Author: Mike Carey

Jamie Franco Earns Spot at 125; Ruggirello Falls Short In Upset Bid In Hofstra Wrestle-Offs
After wrestling for the past three seasons at 133 pounds, Monroe Woodbury graduate Jamie Franco dropped down to 125 and has earned the starting spot for his senior campaign.  Franco, a 2X NCAA tournament qualifier, had his hands full in his final wrestle off bout squeaking out a 1-0 victory over Kyle Krasavage, a true freshman from PA.  Valley Central grad Cody Ruggirello almost pulled off an upset at 149 losing by a 5-3 score to Ohio State transfer Cam Tessari who finished 4th in the country in 2012.  Ruggirello, however, will likely start for the Pride until the second semester when Tessari will be officially eligible to compete.

Army Wrestle-Off Results; Warwick Grad Connolly loses 3-2 at 149
The Army Black Knights kicked off their season with the annual Black Gold Scrimmage which serve as the teams wrestle-offs for the 2013-2014 season.  Army sophomore Shane Connolly, a 5X Section 9 champion from Warwick Valley High School, came within a takedown of earning a starting spot when he lost 3-2 to Ryan Bilyeu at 149 pounds.  Click here for a link to an article including complete results from the Army Wrestling website.

Super 32 Results; Former Section 9 Wrestlers Cuccolo and Rambarose Compete In Event Dominated By PA Grapplers
Pine Bush resident and current St. Benedicts Prep, NJ wrestler Chris Cuccolo went 6-2 for the weekend and came within a two matches from placing at 106.  After winning his first match by pin, Cuccolo dropped his second bout 3-2 before reeling off 5 straight wins in wrestlebacks!  Former Minisink Valley wrestler Mason Rambarose went 2-2 at 132.  Rambarose, whose family moved to CT last year, lost his opening bout 6-0 but bounced right back to win his first two consie matches before being eliminated in his 5-2 loss to BC Laprade from VA.  Great job both guys! 

Overall, the Super 32 was once again dominated by PA wrestlers.  14 of the 28 finalists were PA natives with 8 of the 14 champs hailing from the Keystone State.  NY had two finalists and crowned one champion as Yianni Diakomihalis from Section 5 Hilton HS won the title at 106.  For full results and a recap of this year’s Super 32 Challenge go to www.intermatwrestle.com.

Monroe Woodbury assistant coach John Gartiser put together a squad of wrestlers to compete at this weekend’s Octoberfest Duals held at Delaware Valley HS.  Although they had no entries in a few weight classes, the Crusader Training Center finished 5-1 and took home third place honors!  Some standout individual performances were given by:
                    90: Marco Vespa 5-1
                    110: Vincent Vespa 6-0
                    118: Evan Barczak 6-0
                    126: PJ Smoot 5-1
                    134: Jamie Panuto 5-1
                    184: Joe Russo 6-0
                    195: Nick McShea 6-0
                   HWT: Shawn Ferguson 5-1

            Crusader Training Center (CTC) Results 5-1:
CTC 49  Kenard Dale PA 12                         CTC 33  Orchard Park Wrestling Club 14
Easton 37  CTC 32                                         CTC 36  Drill Masters Wrestling Club 17
CTC 28  Iowa Style Wrestling Club 16      CTC 35  DV Tournament Team 18

Daly, Raccioppi, Blasko, Cuomo and Weigner Grab Titles

Section 9 Champions:
Gerard Daly (Minisink Valley, 120) – beat Lamont Wallace (S1) 4-2 in the finals
Mike Raccioppi (Minisink Valley, 138) – beat Sean O’Hagan (S11) 3-1 in the finals
Tyler Blasko (Wallkill, 182) – fft over Sean Roesing (NJ) in the finals
Robert Cuomo (Saugerties, 195) – beat Justin Baker (NJ) 6-0 in the finals
Sam Weigner (Washingtonville, 285) – beat Brandon Mascaro (Wallkill) 1-0 in finals

