RIP Jeff Blatnick

With great sadness we have learned that Jeff Blatnick has passed away due to complications from heart surgery.  Blatnick, a cancer survivor, was a 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist in Greco-Roman.  A 1975 graduate of Niskayuna High School (Section 2), Blatnick often said that he never set out to be an Olympian….he just tried to be the best every time he stepped on the mat.  Blatnick remained very active in the New York State wrestling community.  He served as a volunteer assistant coach at Burnt Hills HS where he has two teenage sons, and he also was a coach at the Journeymen Wrestling Club in the Albany area.  Rest in peace Coach Blatnick.

Army Wrestling: 2012-2013 Black vs Gold Match This Friday

Warwick Grad Shane Connolly Wrestling For Starting Spot At 141

Warwick graduate Shane Connolly

Army Wrestling will officially “kick-off” this Friday when the top two Black Knights at each weight vie for a starting position at the annual Black vs Gold match.  The event will take place at 6:00 pm on the second floor of Arvin Gymnasium on the West Point campus.

Of special interest locally, 2012 Warwick graduate and Army freshman Shane Connolly will be wrestling off for the starting spot at 141 pounds.  Connolly, a 5X Section 9 champion, will square off against fellow New York native Connor Hanafee, a graduate of Monsignor Farrell HS in Staten Island.  Two other New York prepped wrestlers will be competing for starting roles at the Black vs Gold.  Shenendehowa HS (Section 2) graduate John Belanger will take on returning starter Daniel Young at 149 while Beacon HS (Section 1) graduate Ryan Tompkins will lock horns with Coleman Gracey at 174.  Best of luck Shane!!!

                     Black                                                  Gold 
125 – Nathan Santhanam     vs.           Hunter Wood
133 – Charlie Costanzo         vs.            Jordan Thome
141 – Shane Connolly            vs.           Connor Hanafee
149 – Daniel Young               vs.            John Belanger
157 – Paul Hancock               vs.           Patrick Marchetti
165 – Derek Allen                 vs.            Jared Ross
174 – Coleman Gracey         vs.           Ryan Tompkins
184 – Robert Doyle               vs.           Collin Wittmeyer
197 – Bryce Barnes               vs.           William Gray
285 – Stephen Snyder          vs.           Curtis Garner

Black Team Coach :  Paul Young
Honorary Coach :  CSM Todd Burnett

Gold Team Coach :  Daniel Mitcheff
Honorary Coach :  LTC Nick Mauldin

PA Flexes Their Muscles at Super 32

Section 3’s Shayne Brady Lone New York Placewinner

With an incredible 13 finalists and 5 champions, the boys from Pennsylvania left little doubt about “who’s boss” at this weekends Super 32 Challenge in Greensboro, NC.  To put it in perspective, no other state even had 3 finalists…CA, GA, MD, and OH had 2…NJ had only 1…NY had 0!!!!

New York had only one wrestler place in the top-8.  Shayne Brady, a senior at Carthage High School in Section 3, placed 8th at 182.  Brady, who finished 2nd in NY at 170 last year, had an outstanding showing at the Super 32.  He finished 4-3 for the tournament and one of his victories was against Nick Zak, a returning placewinner from NJ.

At 113 pounds, fellow New Yorker Nick Piccininni (Ward-Melville, S11) provided perhaps the biggest upset of the weekend when he up-ended Zahid Valencia from California.  Valencia came into the tournament as the top-ranked 106 pound wrestler in the nation.  Piccininni, however lost in the quarterfinals and then lost his first wrestleback (to Valencia, ironically) and failed to place.  Valencia wrestled back extremely tough and finished in 3rd place.

