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Here is a link to the IFL website announcing that on April 4 at the IZOD Center (that's the arena at the Meadowlands where the Nets play until they move to Brooklyn, in case you didn't know) all the New York and New Jersey high school state champions will be honored at a Mixed Martial Arts event.
Enjoy!
Hey everyone, here is this week's edition of the N-Zone. There's some wrestling talk in the beginning to check out.
Enjoy!
All four Long Island wrestlers who made the finals—Ken Collado at 103, Nick Arajau at 112, Steven Bonanno at 119 and John Greisheimer at 152—took home titles at their respective weights.
Collado and Bonanno both won in two overtimes, Arajau earned an 8-2 decision and Greisheimer won 8-7 with a takedown in the waning moments.
Complete coverage of the tournament will be in tomorrow's paper.
Here are the results for the Division I 3rd and 5th place matches, followed by the results for the three Long Island wrestlers who placed on the Division II level:
3rd Place Matches:
96: Damon McQueen (Huntington) d. Brian Realbuto (Somers), 10-8
103: Nick Meinsen (Glenn) forfeit over Vinny Pecora (Baldwin)
112: Steven Keith (Shoreham-Wading River) d. Brandon Escobar (Rocky Point), 7-3
119: Ricardo Gomez (Brentwood) d. Winky Shepard (Central Square), 2-1
125: Paul Liguori (Wantagh) d. Matt Cubillos (Guilderland), 6-1
130: Stephen Dutton (Hauppauge) m.d. Mike Doria (Massapequa), 12-0
135: Shane Strumwasser (Massapequa) d. Andy Rodriguez (Central Islip), 3-2
140: Rob Troy (Whitman) d. Rocky Cervini (Plainedge), 6-2 in O.T.
145: T.J. Neidhart (Shoreham-Wading River) d. Mick Letcher (East Syracuse Minoa), 5-3
152: John-Martin Cannon (Brockport) m.d. Thomas Barriero (Massena), 13-5
160: James Brundage (Ossining) d. Alex Steciuk (Ballston Spa), 10-9 in O.T.
171: Angelo Malvestuto (Niagara Wheatfield) d. Zeke Stambovsky (Nyack), 3-1 in O.T.
189: Christian Boley (Brockport) d. Steven Butler (Port Jervis), 9-4
215: Tim Elbert (Queensbury) d. Spencer DeSena (Garden City), 3-2
285: Randy Colling (Pioneer) p. Joe Zitone (Port Jervis), :15
5th Place Matches:
96: Matt Ross (Rocky Point) d. Tim Schaefer (Lancaster), 2-1
103: Jose Vasquez (Huntington) d. C.J. Howard (Pittsford), 7-5 in O.T.
112: Peter Morales (Grand Street Campus) d. Jake Benedetto (Islip), 11-9 in O.T.
119: Casey Lanave (Chenango Forks) d. T.J. Popolizio (Shenendehowa), 9-2
125: Jared Messina (Cheektowaga) d. Joe Grippi (Fox Lane), 10-6
130: Ryan Blauvelt (Oswego) d. Brandan McKeown (Burnt Hills), 4-0
135: Marc Lewandowski (Lancaster) d. Josh Veltre (Greece Olympia), 8-2
140: Chris Collura (Spencerport) d. Michael D’Amato (Valley Central), 3-1 in O.T.
145: John Coffey (Pearl River) d. Jeff Goff (Penfield), 5-4
152: Ron Majerus (Mexico) m.d. Kerron Williams (Baldwin), 17-3
160: Jordan Spirou (Clarke) d. Michael Hernandez (Brentwood), 5-3
171: John Makastchian (Plainedge) d. Josue Mendez (Brentwood), 4-2
189: Zach Buonaiuto (Miller Place) d. Jared Myhrberg (Queensbury), 2-0
215: Colin Berry (Johnson City) p. James Chaplin (Fowler), 1:13
285: Dashaun Thomas (Huntington) d. Matt Mahon (Brighton), 5-1
Division II
3rd Place Match:
130: Matt Metzler (Slamanca) d. Andrew Leone (Center Moriches), 6-1
5th Place Matches:
171: Rob Piscatello (Locust Valley) d. Richard Dawson (Medina), 3-1
215: Julius Anglickas (Southampton) d. Noah Sibley (Windsor), 3-1
Note: In Division I, there were six Nassau vs. Suffolk matchups for 3rd and 5th place and the counties split, 3-3. I'll let you look through on your own who did what in those matchups. Like a little quiz of sorts.
