Phil Siegel (Hen Hud) – In another probable section final preview, Siegel gets another shot at Pasqualini after losing to him at the Shoreline (8-5).
170: No. 2 Steven Sabella (Yorktown) over No. 1 M. Mayen (Center Moriches) – Admittedly, I don’t know much about Mayen, but Sabella is ranked No. 1 in my power rankings.
182: No. 1 Thomas Murray (Yorktown) over No. 3 A.J. Alvarez (Carmel) – This is a matchup that could be very telling in regards to who is Scarsdale’s Jacob Berkowitz’s biggest competition for a section title. Murray beat Alvarez earlier in the season (6-3).
195: No. 1 Mike Spinelli (Mahopac) over No. 2 R. Lewis (Center Moriches) – This is a chance for a likely section champ in Spinelli to make a statement against some tough, out of section competition. Also look out for Ossining’s Trent Lofaro.
220: No. 2 Dan Clune (Fox Lane) over No. 1 Chris DiNardo (Irvington) – DiNardo is a defending section champ in D2, but he missed most of the season due to injury, and hasn’t seemed to find his stride yet.
285: No. 1 Sean Barry (Hen Hud) over No. 2 David Varian (Yorktown) – Another possible section final preview. These have been the clear-cut top two guys in Section 1 this season, and they’ve split leading up to this point. Barry pinned him earlier in the season, and then Varian upset him in OT in the Kohl tourney final. Barry will come into this one on a mission. Also look out for Fox Lane’s Andriy Lypchuk in a deep field.

Rockland County Championships

99: No. 1 Joe Dillon (Nanuet) over No. 2 Brian Hong (Clarkstown North) – Dillon is a defending Division 2 section champ and placed third at the RCCs last season, but is in good position for a title this time around. He majored Hong earlier this season. Hong beat third-seeded Derek DiMarsico of North Rockland, 9-0.
106: No. 1 Blaise Benderoth (North Rockland) over No. 2 Vinny Skokos (Nanuet) – Benderoth won a title last season here at 96 pounds, and should have a chance at accumulating a few more before he’s done. He’s beaten Skokos twice, but Skokos was much more competitive in their more recent meeting. Skokos has a win over third-seeded Alex Oliveto from Suffern (10-7).
113: No. 1 John Muldoon (Pearl River) over No. 2 Troy Feniger (North Rockland) – Muldoon placed second here last season at 96, but seems to have risen to another level this season. He has no losses in the county, including a 9-7 win over Feniger at the Shoreline tourney. Muldoon also pinned third-seeded Brian McLiverty from Clarkstown South.
120: No. 1 Adit Thakur (Nyack) over No. 2 Jake DiMarsico (North Rockland) – Thakur hasn’t lost in the county this season, including a pin of DiMarsico last week at the Kohl tourney. He’s in the mix for a section title. Clarkstown North’s Dean Guevarra could be a sleeper.
126: No. 1 Matt Caputo (North Rockland) over No. 2 Austin Fox (Clarkstown South) – Caputo placed third last season at 112, and seems to have a great shot at a title this year. Fox’s only loss in the county came against Thakur, so don’t sleep on him.
132: No. 2 Colby Kash (Clarkstown North) over No. 1 Matt Dillon (Nanuet) – This is one of the rare instances where I don’t think the top seed will win at the RCCs. Kash has come on strong of late, winning the Beacon tourney, as well as beating North Rockland’s Matt Caputo and Suffern’s Dan DeStefano. Dillon may be the favorite in his weight class in D2, but he’s got a tough road here.
138: No. 1 Charlie Garcia (Tappan Zee) over No. 3 Steve Moreno (Pearl River) – Garcia hasn’t lost in the county and enters as the clear-cut top guy. Moreno only has one loss in the county, but it came against… you guessed it, Garcia (3-1).
145: No. 1 Mike Caputo (North Rockland) over No. 2 Ryan Becker (Clarkstown North) – Caputo is a heavy favorite here after winning a title at 140 last season. Becker was pinned by Caputo earlier this season. Also look out for Suffern’s Dan DeStefano.
152: No. 1 Desmond Djekovic (Tappan Zee) over No. 2 Sean Maloney (Clarkstown South) – Djekovic enters as the slight favorite after placing third at 145 last season, but don’t sleep on Maloney. He’s quietly had a strong season, and has yet to see Djekovic, so we’re not sure how they match up. Don’t forget about North Rockland’s Nick Didio either, who lost by one point to Djekovic earlier this season.
160: No. 1 Nick Giella (Suffern) over No. 2 David Crispino (Clarkstown North) – Giella placed second at 152 last season, and is a pretty clear favorite here. He hasn’t seen Crispino yet this season. Another name to watch is Nanuet’s Mike Buhlmann, but Giella pinned him, and Crispino beat him 3-1.
170: No. 3 Bryant Quichiz (Suffern) over No. 1 Peter Smith (Nanuet) – This is a pretty wide open weight class, but I really liked the way that Quichiz battled Yorktown’s Steven Sabella (my No. 1 at 170) in the Kohl tourney finals last weekend. He also has a 3-0 win over Smith this season.
182: No. 1 Tome Marku (Clarkstown South) over No. 2 Ryan Boyle (North Rockland) – Marku hasn’t wrestled for the full season, but he has no losses listed on nwcaonline.com. Boyle beat third-seeded Kevin Brundage of Nanuet twice this season.
195: No. 1 Dan Breit (Nanuet) over No. 3 Paul Okeke (Clarkstown South) – Breit is my No. 1 in D2 and definitely the favorite here, but this is a pretty deep weight class. Okeke hasn’t lost in a month, and recently handed Suffern’s Bryan Burger his first loss of the season in the county. Don’t sleep on second-seeded Ekpenede Imasuen of North Rockland, either.
220: No. 1 Bryan Burger (Suffern) over No. 2 Chris McGann (Tappan Zee) – Burger is the man to beat here, having already pinned McGann this season (he also pinned fourth-seeded Jason Dorsainville of East Ramapo). McGann has also pinned Dorsainville, as well as beaten third-seeded Sergio Ventura of Nanuet (5-2).
285: No. 1 Michael Manni (Tappan Zee) over No. 2 Josh Nelson (Nanuet) – Manni has wins over each of the three wrestlers seeded directly behind him, but he did split with fourth-seeded Charles Francois from Nyack. That could be a stumbling point in the semis, but he’s been very strong recently, most notably with a title at the Beacon tourney. He’s already pinned Nelson this season.