Author: Mike Carey

Like many of us, Vincent Barber has been affected by cancer; within the past few years the 2010 Highland graduate has lost an aunt and his grandmother to the disease.  In an effort to do his part in finding a cure, Barber has joined a rapidly growing cause within the wrestling community.

Pin Cancer is an organization founded by Dan Tramontozzi, Jared Ferriera, and Will Livingston.  Pin Cancer’s slogan says it all…”The World’s Toughest Sport Is Taking On The World’s Toughest Opponent!”  Wrestlers who participate in the Pin Cancer campaign, ask for people to pledge money for each takedown, win, or pin that they earn throughout the season.

Anyone interested in helping Vincent Barber do his part to Pin Cancer should contact him directly at either vincentbarber@aol.com or (845)391-1490.  Barber has wrestled for two seasons at Oneonta however is considering a transfer to Centenary in NJ.  Centenary happens to be the school where another S9 Alum, Port Jervis graduate JD Zitone, just finished a tremendously successful career capped off by his 2nd place finish at the NCAA D3 Championships a few weeks ago.  Great job Vinny and best of luck in this upcoming season!

PrimoSports in Florida, NY will be starting a wrestling school this May.  As a way to promote the school, they have decided to host a FREE clinic on Saturday April 20th.  The clinic will be conducted by Mitch Clark.  Many in the wrestling community consider Mitch the best “legs” clinician in the country.  The goal of this clinic will be to teach you how to dominate your opponent from the top position!  There will be two sessions.                         clinic flyer

Youth (Ages 6-12) – 4:00pm – 5:30pm       Elite (HS eligible) – 5:30pm – 7:00pm

Mitch Clark
NCAA  Champion
2X Big Ten Champion
Olympic Trials Finalist
2X NYS Champion
High School National Champion

Two of the biggest postseason events of the high school wrestling season took place this weekend at the NHSCA HS Nationals in VA Beach and the FloNationals in Indiana, PA.  Section 9, our surrounding region, and our entire state did a great job!

NHSCA High School Nationals
Approximately 20 local wrestlers competed this weekend … below are just some of the highlights!

Matt Wagner (DV, Soph., 195) – All-American 6th place!!!
Jalen Palmer (DV, Jr., 132) – All-American 7th place!!!
Frank Carrozza (DV, Soph., 138) – All-American 8th place!!!
Mike Raccioppi (MV, Soph., 126) – 2-2; 1-point losses to the 3rd & 4th place finishers
Chris Truglio (MV, Soph., 132) – 4-2; very “shaky” call keeps him from the medal round
Johnny Stramiello (PB, Jr., 113) – 3-2; losses to the 3rd & 8th place finishers
Travis Edwards (PJ, Sr., 160) – 3-2; tough loss to AA Niven

NY State Individual Champions
   Middle School                  Freshman                             Junior                                             Senior
127 – Mack Berkowitz     132 – Chris Mauriello       138 – Renaldo Rodriguez-Spencer      126 – TJ Fabian         165 – Travis Race             152 – Jordan Torbitt         152 – Corey Rasheed                             

Just in case you haven’t received the memo yet…New York wrestling has arrived!!!  The NHSCA tournament also keeps a “team state” score.  New York State finished:
     1st in the Middle School Division,
     1st in the Freshman Division
     3rd in the Sophomore Division                 NHSCA High School Nationals Brackets
     1st in the Junior Division
     3rd in the Senior Division.

FloNationals
The only local wrestlers to compete at the ultra competitive FloNationals were Onteora senior Austin Weigel and High Point, NJ sophomore Jason Gaccione.  Unlike the High School Nationals, the FloNationals are not age banded.  Austin, who wrestled at 160 during the season, competed at 170 at Flo.  He wrestled tough but was unfortunately eliminated after two bouts.  Gaccione also wrestled hard finishing 3-2 and was two victories away from the medal round.  Congratulations to both young men.