In total, seven Suffolk wrestlers placed third (including each of the first four weights), two placed fourth, four placed fifth and three finished sixth. Only Ken Collado of Hauppauge remains. A total of 17 Section XI wrestlers placed out of 25, including seven wild-card selections.
For Nassau, three wrestlers are in the finals, two placed third, four placed fourth, two placed fifth and one finished sixth. A total of 12 Section VIII wrestlers placed out of 20. None of Nassau's five wild-card picks placed.
For the second time in his career, Brentwood's Ricardo Gomez (119 pounds) placed third in the state. He was third as a freshman at 103 pounds.
Steven Keith beat Brandon Escobar of Rocky Point at 112 to take third, and Paul Liguori of Wantagh did the same in his 125-pound match.
As did Hauppauge's Stephen Dutton.
Three kids that had a great chance to get to the finals (all three at least placed in the state last season), but it didn't work that way. But they took care of business in the wrestlebacks.
Liguori is an all-state wrestler for the third straight year.
96: Sean McCormick (Johnson City) p. Matt Ross (Rocky Point), 4:23
Bob Dierna (Wayne) p. Damon McQueen (Huntington), 1:23
103: Ken Collado (Hauppauge) d. Jose Vasquez (Huntington), 4-1
Luke Popolizio (Shenendehowa) d. Nick Meinsen (Glenn), 7-5
112: Nick Arajau (Syosset) p. Peter Morales (Grand Street Campus), 1:42
Justis Flamio (Mahopac) d. Steven Keith (Shoreham-Wading River), 8-3
119: Steven Bonanno (Wantagh) d. Winky Shepard (Central Square), 4-0
Cody Ruggirello (Valley Central) d. Ricardo Gomez (Brentwood), 8-7
125: Shawn Brown (Canton) d. Joe Grippi (Fox Lane), 9-7
Jamie Franco (Monroe-Woodbury) d. Jared Messina (Cheektowaga), 12-5
130: Andrew Lenzi (Fordham Prep) m.d. Brandan McKeown (Burnt Hills), 14-5
Brian Benton (Amsterdam) d. Mike Doria (Massapequa), 10-5
135: Zach Crain (Columbia) d. Marc Lewandowski (Lancaster), 6-5
Luke Bohn (Watertown) d. Shane Strumwasser (Massapequa), 6-4
140: Zach Clemente (Lasalle) d. Rob Troy (Whitman), 2-1
Sean Floor (Port Jervis) d. Rocky Cervini (Plainedge), 5-2
145: John Greisheimer (Wantagh) p. John Coffey (Pearl River), 3:08
Donnie Vinson (Whitney Point) m.d. T.J. Niedhart (Shoreham-Wading River), 11-2
152: Peter Capone (Johnson City) d. Thomas Barriero (Massena), 5-1
Rob Morey (Amsterdam) d. Kerron Williams (Baldwin), 3-1
160: Bryan Bourne (Spencerport) p. Jordan Spirou (Clarke), 1:28
Matt Bogardus (Fulton) m.d. Alex Steciuk (Ballston Spa), 13-3
171: Austin Meys (Shenendehowa) p. John Makastchian (Plainedge), 2:36
Collin Toney (Mexico) d. Josue Mendez (Brentwood), 3-2
189: Josh Peters (Vestal) m.d. Zach Buonaiuto (Miller Place), 14-5
Hunter Meys (Shenendehowa) d. Christian Boley (Brockport), 6-2
215: Robert Eskander (Webster Thomas) d. Colin Berry (Johnson City), 8-3
Paul Glover (Spencerport) p. Spencer DeSena (Garden City), 5:42
285: Corey James (Kingston) d. Dashaun Thomas (Huntington), 2-1
Ken Altarac (Lasalle) p. Randy Colling (Pioneer) p. 5:27
Couple notes:
-Shenendehowa (Section II) has the most finalists with three, including Austin (171) and Hunter Meys (189), who are brothers.
