High School Wrestling Blog

BY CHRIS MASCARO

Thanks to whomever just posted this, but the wild-card selections for the state tournament just came out, here they are for Division I and for Division II.

Keep in mind four wrestlers get chosen at each weight to fill out a 16-man bracket.

Here are the 10 D1 choices from Suffolk...
96 — MATT ROSS, ROCKY POINT
103 — JOSE VASQUEZ, HUNTINGTON
103 — NICK MEINSEN, GLENN
112 — BRANDON ESCOBAR, ROCKY POINT
112 — JAKE BENEDETTO, ISLIP
135 — MIKE CASTELLANO, GLENN
140 — ROB TROY, WHITMAN
145 — T.J. NEIDHART, SHOREHAM WADING RIVER
152 — PAUL DILANDRO, WESTHAMPTON
189 — CONOR PRYOR, WARD MELVILLE

And from five from Nassau...
103 — ANTHONY FACCHINI, SEAFORD
125 — JESSE SGAGLIONE , PLAINEDGE
130 — JOHN CATALDO, MACARTHUR
145 — MATTHEW GAYNOR, CLARKE
285 — JEFF ST. SIMON, VALLEY STREAM CENTRAL

Couple of interesting points...

- Suffolk got the most wild-card bids in Division I. Section V was second with nine.
- All of the D1 selections in both counties were the runner-ups in their respective county tournament at their respective weight (as one would expect), except for Jose Vasquez and Brandon Escobar, who both finished third. Both finished third in the state last year, so that's why they got the nod. It says a lot about 103 and 112 pounds in Suffolk to get two wild cards in both weights.
- I thought that Zach Cogen of Bellmore JFK would have a good chance to go considering he has been a runner-up in the county the past two years, and because the wrestler he lost to last season (Paul Liguori) went on to win the states. But since I'm not as familiar with the kids from the other sections, I can't really argue for or against him.

Obviously there are many cases for argument though, and I'd love to hear about them with your comments right here on the blog.

Okay, when the state brackets come up, you'll see them here on the blog. So stay tuned.