As a state, New York wrestled quite well.  The tournament was completely dominated by PA, however NY was able to place 6 on the medal stand with Nick Piccininni, Travis Passaro, Nick Kelley, Joe Mastro, Tyler Grimaldi, and Christian Dietrich earning All-American honors.  Great job guys!!!              FloNationals Results

Middletown High School hosted a MAWA district qualifier this weekend and the response was outstanding.  Approximately 300 wrestlers competed in a very exciting day of wrestling.  Special thanks need to be extended to Tim Monahan and Vinny Barber for their assistance.  According to tournament director Jason Lichtenstein, they were both  a “huge help!”  Click below for a pdf of the tournament results.

MAWA Middletown brackets

Freshmen:
152 Shawn Jones (Delaware Valley, PA)
     Ham (SC) dec Jones 8-3
     Jones maj dec King (VT) 9-1
     Hughes (NC) dec Jones 1-0  … Shawn is out
182 Nick McShea (Monroe Woodbury)
     McShea  wbf Brock (ME) 1:21
     Phipps (PA) dec McShea 10-6
     Sternad (OH) wbf McShea 3:41 …. Nick is out

Sophomores:
120 PJ Testino (Delaware Valley, PA)
     Testino maj dec Bates (NC) 12-0
     Norman (NY) dec Testino 6-4
     Beltran (VA) de Testino 4-0 …. PJ is out
126 Michael Raccioppi (Minisink Valley)
     Raccioppi wbf Leonard (VA) :20
     Raccioppi dec Mitchell (NC) 8-2 …Raccioppi in quarters
     Shearer (ND) dec Raccioppi 6-5
     Trovato (NJ) dec Raccioppi 2-1 … Michael is out
132 Chris Truglio (Minisink Valley)
     Truglio dec Dalcortivo (NJ) 4-0
     Truglio dec Bernier (NM) 6-0
     Adcock (GA) wbf Truglio 3:40
     Truglio dec Macy (CO) 6-2
     Truglio dec Prieto (CO) 2-0
     Hays (WV) dec Truglio 7-4…Chris is out
138 Frank Carrozza (Delaware Valley, PA)
     Carrozza dec Murphy (NY) 7-3
     Carrozza dec Guillen (GA) 9-4
     Glascow (NJ) dec Carrozza 5-0
     Carrozza dec Jackson (NY) 4-3
     Carrozza dec Sayre (PA) 5-0
     Carrozza dec Murrey (NJ) 6-5 …. Frankie is an All-American!!!
     Villani (WA) maj dec Carrozza 10-2 … Carrozza wrestling for 7th
145 Billy Pearn (Delaware Valley, PA)
     Pearn dec Vancleave (NC) 10-5
     McIntyre (NJ) wbf Pearn 3:13
     Clark (NC) dec Pearn 7-0 … Billy is out
160 Nick Wentland (Minisink Valley)
     Wentland maj dec Woodside (VT) 13-1
     Billingsly (NV) wbf Wentland 1:38
     Haase (WI) dec Wentland 4-2 … Nickie is out
195 Matt Wagner (Delaware Valley, PA)
     Johnson (NC) inj def over Wagner
     Wagner dec Arnett (WV) 7-5
     Wagner dec Clayton (PA) 2-0
     Wagner dec Oliver (PA) 4-2 … Matt is an All-American!!!
     Wagner dec Finnell (C) 4-1