-The other schools with multiple finalists are Spencerport (Section V), Johnson City (Section IV), Wantagh (Section VIII) and Lasalle (Section II), all with two.
-Wrestleback results can be found here. And Division II is here.
-Robert Eskander from Webster Thomas has dyed purple hair to match his Section V singlet (wrestlers wear a section uniform, not their school's). It's quite funny. Just from watching him he seems like quite a character.
***Also, just so nobody is confused, team scores aren't being announced (or even computed, I don't know) until the tournament is completely over.
Lots of local wrestlers in the wrestlebacks. I'll keep you posted on the results here.
Long Island (Section VIII and XI) had 22 wrestlers advance to the semifinals, but only four—Ken Collado of Hauppauge (103 pounds), Nick Arajau of Syosset (112), and Steven Bonanno and John Griesheimer (145), both of Wantagh—advanced to the finals.
Steven Keith of Shoreham-Wading River and Paul Liguori of Wantagh are wrestling on adjacent mats right now. Weird to see two former state champions fighting for their lives in the wrestlebacks.
Brentwood's Josue Mendez was just defeated 4-3 in the 171-pound final by Collin Toney of Mexico (Section III), leaving no Brentwood wrestler in contention for the title.
Brentwood was the Suffolk champion.
MacArthur, the Nassau champ, also has nobody going for a title.
Junior Steven Keith of Shoreham-Wading River, the defending 96-pound state champion, lost in the 112-pound semifinals to Justis Flamio of Mahopac, 8-3. Flamio outmatched Keith on his feet, which rarely happens. He's an all-state wrestler, but the best he can do is third.
Steven Bonanno of Wantagh just advanced to the finas with a 4-0 victory over Winky Shepard of Central Square. He'll face sophomore Cody Ruggirello of Valley Central who squeaked out an 8-7 win over Brentwood's Ricardo Gomez. Gomez had two takedowns in the final minute of the match to tie it at 8, but with seven seconds left the referee ruled that Gomez didn't work up fast enough after a takedown and called him for stalling. It was the second stalling call on Gomez, resulting in a point for Ruggirello.
Gomez was on top with seven seconds left down by a point, but chose to try and go for a quick tilt rather than start neutral (thus sacrificing a point) and going for another quick takedown to push the match into overtime.
After the match, the boo birds from Suffolk contingent were out in full force.
Paul Liguori (Wantagh) continued his path to third place as he dominated Mike Hromada of Half Hollow Hills East, 10-1.
Stephen Dutton of Hauppauge advanced too but seemed disgusted to even be in that position after losing his undefeated season yesterday morning.
Hello from Day 2 of the state wrestling championships.
Here is my story on the first day of action, which included Wantagh's Paul Liguori and Hauppauge's Stephen Dutton getting upset.
However, Long Island wrestlers had a good day, with 12 Suffolk and 10 Nassau competitors advancing to the semifinals, which are in progress right now.
Matt Ross (Rocky Point) and Damon McQueen (Huntington) were both pinned in their respective 96-pound semis. At 103, Hauppauge's Keith Collado defeated Huntington's Jose Vasquez, 4-1, to become Suffolk's first finalist. He'll face Luke Popolizio, who defeated Nick Meinsen of Glenn, 7-5.
At 112, Nick Arajau of Syosset advanced to become Nassau's first finalist with a first-period pin in 1:42. He'll face the winner of Steven Keith from Shoreham-Wading River and Justis Famio of Mahopac, which is going on right now.
More to come...
Here are the Division I semifinal matchups...
