High School Wrestling

Here is a link to the 2009 All Long Island wrestling team that ran in Sunday's paper (with pictures and capsules). But if you are too lazy to click on that, here is the team:

Nick Arujau, Jr., Syosset, 125 pounds
Season record: 45-0
Career record: 148-7
Arujau won his second straight state title and his third Nassau crown in a row during his perfect season. He'll take an 85-match winning streak into next year.

Stephen Dutton, Jr., Rocky Point, 135 pounds
Season record: 46-0
Career record: 171-12
Dutton made his first season with the Eagles a memorable one, as he went undefeated en route to the state title. The three-time Suffolk titleholder, who placed third in the state last year and second as a freshman, won by major decision over defending champ Andrew Lenzi of Fordham Prep, 10-1, in the state final.

Grant Greene, So., St. Anthony's, 112 pounds
Season record: 40-2
Career record: 109-9
Greene became the Friars' first state champion since Lucas Magnani in 2000 with an 11-6 victory over Steven Rodrigues of Fox Lane (I). Greene is a two-time state finalist — two seasons ago, he placed second at 96 pounds in Division II with Cold Spring Harbor.

Wrestler of the Year: John Greisheimer, Sr., Wantagh, 152 pounds
Season record: 42-0
Career record: 189-14
The fiery Greisheimer, who will wrestle at Edinboro next year, earned his 87th consecutive victory and his second straight state title in Albany with a 4-3 win over Josh Veltre of Greece Olympia (V).

Ernest James, Sr., Longwood, 215 pounds
Season record: 44-1
Career record: 108-18
James, who will also wrestle for Edinboro next year, won his first county and state titles this season, the latter coming on a 4-0 victory over previously undefeated Steve Butler of Port Jervis (IX).

Steven Keith, Sr., Shoreham-Wading River, 119 pounds
Season record: 46-0
Career record: 182-15
Keith, who will wrestle at Harvard next year, showed his resiliency with an overtime victory over Justis Flamio of Mahopac (I) in the state final. Keith is a two-time state and three-time Suffolk champ.

Paul Liguori, Sr., Wantagh, 135 pounds
Season record: 42-3
Career record: 216-16
Liguori, who will join Keith at Harvard next season, finished his career as Nassau's all-time wins leader with 216 — two more than P.J. Gillespie of Long Beach. He finished third in the state for the second straight season after winning titles as a freshman and sophomore.

Andy Rodriguez, Jr., Central Islip, 140 pounds
Season record: 41-1
Career record: 158-25
Everywhere A-Rod turned, there was Glenn's Nick Terdick. First, Rodriguez beat him 6-4 for the Suffolk title. Then, he edged him 3-2 for the state championship. Rodriguez is a two-time state placewinner (he placed fourth last season).

Max Soria, Jr., Kings Park, 96 pounds
Season record: 38-3
Career record: 73-16
In a most selfless act, Soria forfeited to his twin brother in the second round of the state tournament (they have a rule to never wrestle each other in a competitive match). Soria fought his way through four rounds of wrestlebacks to place third.

Mike Soria, Jr., Kings Park, 96 pounds
Season record: 36-2
Career record: 71-15
So as to not let his brother's action go to waste, Mike Soria earned two wins after the forfeit, including a 7-0 decision over Longwood's Corey Rasheed in the final, to win the state title.

Coach of the Year: T.J. Brocking, Glenn — In only their second season on the Division I level, Brocking guided the Knights to an undefeated record (23-0) and their first Suffolk Division I title behind 125-pound champ Nick Meinsen and finalists Tyler Sinisgalli (125), Nick Terdick (140) and Joe Giaramita (145). Brocking has a 46-3 dual meet record in three seasons at Glenn.

Click below to see the second team.

Continue reading "All Long Island Wrestling Team" »

Here is the story announcing that P.J. Gillespie (149 pounds) was named the CAA's Rookie of the Year after posting a 21-15 record and winning a conference championship.

Also in the story is the news that Pride coach Tom Shifflet took home conference Coach of the Year honors for the second time in his three seasons at Hofstra.

The Pride has won the last three CAA titles.

Steve Bonanno (125), Justin Accordino (141), Ben Clymer (184) and Jordan Enck (285) were all named to the CAA All-Freshman team in addition to Gillespie (pictured to the right in his high school days at Long Beach).