** Frankie Carrozza (DV, PA) won 152….he’s almost a S9 wrestler**

Complete Brackets

Iron Horse Invitational
Congratulations to the following New York State wrestlers for winning their pools at this year’s Iron Horse Invitational.  Let’s see if we can get a S9 wrestler on this list next year!!!
Nick Piccininni – Ward Melville, Section 11
Jimmy Leach – Eastport South Manor, Section 11
Tommy Dutton – Rocky Point, Section 11
Anthony Deprez – Hilton, Section 5
Steven Schneider – MacArthur, Section 8
Brett Perry – John Jay East Fishkill, Section 1
Christian Dietrich – Greene, Section 4
Levi Ashley – Shenendehowa, Section 2
Vito Arujau – Syosset, Section 8

www.sectionixwrestling.com would also like to congratulate Jason Gaccione from High Point Regional HS for winning his extremely tough bracket at the Iron Horse!

Iron Horse Invitational Results

Wrestling season is just around the corner!!! Today we kick off the local pre-season with the Hudson Valley Challenge at Port Jervis HS.  The event is expected to be bigger than ever with wrestlers from NY, NJ, PA and parts of New England expected to compete. 

The Iron Horse Invitational is also taking place.  This invitation-only event, now in its 9th year, takes place  at Hanover HS in East Hanover, NJ.  The “Horse” will showcase some of the best talent from the northeast.

Results from both events will be posted as soon as they become available.  Here we go!!!!!

             Let’s Help
Greco Roman Bouzakis 
           “Pin” Cancer

Hudson Valley Challenge
Satellite Weigh-ins
Saturday, October 12, 2013 (times below)
At the following Locations

Albany Area Albany Academy Hackett Blvd Entrance In the Wrestling Room 5:00 – 6:00 PM 518-209-7229	New Jersey Central/North Olympic Wrestling Club 500 W Main St. Wyckoff, NJ 973-420-2505 Contact Mike Skokos 845-405-9535 5:00 – 7:00 PM
New Jersey Central/South Apex Wrestling 400 Swenson Dr. Kenilworth, NJ 07033 (908) 241-1719 5:00 – 7:00 PM	Long Island Wantagh Middle School 3297 Beltagh Ave. Watagh, NY 11793 1:00 – 3:00 PM Contact Irwin Loew 516-521-8544 Irlo1@aol.com

Web Star Recruits will provide Online Recruiting Profile Books for college coaches to access at the 12th Annual Hudson Valley Challenge!

The tournament will take place at Port Jervis High School, Port Jervis, NY.

Click the link below to build your FREE Online Recruiting Profile to help maximize your exposure to college coaches. College coaches will receive the Online Recruiting Profile Book prior and during the tournament . 

Sign Up Now!

With the athlete’s online profile, they can upload matches, a picture, transcripts, and write up a bio about themselves for college coaches to view. This software will help navigate the athlete through the process. It will allow them to: send invites to college coaches, keep track of what college coaches viewed and bookmarked their profile, have access to our college coaches’ database that has every current head coaches’ contact information at the entire collegiate level, NCAA Recruiting Calendar, Digital NCAA Eligibility worksheets, add their Competition Schedule, and an Athlete’s Recruiting Diary to track their recruiting process and status.

Our staff is comprised of former NCAA Division 1 coaches, athletes, and All-Americans. Our staff has coached and wrestled at Ohio State, Hofstra University, Army, Rutgers, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Lock Haven, and the NYAC. Some of their credentials include NCAA All-American’s, NCAA Runner-up, NCAA Champion, and a 4th place finish 2010 World Team Trials.

Warwick Valley is looking for one more team to for its dual meet tournament on December 14.  Every team will be receiving 5 matches.  If interested please contact Phil Szumlaski at Coachszumlaski@gmail.com.

Warwick Wildcat Duals Info Sheet

2-Year Old Son Of Troy Bouzakis Has Inoperable Brain Tumor

Nearly two months ago Greco Roman Bouzakis, the youngest son of 3X NYS champion and Pine Bush graduate Troy Bouzakis, was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, an inoperable brain stem cancer found in children.  The diagnosis occurred only a month after the family moved to the Tampa, FL area.  Click on the link below to read the story about how the wrestling community of Steinbrenner High School is pulling together to help the Bouzakis family.  Let’s make this story go viral.

                 Steinbrenner High School Shows Support For Bouzakis Family