Penn State commit Zain Retherford won the 138 pound title at the 2012 Super 32 Challenge

Super 32 Challenge – Finals
106 – Suriano (NJ) dec Lee (PA) 4-3
113 – Milhoff (GA) dec Russell (GA) 1-0
120 – Krivus (PA) dec Alber (IL) 5-1
126 – Dance (VA) dec Kemerer (PA) 4-3
132 – Heil (OH) dec Pico (CA) 11-9 ot
138 – Retherford (PA) dec Molloy (IN) 5-0
145 – Leeth (MO) inj def Chisko (PA)
152 – Hall II (MN) dec Hammond (PA) 8-5
160 – Martinez (CA) dec Llopez (MD) 9-4
170 – Wiercioch (PA) dec Harner (PA) 5-3
182 – Taylor (PA) dec Toal (OH) 3-1
195 – McCutcheon (PA) dec O’Donnell (PA) 4-1
220 – Snyder (MD) dec Haines (PA) 8-4
285 – Webb (VT) dec Fleck (PA) 9-4

Super 32 Challenge Results

North and Weigel Notch Wins But Are Eliminated On Day 1

Congratulations to Pine Bush junior Andrew North and Onteora senior Austin Weigel for competing admirably in one of the toughest high school wrestling tournaments in the country, The Super 32 Challenge.  Although they were eliminated on Day 1 of the tournament and did not place, both wrestlers recorded multiple victories competing against some of the toughest wrestlers in the nation. 

North began his day in style with a 1:30 pin over Aslan Kilic of Georgia.  In his next match, North lost a hard fought 4-0 decision to Spencer Lee of Pennsylvania.  Lee went on to win his next two matches and is in tomorrow’s quarterfinal round.  In his first consolation match, the Pine Bush junior grinded out a 2-1 victory over Georgia’s Logan Sims.  North’s tournament came to an end when he lost a heart-breaker 3-2 over fellow New Yorker Nick Barbaria.  A junior who wrestles for Section 1’s New Rochelle, Barbaria finished 6th in the state at 99 pounds last year.

Onteora’s Austin Weigel also started his day with a victory notching a 4-3 victory over Mitchell Hensley of Indiana.  In Weigel’s next tilt, he was defeated 7-1 by Matt Gancayco of Maryland.  Weigel bounced back with two consecutive victories in the consies, a 5-2 decision over Delaware’s Aaron Dennis and a 6-4 victory over fellow New Yorker Johnny Vrasidas.  Weigel was eliminated from medal contention when he was pinned by PA stud Colton Peppelman in the first period.

Piccininni and Brady Only New Yorkers In Quarterfinals

In one of the biggest stories of Day 1, defending NY state champion Nick Piccininni (Ward Melville, Section 11) defeated Zahid Valencia of California at 113 pounds.  Valencia is the #1 ranked wrestler in the country at 106 pounds.  Piccinnini also pinned NJ state qualifier John Amato during Day 1 action.  Shayne Brady of Section 3’s Carthage HS is the only other NY wrestler to advance to the quarterfinal round.  Wrestling at 182 pounds, Brady will have to meet Pennsylvania’s Jacob Taylor in his quarterfinal bout.  Brady was a state runner-up at 170 last year. 

 

 

Super 32 Challenge Weekend

Onteora’s Austin Weigel to Battle for Belt at 170; Pine Bush’s Andrew North Entered at 106

The Super 32 Challenge has become the toughest preseason wrestling tournament in the country.  Every year, approximately 1500 of the top wrestlers from across the country make the trip to Greensboro, NC to test their skills against the best of the best.  Onteora senior Austin Weigel (pictured) and Pine Bush junior Andrew North are the only two Section 9 wrestlers making the journey.  Weigel qualified for the event via his 2nd place finish at a qualifying tournament in Shippinsburg, PA were he dropped a hard fought 7-5 decision in the finals to PA state champion Garrett Peppelman. 

Like every other weight class at the Super 32, 170 pounds is loaded.  Some of the “big guns” registered include Cody Wiercioch (2X PA state champ), Zach Epperly (3X VA state champ), Brett Harner (3X state place winner in PA), Nick Vonegidy (2X NC state champ), and Peter Renda (PA runner-up who is nationally ranked).

North’s competition at 106 will be just as fierce.  Many of the favorites at this weight will come from the the Northeast.  PA stud Luke Pletcher leads the way but he will be joined by other Intermat ranked wrestlers including Nick Suriano (NJ), Luke Karam (PA), Kyle Bierdumpfel (NJ), and Gage Curry (PA).

Best of luck to Austin and Andrew! 