Bonanno (from Wantagh) and Accordino were conference finalists and NCAA qualifiers, while Clymer and Enck both placed third in the CAA.

(Newsday photo by Jim Peppler)

Newsday reports that Southampton head coach Ryan McCready was arrested for driving while impaired by drugs on March 17. According to police, this is the second drug-related offense in the past seven months for McCready, who also teaches physical education at Southampton Elementary School.

**UPDATE**: According to a March 27 message posted on the Southampton School District website by superintendent J. Richard Boyes, the district was unaware of McCready's first offense.

As a result of his latest arrest, McCready has been placed on administrative leave "pending resolution of the legal process and other issues," Boyes said in his message.

Chris Sweet, a retired physical education teacher, was hired as the long-term replacement for McCready's elementary school position.

As promised, here is a preview of the eight Hofstra wrestlers who will compete at the Division I NCAA tournament, which begins tomorrow in St. Louis. Enjoy!

***UPDATE***: Here is a recap on the first day of action, which saw three Hofstra wrestlers — Ryan Patrovich, P.J. Gillespie and Lou Ruggirello — advance to this morning's quarterfinal round. Patrovich knocked off previously undefeated Mack Lewnes of Cornell, the top seed at 165 pounds, 5-3.

If a wrestler advances to the semifinal round, he is guaranteed an All-American spot.

***UPDATE (PART II)***: Hofstra is without an All American for the first time since 2002. Here are the brackets so you can see where the Pride wrestlers fell.

The finals are on ESPN Saturday night at 6:30 p.m.

Here is a link to the NCAA wrestling championship brackets. Wrestling starts on Thursday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

The eight Hofstra qualifiers got the following seeds:

125: Steve Bonanno (Wantagh), season record: 28-13 ... unseeded, would face No. 2 Troy Nickerson (Cornell) in the second round.

133: Lou Ruggirello, season record: 28-3 ... No. 9 seed, takes on Matthew Fisk of Lehigh in the first round.

141: Justin Accordino, season record: 23-11 ... unseeded, matches up with Tyler Nauman of Pitt in the first round.

149: Paul Gillespie (Long Beach), season record: 19-13 ... unseeded, would face Bubba Jenkins of Penn State, the No. 2 seed, in the second round.

157: Jonny Bonilla-Bowman, season record: 18-7 ... unseeded, with a first-round win, he'd face No. 2 Michael Poeta of Illinois.

165: Ryan Patrovich (Islip), season record: 20-8 ... unseeded, unenviable matchup against top-seeded Mack Lewnes (35-0) of Cornell in the first round.

174: Alton Lucas (West Babylon), season record: 24-6 ... No. 12 seed, will take on unseeded Ryan Burk of Iowa State in the first round.

197: Joe Fagiano, season record: 17-8 ... unseeded, awaits top-seeded Craig Brester of Nebraska in the first round.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a preview of the Pride at the national tournament.

This week's Hometown Hero is John Barone, a 184-pound wrestler at Duke who was a two-time state runner-up at Floyd. Here is the story by Marcus Henry.

Barone, a junior who is 36-6 on the season, earned a wild-card berth to the NCAA tournament with a third-place finish in the ACC tournament. He and teammate Konrad Dudziak, a heavyweight, are Duke's first NCAA qualifiers since 2005 (the Blue Devils have never had an All American).

The Pride won its eighth straight CAA title yesterday with 106.5 points — 20 more than second place Old Dominion — and will send six wrestlers (three from Long Island) to the national championships in St. Louis, which start on March 19:

125: Steve Bonanno (Wantagh)
133: Lou Ruggirello
149: Paul Gillespie (Long Beach)
157: Jonny Bonilla-Bowman
174: Alton Lucas (West Babylon)
197: Joe Fagiano

***UPDATE***: 165-pounder Ryan Patrovich (Islip) and Justin Accordino (141) received at-large bids to the tournament, so Hofstra will bring eight wrestlers to St. Louis.

This week's N-Zone Athlete of the Week is 215-pound state champion Ernest James of Longwood. Here is the story (with accompanying video). Enjoy!

...of the wrestling season is here, and Gregg has Glenn at No. 6, Wantagh at No. 7 and Longwood on the bubble.

It also has three wrestlers of the week, and they are as follows...