Semifinal Pairings (Division I):
96: Matt Ross (Rocky Point) vs. Sean McCormick (Johnson City)
Bob Dierna (Wayne) vs. Damon McQueen (Huntington)
103: Ken Collado (Hauppauge) vs. Jose Vasquez (Huntington)
Nick Meinsen (Glenn) vs. Luke Popolizio (Shenendehowa)
112: Nick Arajau (Syosset) vs. Peter Morales (Grand Street Campus)
Steven Keith (Shoreham-Wading River) vs. Justis Flamio (Mahopac)
119: Winky Shepard (Central Square) vs. Steven Bonanno (Wantagh)
Ricardo Gomez (Brentwood) vs. Cody Ruggirello (Valley Central)
125: Shawn Brown (Canton) vs. Joe Grippi (Fox Lane)
Jamie Franco (Monroe Woodbury) vs. Jared Messina (Cheektowaga)
130: Brandan McKeown (Burnt Hills) vs. Andrew Lenzi (Fordham Prep)
Brian Benton (Amsterdam) vs. Mike Doria (Massapequa)
135: Zach Crain (Columbia) vs. Marc Lewandowski (Lancaster)
Shane Strumwasser (Massapequa) vs. Luke Bohn (Watertown)
140: Rob Troy (Whitman) vs. Zach Clemente (Lasalle)
Sean Floor (Port Jervis) vs. Rocky Cervini (Plainedge)
145: John Greisheimer (Wantagh) vs. John Coffey (Pearl River)
T.J. Neidhart (Shoreham-Wading River) vs. Donnie Vinson (Whitney Point)
152: Thomas Barriero (Massena) vs. Peter Capone (Johnson City)
Kerron Williams (Baldwin) vs. Rob Morey (Amsterdam)
160: Bryan Bourne (Spencerport) vs. Jordan Spirou (Clarke)
Alex Steciuk (Ballston Spa) vs. Matt Bogardus (Fulton)
171: John Makastchian (Plainedge) vs. Austin Meys (Shenendehowa)
Josue Mendez (Brentwood) vs. Collin Toney (Mexico)
189: Zach Buonaiuto (Miller Place) vs. Josh Peters (Vestal)
Christian Boley (Brockport) vs. Hunter Meys (Shenendehowa)
215: Robert Eskander (Webster Thomas) vs. Colin Berry (Johnson City)
Paul Glover (Spencerport) vs. Spencer DeSena (Garden City)
285: Corey James (Kingston) vs. Dashaun Thomas (Huntington)
Ken Altarac (Lasalle) vs. Randy Colling (Pioneer)
All of the results can be found on this website, which gets updated throughout the day. Enjoy!
That's all the blogging for me until tomorrow's action. See you tomorrow folks!
Ricardo Gomez (119) is in the semis, and now so is Josue Mendez (171). He beat Tom Voorhis of Chenango Forks in two overtimes, 5-4, and then gave coach Ralph Napolitano a huge bear hug.
Thus far, Brentwood, Shorham-Wading River (Keith and Neidhart), Huntington (McQueen and Vasquez), Wantagh (Bonanno and Greisheimer) and Massapequa (Doria and Strumwasser) have two guys in the semis. Huntington has a chance for three with heavyweight Dashaun Thomas, who is on the mats right now.
***Update: Thomas beat Matt Mahon of Brighton, 3-2, to give the Blue Devils a Long Island-high three wrestlers in tomorrow's semis.
I'll post the semifinal matchups in a few minutes.
Steven Bonanno (119) and John Greisheimer (145) are on to tomorrow's semifinals, but Paul Liguori has to win twice more tonight just to see another day. Nobody could have predicted that before today.
In a rematch of the Suffolk 140-pound final, Whitman's Rob Troy earned revenge on Copiague's Christian LaPersonerie with a 4-1 win. Both matches were very tight, so obviously these guys are very similar talent-wise.
Both should cap their trip with a spot on the podium.