Juniors:
113 Johnny Stramiello (Pine Bush)
     Stramiello dec Hernandez (KY) 13-11
     Stramiello tech fall Pascale (PA) 17-2
     Turner (NC) maj dec Stramiello 15-5
     Stramiello dec Parker (CA) 4-2
     Lantry (NY) maj Stramiello 10-1 …. Johnny is out
132 Jalen Palmer (Delaware Valley, PA)
     Palmer maj dec Lauro (NY) 11-1
     Palmer wbf Smith (SC) :49
     Palmer maj dec Herman (MN) 16-2
     Colbert (MD) dec Palmer 9-5
     Palmer dec ot Robbins (VA) 3-1 … Jalen is an All-American
     Penichet (FL) dec Palmer 4-1 … Jalen wrestling for 7th
145 Frankie Hernandez (Minisink Valley)
     Carlson (VA) dec Hernandez 8-2
     Hernandez dec Spera (NJ) 6-2
     Moody (GA) dec Hernandez 8-1 … Frankie is out
160 Colin Irwin (Delaware Valley, PA)
     Irwin dec Avgeros (VA) 10-4
     Irwin dec Adon (NY) 6-5
     Feigener (CA) dec Irwin 9-3
     Nonnenmacher (OR) dec Irwin 6-2 ….Colin is out

Seniors:
138 Nick Truglio (Minisink Valley)
     Semrad (FL) wbf Truglio 2:41
     Truglio dec Alguire (NC) 6-3
     Truglio dec Graham (DE) 5-4
     Edwards (KS) dec Truglio 7-1 … Nick is out
160 Travis Edwards (Port Jervis)
     Loveless (UT) dec Edwards 3-0
     Edwards dec Almberg (NV) 2-0
     Edwards dec Scott (NC) 1-0
     Edwards dec Amorndo (CT) 6-5
     Niven (MA) maf dec Edwards 13-0 …Travis is out
170 Austin Weigel (Onteora) @ FloNationals
     Ethan Ramos (NJ) dec Weigel 7-0
     Wiseman (VA) dec Weigel 8-1 … Austin is out
182 Martin Strenk (Delaware Valley, PA)
     Amo (SD) dec Strenk 5-1
     Strenk dec Blackburn (AL) 2-1
     McClinons (MO) dec Strenk 5-4 … Martin is out
182 Dan Favaro (Delaware Valley, PA)
     Zak (NJ) tech fall Favaro 16-0
     Kidd (NC) dec Favaro 3-1 … Dan is out  
195 Josh Bonneau (Minisink Valley)
     Wright (SC) wbf Bonneau 1:19
     Bonneau wbf Schermerhorn (PA) 3:54
     Roman (WV) wbf Bonneau 1:39 … Josh is out
220 Jack Fagan (Delaware Valley, PA)
     Empy (NV) wbf Fagan 4:37
     Walker (GA) dec Fagan 4-2 … Jack is out

Warwick Grad and NYS Champion Wightman’s Wrestling Future In Doubt

Boston University’s decision to eliminate their men’s wrestling program at the end of the 2013-2014 season has affected one of our own.  BU’s starting 165 pound wrestler is Warwick graduate Mitchell Wightman.  Mitch became the 2011 NYS champion at 160 pounds when he defeated Minisink Valley’s Kyle Diesel by a score of 3-2.  It is the only time that two S9 wresters have met in the state finals.

To show your support for BU wrestling, “like” the recently created Facebook page “Save BU Wrestling.”  The page already has several thousand followers and is a great resource for information about the university’s very unpopular decision to cut wrestling.

The 2013 NHSCA Wrestling Nationals take place from April 3 – 7 in Virginia Beach.  Sectionixwrestling.com would like to provide updated results for Section 9 wrestlers throughout the course of this week’s event.  Please contact me via email or text if you know of any local wrestlers who are definitely entered in the tournament.  Best of luck to all of our competitors!

Mike Carey
(845) 742-5926 – mobile
sectionixwrestling@gmail.com 

Inaugural Event Taking Place This Saturday at Cornell

Check out these lineups for Saturday’s Long Island vs. Upstate Challenge.  The event will take place in the Freidman Wrestling Center on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.  4X NCAA Champion Kyle Dake will be the special guest of honor.  Last weekend Dake became the first wrestler in NCAA history to win 4 NCAA titles in 4 different weight classes (141, 149, 157, 165).