GRANT GREENE, ST ANTHONY'S (pictured): The Friars sophomore won four straight matches to capture the state championship at 112 pounds with an 11-6 win over Steven Rodrigues of Fox Lane. He is the third CHSAA wrestler from Long Island to ever win a state title.

MAX SORIA, KINGS PARK: This is the most unselfish wrestler in state history. The junior stepped aside in the quarterfinal bracket and allowed his brother to move on by default and win the 96-pound title at the state championships. Then he had the resilience to come back and won four bouts in the wrestle back rounds to capture third place at 96.

STEVEN KEITH, SHOREHAM-WADING RIVER: The senior earned his second state title with a 6-4 overtime win over Mahopac's Justis Flamio.

And on this page, you can find this week's wrestling top 10.

In case you missed anything in Sunday's paper, here is Gregg's feelings on seeding, two divisions and wild cards, here is a rundown of the finals, here is a story about Grant Greene of St. Anthony's, and here is a brief story on the first girl to ever wrestle in a state final.

And finally, to see video from Saturday's final in Albany, click here, and for photos click here.

Click below for the final Division II rankings and three bonus wrestlers of the week...

(Newsday photo by Justin Colton / February 28, 2009)

Continue reading "Final Big 10..." »

*Division I Finals*

96: Mike Soria (Kings Park) d. Corey Rasheed (Longwood), 7-0

103: Brian Realbuto (Somers-I) d. Damon McQueen (Huntington), 9-8

112: Grant Greene (St. Anthony’s) d. Steven Rodrigues (Fox Lane-I), 11-6

119: Steven Keith (Shoreham-Wading River) d. Justis Flamio (Mahopac-I), 6-4
in O.T.

125: Nick Arujau (Syosset) d. Jamie Franco (Monroe Woodbury-IX), 4-0

135: Stephen Dutton (Rocky Point) m.d. Andrew Lenzi (Fordham Prep), 10-1

140: Andy Rodriguez (Central Islip) d. Nick Terdick (Glenn), 3-2

145: Zach Clemente (Lasalle-II) d. Brian Herold (MacArthur), 8-7

152: John Greisheimer (Wantagh) d. Josh Veltre (Greece Olympia-V), 4-3

160: James Brundage (Ossining-I) d. T.J. Neidhart (Shoreham-Wading River),
17-10

189: Austin Meys (Shenendehowa-II) p. Matt Loew (Wantagh), 1:59

215: Ernest James (Longwood) d. Steven Butler (Port Jervis-IX), 4-0

*3rd place matches:*

96: Max Soria (Kings Park) d. Chris Brienza (St. Anthony’s), 9-8

103: Jimmy Morris (St. Anthony’s) d. Brandon Ling (Penfield-V), 5-0

135: Paul Liguori (Wantagh) d. Josh Halladay (Johnson City-IV), 4-2

145: Anthony Volpe (Rocky Point) d. Ryan Tompkins (Beacon-I), 8-3

171: Angelo Malvestuto (Niagara Wheatfield-VI) d. Josue Mendez (Brentwood),
7-1

*5th place matches:*

96: Sam Speno (Fox Lane-I) d. Joe Barbato (Wantagh), 2-0

103: Malik Rasheed (Longwood) d. Tim Schaefer (Lancaster-VI), 3-2

112: Luke Popolizio (Shenendehowa-II) d. Ken Collado (Hauppauge), 5-0

125: Adam Troy (Whitman) p. Mike Walker (Uniondale), 4:09

140: Andre Berry (Uniondale) fft. Matt Eberlein (Island Trees)

152: Chris Carlucci (Glenn) d. Zach McCormick (Johnson City-IV), 6-4

160: Billy Coggins (Rocky Point) d. John Paris (Amsterdam-II), 5-3

171: Clayton Neivert (Ossining-I) t.f. John Daddino (Sewanhaka East), 18-3

189: Zach Buonaiuto (Miller Place) d. Marvin Titus-Casseus (West Babylon),
10-6

* *
*Division II 3rd place matches:*

215: Ryan Talcott (Tioga-IV) d. Julius Anglickas (Southampton), 7-2

285: Austin Lee (Cato-Meridian-III) d. Sean Melow (Babylon) 5-4

*5th place matches:*

119: Danny Arnel (Oyster Bay) d. Patrick Hogan (Peru-VII), 7-1