Shoreham-Wading River's Steven Keith and Syosset's Nick Arajau are into the semis and could be on a collison course to meet in the 112-pound final. Keith beat Zeke Thompson of West Genesee and Arajau defeated Islip's Jake Benedetto, 4-0.
***Update: A Nassau and a Suffolk kid made the 112-pound semis, and now the same happened at 119. Wantagh's Steven Bonanno and Brentwood's Ricardo Gomez advanced to tomorrow morning's semis. They too are on opposite sides of the bracket, and a meeting in the final is not out of the question.
Not only did Matt Ross of Rocky Point (fall in 4:30) and Huntington's Damon McQueen (7-0) win at 96 pounds to advance to tomorrow's semifinal, Ken Collado of Hauppauge and Jose Vasquez of Huntington won at 103 and will meet in the semis. Collado beat Anthony Facchini of Seaford and Vasquez beat Kevin Pembridge of Union-Endicott.
AND Nick Meinsen of Glenn beat Vinny Pecora of Baldwin to get a third Suffolk wrestler in the 103 semis.
The 285-pounders from Long Island went a combined 1-3, with Huntington's Dashaun Thomas the only winner. He beat Zeal McGrew of Burnt Hills, 2-1.
Jeff St. Simon of Valley Stream, Ricky Derival of Kellenberg and Bobby Tobia of Calhoun all fell.
Okay, back to the little guys in the quarters. Matt Ross (Rocky Point) and Damon McQueen (Huntington) are in progress.
On the whole, the Long Island wrestlers (both Nassau and Suffolk) are stronger at the very low weights (103 and 112 specifically) and the higher weights (215 and 285).
(Obviously there are some exceptions.)
We're at 215 right now and Garden City's Spencer DeSena advanced with a 5-3 win over Josh Cox of Watertown (Section III), but Brentwood's Jahsua Marsh lost a close 7-6 decision to TIm Elbert of Queensbury (Section II).
285-pounders up next...
Make that two undefeated seasons down the drain. Hauppauge sophomore Stephen Dutton, who finished 33-0 on the season, got pinned in the first period by senior Ryan Blauvelt of Oswego (Section III).
Dutton was leading 2-0 when he got reversed and put to his back. He was stuck in 1:32.
At 140 pounds Christian LaPersonerie of Copiague (3-2) and Rob Troy of Whitman (11-9 in O.T.) both squeaked out victories and will meet in the quarterfinals.
Wantagh's Paul Liguori, a two-time defending state champion, just lost in the first round to Fox Lane junior Joe Grippi, 8-3. This is a huge upset for a kid that has won over 100 matches in a row.
So Grant Greene, the Catholic state runner-up from St. Anthony's, earned a bid to the states after Conor Hanafee of Monsignor Farrell went down with an injury earlier this week. Greene lost his first-round match, 7-4.
All four other L.I. wrestlers at 112 won, including Nick Arajau (Syosset), Steven Keith (Shoreham-Wading River) and Jake Benedetto (Islip). This weight and 103 are stacked with tough Long Island kids and could feature all-L.I. finals.
Steven Bonanno (Wantagh) and Ricardo Gomez (Brentwood) both earned easy wins at 119. Bonanno won 13-3 and Gomez pinned his man in 38 seconds.
The big news right now is Paul Liguori of Wantagh, a two-time defending state champ, who is losing 3-0 to Fox Lane's Joe Grippi in the second period. Stay tuned to this potential major upset.
Okay, so at 103 Ken Collado of Hauppauge (pin in 2:59) and Anthony Facchini of Seaford (11-0) both won their first round matches to setup a Section XI vs. VIII matchup in the quarters.
Also through to the quarterfinals is Jose Vasquez of Huntington (a 9-0 victor) and Baldwin's Vinny Pecora, who got put to his back momentarily but otherwise dominated in a 17-7 win. He'll face Nick Meinsen of Glenn (who earned a 10-3 win) in the quarters.
It's obviously somewhat of a crapshoot, but many of the first-round matches seem more lopsided than the county finals, or even semis, due to some weaker sections.
Not many barnburners to speak of yet, but I'm sure we'll get plenty over the course of the next two days.