Betsy Veysman from newyorkwrestlingnews.com has put together an excellent article which highlights all of the New York wrestlers entered in the event.  Intermat’s Josh Lowe has provided an outstanding weight-by-weight breakdown of the Super 32.  Links to both articles are below.

     New York Wrestlers at the Super 32            Intermat’s Weight-By-Weight Breakdown

 

Empire State Games Returning in 2013

For many years The Empire State Games was a “staple” of summer wrestling for New Yorkers.  Budget cuts led to the cancellation of the event a few years ago…but now they’re back.  The Empire State Games (ESG) will return next year in Rochester, NY from July 24-28.  Put this event on your calendar as it promises to be a blast.  Below is a link that will direct you to the ESG Wrestling homepage.  More details will be come available as the event nears. 

                                               Empire State Games – Wrestling

Warrior Elite Pre-Season Prep Course

The Warrior Elite Wrestling Club will be starting its “Pre-Season Prep Course”.
October 12-November 16

Lead by former Division 1 Wrestler and Expert Grappling Champion, Heath Macaluso, the course will run 6 weeks on Friday nights from 6:30-7:30pm.

His workouts are non-stop with highly diverse training to ensure his students get in great shape, drill the important offensive & defensive techniques, and get a lot of live wrestling time.  His goal is to give Warrior Elite grapplers an edge when entering the season.  The 6 Week Program is only $99.

The Course is open to all wrestlers from all schools, ages 5-18. 

His Mixed Martial Arts facility is packed with tons of Core training equipment and the Only true OCTAGON in the area.  “Kids love grappling in the Octagon”, says Macaluso.  “It just adds an interesting twist. Makes kids wrestle more aggressive”.  The course also pushes proper strategy when battling your opponent.  “Kids do the right things at the wrong times.  Most of the younger kids can read a time clock or know the score.”  He goes on to say his training is very diverse, very consistent, focusing on fundamental and not flashy stuff.  “I’ve been able to bring kids from no wins to champion using a system covering all aspects of a match. And then we drill, drill, drill.”

Pre-Season Prep
1)       Drills
2)       Speed, Strength Training
3)       Live Wrestling
4)       Wrestling in the Octagon!

Starts October 12, ends November 16th.
Friday Night Mayhem 6:30-7:30pm
Former Division 1 Wrestler Coach Heath Macaluso
And great Guest Coaches to get a jump start on your 2012-2013 Season.

 

Hudson Valley Challenge Results

Section 9 Has 12 Finalists…Booth, Milisci, and McGuire Win Titles

Rebounding after a disappointing showing at last year’s event, Section 9 Wrestling made a convincing statement at Sunday’s 2012 Hudson Valley Challenge held at Port Jervis High School.  A dozen Section 9 wrestlers made it to the finals and three locals were crowned champion of their weight class.

Dylan Booth of Port Jervis defeated Dylan Lynn of Tuxedo by a score of 10-2 at 113 in an all S9 final to earn his title.  Booth punched his ticket to the finals with a 9-1 major decision over Liam Mathis of Old Lyme, CT.  Lynn gained his finals birth by pinning Logan Losito of Wallkill in the semis.

Washingtonville senior Mark Milisci captured the 152 pound weight class with an impressive 4-2 victory over Jimmy Devine of Columbia.  Milisci was able to wrestle in the finals after defeating Tom Murphy from SIR wrestling in NJ by a 3-2 margin.

NFA junior Kyle McGuire pinned all three of his opponents en route to capturing the 195 pound title.  Two of McGuire’s victories came against fellow Section 9 wrestlers Elliot Marzano (Kingston) who finished second and Josh Conklin (Port Jervis) who placed fourth.

The other Section 9 wrestlers who made it to the finals were Chris Cuccolo (Pine Bush) 106, Justin Clavell (Washingtonville) 120, Ryan Ferro (Warwick) 132, Brett Johnson (Cornwall) 138, Austin Weigel (Onteora) 170, Randy Wilson (Port Jervis) 182, and Sam Weinger (Washingtonville) 220.  Congratulations to all of the wrestlers who competed in this year’s event and special thanks to The Friends of Section 9 for organizing the tournament.  Great job!

                                                            Final Brackets

Elem 1-3                       Elem 4-6                         Middle School                      High School