At the end of the Section 1 practice for state qualifiers on Wednesday at John Jay, coach Bill Swertfager turned off the lights and asked all of the wrestlers in the room to lay on the mats. Of course, asking a bunch of 16-and-17-year-olds to lie quietly for any period… Read More →
One of the most dominant forces in Section 1 this season has been Nanuet’s Dan Breit. The Golden Knights’ 220-pounder is the only Division 2 wrestler who has still yet to lose this season, with his title at Eastern States in January proving that he’s a legitimate state contender. Breit… Read More →
The field at 113 pounds in Division 1 was considered to be one of the most wide open in the section all season, but it was Hen Hud’s Mark Grant who was able to capitalize and emerge from the pack. Grant knocked off John Jay-EF’s Jay Albis in the semis,... Read More →
As they have for the past few years, all of the Section 1 wrestlers who will be heading to states from both D1 and D2 will be practicing at John Jay this week. They met for the first time yesterday, but today I’ll be checking in on the preparations. Unfortunately,... Read More →
Thomas Murray was one of a handful of Yorktown wrestlers who came into the season with high hopes, and he delivered last week with a 3-0 decision over Beacon’s Andrew Grella in the 182-pound final in Division 1. Murray had placed second last season, which made this year’s section title… Read More →
When healthy, few wrestlers in the state can compete with John Jay-EF’s Dale White. After placing at states as a wild card entry last year, White was considered to be one of Section 1’s top state title contenders for this season, but a back injury forced him to miss nearly… Read More →
I’ll be taking a deeper look at all of the local wrestler’s chances at states later in the week, but here are my initial reactions after taking a look at the seeds: • The first thing that really stands out looking over the brackets from both Division 1 and Division… Read More →
Perhaps the strongest sectional performance from a local wrestler in either division came from Pleasantville’s Stephen Paternostro. The Panthers’ 126-pounder upset two-time state qualifier Joe Dillon with a 6-5 decision in the semis before pulling off the nastiest pin of the weekend with a 15-second fall against top-seeded AJ Mirabal… Read More →
After taking second last season, Edgemont’s Chris Kim captured his first section title last weekend. The junior made a wise decision to wrestle at 182 pounds after wrestling at 170 for much of the season, which paid off with a 14-5 major decision over Pleasantville’s Peter Salzarulo in the Division… Read More →
The seeds for both the Division 1 and Division 2 state tournaments came out tonight, with seven locals getting No. 2 seeds, but none receiving top seeds. I’ll have more reaction to the seedings posted tomorrow, but here are the locals that are seeded in the top eight in their… Read More →
My colleague Dan DeFrancesco, who runs our @LoHudCollege coverage (I’d suggest following him on Twitter), focused on Fox Lane grad Steven Rodrigues cracking the lineup at the University of Illinois. It’s quite clear that the drive that has made S-Rod so successful throughout his wrestling career hasn’t diminished: When Steven… Read More →
The bitter taste of defeat stayed with Brewster’s Liam Erickson throughout the offseason, and he took advantage of his opportunity to exact some revenge on Monday. Erickson was upset as the top seed in the semifinals last year by eventual champ Jake DiMarsico of North Rockland. The Bears’ 132-pounder came… Read More →
You could argue that not many section champs had a path as difficult as Pearl River’s James Kelly. The Pirates’ 99-pounder pinned top-seeded Brady Robin of Arlington in the semis before taking out No. 2 Brandon Fay of Fox Lane with a 7-3 decision in the finals. One of the… Read More →
Irvington’s Brett Pastore was one of five section champs to repeat in Division 2, doing so with a first period pin of Edgemont’s Jack McCormack in the 152-pound final on Sunday. He’s had his ups and downs against some tough D1 opponents this season, but has cruised through most D2… Read More →
Here is this week’s press release from Iowa Style Wrestling Club: Mike Ahearn Although the University of South Carolina doesn’t have a Division 1, 2 or 3 wrestling team that didn’t stop Mike Ahearn (Yorktown HS) from joining his school’s club wrestling team to continue his wrestling into college. Not… Read More →
One of the more notable “upsets” from the Division 2 sectional tournament came from Putnam Valley’s Noah Kelvas. The young Tiger knocked off defending section champ Tyler Aslanian of Edgemont with a 3-1 decision in the 106-pound final on Sunday to earn his first trip to Albany. Kelvas’ effort helped… Read More →
For the fourth time in his career, Edgemont’s Trey Aslanian is a section champ. His win on Sunday was probably one of the closer section finals that he’s been involved in, as he defeated another one of the more decorated wrestlers in the section in Nanuet’s Anthony Calvano with a… Read More →
While the wild cards were released late last night to section officials across the state, they didn’t become official until 5 p.m. today. I was asked by section coordinator Eric Romanino to hold them until now in the event that any changes were made, and I respected those wishes. It’s… Read More →
After just missing out on a trip to states last season, Yorktown’s Joe Mastro was able to get it done in his senior season. The Huskers’ 152-pounder won a Division 1 section title on Monday with an impressive 15-0 technical fall over Tappan Zee’s Desmond Djekovic, showing that he’s peaking… Read More →
It wasn’t quite clear who the favorite would be at 170 pounds in Division 1 to begin the season, but as the season progressed, it became apparent who the leader of the pack was. John Jay-EF’s Brett Perry made some major strides from last season to claim front-runner status this… Read More →
New Rochelle’s Nick Barbaria worked his way through a deep field at 106 pounds on Monday to claim his second consecutive Division 1 section championship with a 6-3 decision over Byram Hills’ Jon Errico. After winning a title at the Eastern States Classic in January, Barbaria is now viewed as… Read More →
Fox Lane’s Tom Grippi cemented his status as one of the premier competitors in Section 1 with his second consecutive section title on Monday, defeating Ketcham’s Brad Marvin with a 6-2 decision in the 145-pound final. He’s sort of the last remaining Fox Lane wrestler that will be remembered as… Read More →
One of the deepest fields in Division 2 was at 113 pounds, but as the season wore on, it became clear that Ardsley’s Stephen Samolsky was the cream of the crop. He defeated Croton-Harmon’s Andrew Barsuch with a 4-3 decision on Sunday to claim a section title, proving that there’s… Read More →
