Yorktown, John Jay-EF, Mahopac, Carmel lead Clarkstown South wrestling divisional
WEST NYACK − Section 1 divisional wrestling tournaments may not have official names, but several coaches in attendance at Clarkstown South on Saturday were quick to offer one: "meat grinder."
The luck of the draw brought together a wide range of talents, from individual hammers to traditionally strong teams from all four Section 1 counties − Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Dutchess. It was quite the way to begin the postseason.
In the end, Yorktown led the way with 12 sectional qualifiers, a mark that would tie Arlington for the most in Section 1 this year. John Jay-East Fishkill was right behind with 11, followed by Mahopac and Carmel (seven each), Port Chester (five), Fox Lane (four), Clarkstown South (four) and Mount Vernon (two).
The Huskers opened the season with an unbeaten start and eventually took their first Section 1 Division I Dual Meet Tournament title. They followed up with individual and team-wide successes at tournaments and meets throughout the year. Despite all they've achieved, they still have plenty more in the tank for the postseason.
"It's really exciting, a few guys pulled out really tough matches to get here and just battled," Yorktown coach Jimmy Kaishian said. "That's what we've been preaching all year, just being tough in those moments of adversity. I'm proud of the guys, and I'm proud of the guys that didn't make it as well. They fought their butts off. We're just trying to keep that momentum rolling."
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Yorktown also had a tournament-best four title-winners: Giovanni Tornambe (101 pounds), Frank Scalera II (108), Joe Tornambe (138) and Nick Bucello (145).
It was a dominant showing for the Huskers, who had at least one finalist in eight out of the 13 weight classes.
"Everyone's been locked in all year, but especially now, everyone's just been locked in," senior Joe Tornambe said. "Everyone's excited. No one's really nervous. We're implementing the moves our coaches are showing us. We're grinding, everyone's helping out and staying positive no matter what, but we're also not getting ahead of ourselves."
A new threat emerges at 285 pounds, Mauro leads John Jay-East Fishkill
Last season, the Patriots had the most sectional qualifiers and finalists at their divisional site at Horace Greeley, but left without a single title-winner.
This year, John Jay-East Fishkill one-upped itself with 11 sectional qualifiers after getting 10 last season, but the Patriots almost walked away without a winner once again − until sophomore Michael Mauro ended things on a high note in the last match of the day.
Mauro, who had been the lohud No. 2-ranked Division I 215-pounder all-season long, bet on himself and bumped up to 285 for the postseason.
He wrestled 36 of his 38 matches this season at 215, but mustered a 4-0 victory when he bumped up to 285 against Yorktown's contender, George Gjergji, in a December dual meet.
The two collided once again, and Mauro pulled away late for a 7-2 win.
"I felt that was the best thing for me to do," Mauro said. "He was ranked No. 1, so it feels good to take him down. Now, I'll likely be the 1-seed going into sectionals, and I'm going to try to bring it home.
"It definitely helped (facing him in December) just getting a feel for what he's going to do and knowing how he wrestles. Just had to come in with a calm mind and a good game plan for the rematch."
The 285-pound weight class was already ultra competitive. Mauro adds one more to the mix.
While Mauro was happy to lead the charge for the Patriots on Saturday, he's confident that he and his teammates will come back stronger next week. John Jay-East Fishkill had five finalists, and the Patriots plan on using the experience as fuel.
"The team has definitely improved since last year," Mauro said. "We got a lot of guys taking it more seriously and improved from last year. We got a lot of returning guys like Logan Mohl, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Kevin Murphy, and they're going to make a deep run and try to win the section title."
Neighboring rivals Mahopac, Carmel crown three division champs each
Mahopac and Carmel might not have reached the double-digit mark in qualifiers, but they also crowned three division champs each, tying them for the second-most behind Yorktown's quartet.
"Some of the kids, it was their first time here, we're a young team, so seeing the younger guys following the older guys and the older guys leading by example, it says a lot about Mahopac wrestling," Mahopac coach Steven Tornambe said. "We're still here, we're still working hard, and we're always going to be rolling.
"We had two kids who were out, the No. 2 seed was unfortunately injured and we had Pace Zeiler at 131, who got injured during the week and that was unfortunate, but it starts in the room. All these guys are wrestling with the Charles Przymylskis, the Henry Ramirezes, and Nick Grecos at a high level. We're prepared in the room. Everybody has goals and I tell them to write their goals down for the end of the year, and we're gonna do whatever we can to make them happen."
Przymylski was the first to take a divisional crown at 116 pounds. Ramirez followed up in a thriller, scoring a takedown with less than two seconds left to get a 6-5 win over John Jay-East Fishkill's Ryan Fitzpatrick, who had beaten him in two tough matches earlier in the season.
Fresh off of earning his 100th career win, Greco closed things out for Mahopac with a title-winning pin in just a matter of seconds.
"I always try and not necessarily put on a show, but I try to get on and off the mat as fast as possible," Greco said. "My confidence is at an all-time high. As my coach likes to say, 'like the rhino, we always keep moving forward.'
"But putting that many kids through and having that many winners obviously means a lot to us as a team, especially when we work so hard together."
For Carmel, the Rams got a resurgent effort at divisionals. Last year, it had four sectional qualifiers, but an untimely trip to the hospital for one of them resulted in only three wrestlers competing at the 2023 Section 1 Division I tournament.
This time around, there will be a few more Rams.
Carmel sophomore Ken Keltto got his first division title at 131 pounds with a first-period pin. Meanwhile, teammates Nikita Rusnak (152) and Leo Venables (170) earned their second straight.
"We locked in today and people won where they needed to win, and we're bringing our best guys to sectionals to have a good showing next week," Keltto said. "We only brought three guys last year, we stunk, so we upgraded and worked hard in the offseason. A lot of us trained at academies all year and we got some newcomers and freshmen that are boosting our team."
The winner's circle
Fox Lane was the last team to crown multiple division champs. Barron Ransom pinned each of his opponents on his way to the 190-pound title. In the finals, he had a 5-3 lead over Yorktown's Ronan Forde. He stuffed a late takedown attempt and turned it into the match-winning pin. He continues his breakout season and will look to be in the podium race next week, after finishing below-.500 as a sophomore last season.
Teammate Alex Berisha remained unbeaten against Section 1 opposition. He stormed his way to the finals with back-to-back pins. In the title bout, he defeated Yorktown's Rocco Lore in a 22-8 major decision win to claim another divisional title.
Yorktown led with four title-winners: Gio Tornambe (101), Scalera (108), Joe Tornambe (138) and Bucello (145).
Carmel crowned Keltto (131), Rusnak (152) and Venables (170), while Mahopac had Przymylski (116), Ramirez (124) and Greco (160).
John Jay-East Fishkill's Mauro won the 285-pound title and gave the Patriots their first divisional winner since 2022.
Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at @erapay5 and on Instagram at @byeugenerapay.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY Section 1 Wrestling: Clarkstown South divisional results