Who wants to be the first Section 9 wrestler to participate in this event?  Let’s make it happen boys!!!

Long Island vs. Upstate Challenge
99 – John Busiello (Eastport South Manor) NYS Third vs Yianni Diakomihalis (Hilton) NYS Champion
106 – Kyle Quinn (Wantagh) NYS Champion vs Jon Haas (Spencerport) NYS Third
113 – Nick Piccininni (Ward Melville) 2x NYS Champion vs Anthony Orefice (Lockport) 2x NYS Placer
120 – Travis Passaro (Eastport South Manor) NYS Third vs. Alex Delacruz (Ossining) NYS Champion
126 – TJ Fabian (Shoreham Wading River) NYS Champion vs Will Koll (Lansing) 2x NYS Champion
132 – Mark West (Hauppauge) vs Brandon Lapi (Amsterdam) NYS Runner Up
138 – Tommy Dutton (Rocky Point) NYS Fourth vs Connor Lapresi (Lansing) NYS Champion, Runner Up
145 – Louis Hernandez (Mepham) NYS Champion vs Vincent Deprez (Hilton) 2x NYS Runner Up
152 – Corey Rasheed (Longwood) NYS Champion, 2x Runner Up vs Kevin Thayer (Unatego) NYS Champion
160 – Tyler Grimaldi (Hills West) NYS Champion vs Burke Paddock (Warsaw) NYS Champion
170 – Dan McDevitt (Wantagh) NYS Third, Fifth vs Jake Weber (Clarence) NYS Qualifier
182- Gio Santiago (Sachem North) NYS Third, Sixth vs Tim Schaefer (Warsaw) Multi-Time NYS Placer
195 – Dan Choi (Syosset) NYS Champion vs Reggie Williams (Johnson City) NYS Runner up
220 – Rich Sisti (Monsignor Farrell) NYS Champion vs Mike Silvis (Holley) NYS Third
285 – Michael Hughes (Smith West) NYS Champ vs El Shaddai Van Hoesen (Columbia) NYS Runner Up

Click here for a newyorkwrestlingnews.com’s preview of the entire event.

Jamie Franco’s run at All-American came up a few matches short when the Hofstra standout was cradled and pinned by Central Michigan’s Scott Sentes at the 2:25 mark  in their 3rd round wrestleback match on Friday.   Franco, a redshirt junior,  was defeated in the opening round of the tournament but then reeled off two victories in the consolation bracket before falling to Sentes.  Congratulations on a fantastic season Jamie!

For up-to-date results from this year’s NCAA tournament, check out www.intermatwrestle.com.

Franco Still Alive; Army Wrestlers Bow Out

Day 1 is in the books at the NCAA D1 Wrestling Championships being held in Des Moines, Iowa and former Monroe Woodbury wrestler Jamie Franco is wrestling.  Franco, who wrestles buy cialis online without a prescription at 133 for Hofstra, lost his opening round bout by a score of 3-2 to Shelton Mack of Pitt.  In his first consolation bout, Franco scored an overtime takedown to defeat Brandon Gambucci of Duke by a 6-4 margin.  Next up for Franco is University of North Carolina’s Joe Ward.

Army Wrestling had a great 2012-2013 season which included 4 NCAA qualifiers in Connor Hanafee (141), Daniel Young (149), Paul Hancock (165), and Bryce Barnes (197).  Unfortunately all four Black Knights were eliminated on Day 1 of the tournament but the future of Army Wrestling is very bright….Build and Believe!

Two-time defending champions Penn State lead the team race after Day 1 followed by Oklahoma State and Minnesota.  The much anticipated showdown at 165 is still “on course” as both Cornell’s Kyle Dake (Lansing NY, Section 4) and Penn State’s David Taylor have advanced to the quarterfinal round.  Every round of the tournament is available for viewing on one or more of the ESPN channels.  Check your local listings for details.