Mike Lofrese, the 96-pounder from Garden City, who won his first-ever tournament two weekends ago at Hofstra, lost his first-round match to James Montante of Penfield, 8-2.
But the other L.I. wrestlers at 96 fared better. Damon McQueen of Huntington pinned his man in 1:19 and Matt Ross from Rocky Point moved on with an 8-0 decision.
More to come...
Good morning from Rochester!
The delays stunk getting in from JFK (about two hours), but I made it in one piece to this snowy haven to the north
Blue Cross Arena is in downtown Rochester and is a very nice venue. A walking bridge takes you over a river to the main entrance, and it looks like a postcard in this snowy weather (there's about four or five inches on the ground).
Anyway, wrestling has just commenced and Matt Ross of Rocky Point is on the mat. I'll try my best to keep everyone posted on their favorite L.I. wrestlers throughout the day, so stay tuned!
Good afternoon everyone, here is a link to my state tournament preview that is in today's paper and a list of wrestlers to watch complied by Mr. Andy Slawson.
(Here are the Division I brackets in case you didn't see them already.)
If you notice, most of the guys on the wrestlers to watch list are in the lower weights (145 and below). Those at 152, 160, 171, 189, 215 and 285 are relatively inexperienced on the state level.
Yet there are a few who can make some noise at those weights, including Josue Mendez and Jahsua Marsh of Brentwood (171 and 215, respectively), Zach Buonaiuto of Miller Place (189), John Makastchian of Plainedge (171) and Bobby Tobia of Calhoun (285). All of those guys have had great seasons, which could culminate in a spot on the medal stand.
One guy at the lower weights who people should keep an eye out for is Vinny Pecora of Baldwin. He has looked untouchable at times this season and is strong enough to compete with some of the best wrestlers in the state.
Also, watch out for Copiague's Christian LaPersonerie. He upset Whitman's Rob Troy in the 140-pound Suffolk final, 3-2. If both win their first-round matches at states, they will meet in the quarterfinals. Should be fun.
Just real quick before I get into some of the things that didn't fit in the newspaper preview:
-As far as Catholic League wrestlers are concerned, Joe Calderone of St. Anthony's is the best hope to place. Yet he has failed to in each of the past two seasons, and has posted a 1-4 record. Maybe he can use his past experience to help him, but it'll be an uphill battle, especially at a tough weight like 140.
-In Division II, don't expect the Long Island teams to make much of a splash. There are only five D2 teams in Nassau and another seven in Suffolk, so there isn't much competition to make a state tournament. Only five Long Island wrestlers total on the D2 level will be making their second trip up to states. Look for Nassau and Suffolk to fare about as well as they did last season, if not worse.
The quality of Division II is much better upstate, where there are more schools to choose from. Somebody who knows that quite well is Mike Castellano of Glenn. He placed twice in his four trips, and will try to do the same on the D1 level this year.
He said of the differences between D1 and D2: “It's not really much different. The quality upstate is pretty much even. Once you get up there there’s not one easy match.”
****************************
- Moving on, in talking to people around the Suffolk County team it seems that the three-week layoff didn't help at all. Section XI coach Ralph Napolitano of Brentwood wisely gave the guys four days off after the county tournament before starting state workouts. To Huntington coach Lou Giani, who has been around state meets for over 40 years, it's all about getting back the proper focus, which is hard after a 21-day break.
“We’ve been talking about the mindset all year," he said. "Mindset for the leagues, mindset in the counties, mindset at the states.”
- Jose Vasquez, who placed third in the state last season, got a wild-card berth after placing third in the county this season. He lost to Hauppauge's Ken Collado in the Suffolk semis, 5-3, and Giani said he is primed for a rematch should they meet in the state semis.
“He's got to get through Collado," Giani said. "When you collide more than once [in a season] the weaker kid should get better. The weaker kid wants to win more.”
- Vasquez has also been advising his teammates Damon McQueen and Dashaun Thomas on how to prepare for states.
