For a decade, Westchester wrestling program has made giving back a holiday tradition

Every wrestler remembers their first pin.

The P10X School in the Bronx doesn't have its own wrestling program, so when Horace Greeley's varsity team heads down for its annual holiday season trip, every student relishes the opportunity to make a grand entrance into an auditorium filled with cheers from their peers to face a Greeley grappler on the mat.

On this day, the Quakers know they will go 0-75 against the P10X students. However, this trip transcends wins, losses, records and the entire sport itself.

"I've been teaching for 10 years and my first nine years, I was at P10X in the Bronx," Horace Greeley coach Anthony Tortora said. "It's in the South Bronx, and I saw that some of these kids were coming from some high poverty areas on top of the challenges that come with special needs − autism, Down syndrome, behavioral issues. I was already coaching at Greeley at the time I started there and all of us up here are fortunate, so I thought about getting these kids down to the city to show them a little perspective and gratitude."

P10X is in New York City's District 75, which specializes in education for special-needs students. The school consists of 75 kids, ranging from the sixth through eighth grades, all dealing with some form of special needs.

When Horace Greeley comes to visit every December, every student at P10X gets a chance to take the mat. This year, all 75 students emerged victorious with a pin, while Tortora served as the host and match official. It marked the Quakers' 10th annual visit to the school.

Afterwards, the Quakers gave presents to the children, with each gift tailored to the individual student's interests, and they played and laughed together throughout lunchtime.

"It's great to see smiles all around from the students, to our wrestlers, even when the P10X students outskilled our team when wrestling," Horace Greeley senior Kai Lueckerath said. "With the joy and the laughter in the air, I hope my teammates not only had a fun time, but also had time to reflect on their advantages in life. It not only circles back to our family and education, but also in the privilege to wrestle.

"Last year, our coach (Anthony Tortora) told us how this one day of the year was most likely the only time where the students' hands were raised and cheered for. That always stuck with me, regardless of how our team does this year, we recognize how lucky we are to be part of an amazing team and the opportunity to go out in front of crowds to show our hard work."

A decade-long holiday tradition

For the Quakers' program, the P10X visit has become one of the most-anticipated days of the year, even more than some of their big meets and tournaments.

"Playing with them and giving them gifts is very special to me, and by the look of their faces when we walked into the school, it's very special to them," Quakers co-captain Corey Fitzsimmons said. "It's my favorite day of the entire year to go and give them a fun day."

They adjusted to some challenges over the years, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced them to do the event virtually, but gifts were still distributed by staff members at the school.

At first, the trip seemed like a pipedream for Tortora. P10X had been a special place for him to work at, but he wasn't sure how the holiday trip would be initially received or how the logistics would work.

The response and coordination from both those within the Horace Greeley program and the support received from P10X has exceeded his initial expectations, and 10 years later, the annual trip continues to make an impact.

"We're in the auditorium and when the whole team walks in, everyone cheers and it's just a really happy time," said Jimmy Kaishian, a P10X teacher and coach of the Yorktown wrestling team. "You put on Christmas music, and it means the world to the kids and the teachers appreciate them coming down. It's just an awesome thing they do for us every year."

Even as wrestlers graduate and wide-eyed underclassmen join the varsity team for the first time, it continues to leave an impression and receive parental support from parents, who continue to donate and fund the toys and presents given to the P10X students.

Some of the more advanced, age-level appropriate students write thank you letters in return.

"Me and coach (Mike) DeBellis were just talking one day, thinking, 'wouldn't this be cool?'" Tortora said. "He said, 'let's do it, let's see what happens.' Next thing we knew, it kind of blew up and it's just been 10 years straight.

"Everybody gets a match, everybody gets a toy, and everybody gets pizza − every year. The parents are so good. There's a new group of Greeley parents every couple of years, and they continue to pass the baton and step up."

Looking ahead to the future

This year, Tortora returned to his alma mater and now teaches physical education in the Chappaqua School District.

Although Tortora no longer teaches at P10X, he wants to continue to make the yearly trip down to the South Bronx and maintain those relationships.

"Practice the next few days, weeks after (the trip) just seems different," Tortora said. "It seems a lot better and a lot easier in a sense, because we realize how lucky we are for a lot of things. It gets brought up a lot throughout the season after we go.

"Of course we want to win. Of course we want to be great, but our goal is a program is to turn our student athletes into the best version on themselves on and off the mat. So for me, a trip like this is just as important as anything else we do in the season."

Some wrestlers already can't wait to come back.

"The kids we wrestled with don't have the same opportunities or abilities, and some cannot even speak or express their love for wrestling or Christmas," Greeley sophomore co-captain Chris Nocca said. "This trip to the city is a yearly tradition around the holidays and one of my favorites. I love the experience, perspective and gratitude involved with it and I can't wait to continue this tradition next year."

Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at @erapay5 and on Instagram at @byeugenerapay.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Horace Greeley NY wrestling gives back to Bronx school at holidays