“I think they’ve talked about how good it was to be at the states last year," Giani said. "The kids perk up themselves. They know more about it than we do."
- This year will be a whole new ball game, with yet another new venue (the fifth different spot in as many years). Blue Cross Arena looks fantastic from what I've seen of it, but it's quite a long trip for Long Islanders.
Both Nassau and Suffolk teams will depart early tomorrow morning for the 7+ hour drive up and will have a brief workout once they get up there.
(I personally will be flying up. Hopefully the delays aren't too long.)
- Yes, it is supposed to snow in Rochester this weekend, which didn't surprise Section VIII coach Howie Greenblatt of MacArthur.
"It snows pretty much every day up there," he said.
- I also spoke to coach Greenblatt about coaching the Nassau team and how he tries to keep the practices simple, because the people in the wresting room often have their own agendas for states and want guidance from their own coaches—and rightfully so.
“We stay away from getting specific, everything is very broad," he said. "We stick to moving and drilling hard. The kids have all been very receptive and are working hard. It's not that complicated of a spot [for a coach] because there's not much fine tuning. You just make sure you’re on top of your game, whatever that may be.”
The only bad part, according to Greenblatt, is the "crowded room” with all 15 Division I and II qualifiers, plus wild cards, plus coaches.
- And finally, here is a link to some state tournament history put together by Newsday's own Gregg Sarra and Andy Slawson to get you in the mood for this weekend. There's some great stuff in there.
Okay, that's all for now folks. Stay tuned to the blog throughout the weekend for up-to-the-minute highlights from the state meet.
See you on the mats up in Rochester!!
Here is my story about Joe Booth, the 152-pound prep school champion from Long Island Lutheran, who will attend Drexel next year.
Drexel competes in the CAA with Hofstra, so Long Islanders will get a chance to watch Booth a few times over the next five years (Booth will enroll in a five-year business program, and will most likely redshirt one year).
Also, vote on this poll question inquiring about how Booth would have done against public school competition. Remember that he teched the Suffolk champion at 152, Amityville's Angel Mazara, earlier this year.
Not all of the story could fit into the paper, but you can read more about Booth by clicking the link below. Continue reading as if this were tacked on to the end of the story.
Okay, so here are the Division I state brackets one more time, and here are the results from last year's state tournament.
Five wrestlers will return to this year's event looking to defend their titles, including two Long Islanders, juniors Steven Keith of SWR (96 pounds last year, 112 this year) and Paul Liguori of Wantagh (112, 125). The others are sophomore Cody Ruggirello of Valley Central (103, 119), junior Devon Brown of Marathon (119, 125), and senior Hunter Meys of Shenendehowa (171, 189), who was the Most Outstanding Wrestler at last year's tournament.
Couple notes on those guys:
-Liguori is likely to meet Brown in the 125-pound final. Last season, Brown pinned Hauppauge's Stephen Dutton in 2:16 the 119-pound final.
- Meys has a brother, Austin, who was fifth in the state as a junior at 140, and will wrestle at 171 at this year's event. Hunter has two Long Island wrestlers—Anthony Daly of MacArthur and Conor Pryor of Ward Melville—on his side of the bracket.
- The Meys brothers aren't the only set of returning siblings from Shenendehowa. Senior T.J. and junior Luke Popolizio, who were runner-ups in the state at 112 and 96 pounds, respectively, last season will wrestle at 103 and 119 this season. T.J. will likely face Wantagh's Steven Bonanno in the quarterfinal round, while Luke may see Baldwin's Vinny Pecora in the semis. Last season, T.J. and Luke lost Liguori (11-4) and Keith (6-3) in the finals, respectively.
Also, check out the 103-pound bracket. Theoretically, the quarterfinals could have five of the eight spots filled by Long Islanders, as well as three of the four semifinal spots and an all-L.I. final. Jose Vasquez of Huntington is the only returning all-state performer out of the L.I. faction.
Okay, that's all for now. I'll try to come up with some good tidbits for all of you throughout the week, so be sure to check back often.
