Upsets highlight Division I wrestling Day 1

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WEST NYACK, N.Y. – In wrestling, a good athlete can hold his own during his rookie year on the mat. But the skilled veterans will usually take it to them.

New Rochelle’s Justin Douglas is a potential Division 1 football player who never wrestled before this season. Douglas did more than hold his own today at Clarkstown South High School during the Section 1 Division 1 Tournament. Seeded eighth in the 285-pound weight class, Douglas pinned his first opponent with just five seconds left in the second round. In the quarterfinal round, Douglas shocked the section with a 3-1 overtime victory over top-seed Sean Barry to reach Sunday’s semifinal round at Pace University.

“I knew he was gassed at the end there, and I could sense the crowd behind me,” Douglas said. “I love the sound of the crowd, it kept my energy up. Some kids from other schools were cheering me on, it was amazing.”

Everyone obviously loves an underdog, and Douglas’ win was definitely an upset. After transferring from Ketcham last year, Douglas picked up wrestling following football season. Immediately he began transforming his body and continued to improve on the mat.

It wasn’t all gravy at the beginning of the season, however. Douglas started the year 0-5 before finishing 18-3 in his last 21 matches including his victories on Sunday.

“The first two months were really hard,” Douglas said. “I didn’t know what I was doing and working out was tough. I almost quit, but now it’s paid off.”

The other weight class with a big upset was at 132. No. 15 Fred Saintil of Mount Vernon pinned No. 2 Mike Morabito of Ketcham in the second round. The victory opened the door for John Jay-East Fishkill’s Luke Minasi, the 10th seed. Minasi used some solid take-down ability to score a 10-2 decision over Sainvil and reach the semifinals. Minasi is the lone double-digit seed to make it to Sunday’s semis.

“This is a great accomplishment for me because I haven’t been able to make it the past two years,” Minasi said. “I felt confident in myself because an injury lowered my seed, but it still feels awesome.”

Minasi was expecting to face a rival in Morabito in the quarterfinals, but the upset surprised him.

“When I heard that he got pinned by a kid I’ve never seen before it definitely made me nervous,” Minasi said. “But right after the first period, I knew I had him where I wanted. I took him down a few times fairly easily.”

Fox Lane, the favorites for the Section 1 team title have five wrestlers still vying for individual championships along with five New Rochelle wrestlers. North Rockland still has six wrestlers alive in the semifinals including Troy Feniger at 113 pounds. Feniger won his 100 th career match in the 5-2 quarterfinal victory over Frank Suarce of Fox Lane.

“All my hard work is finally paying off and it feels great to get my 100 th win,” Feniger said. “I’ve had trouble cutting weight lately, so this really is a great feeling.”

Feniger is the top seed, but Somers’ Dylan Realbuto is lurking in a potential championship match.

“Even though I’m seeded first, I still feel like the underdog,” Feniger said. “I want to prove everybody wrong and show that I’m deserving of the one seed.”

Sunday’s activities will begin with a quick round of wrestlebacks before the semifinals commence. Fox Lane and North Rockland will most likely duel for the Section 1 team championship but others are lurking including New Rochelle.

“We’re working just as hard as anybody else,” New Rochelle’s Douglas said. “We’re going to come out as hard as we can and try to get us a championship.”

Section 1 Division 1 Quarterfinal Results

Team Key: Arlington (Arl); Beacon (Bea); Brewster (Brew); Byram Hills (BH); Carmel (Car); Clarkstown North (CN); Clarkstown South (CS); East Ramapo (ER); Eastchester (East); Fox Lane (FL); Harrison (Har); Hen Hud (HH); Horace Greeley (HG); John Jay (JJCR); John Jay-EF (JJEF); Lakeland/Panas (L/P); Mahopac (Mah); Mamaroneck (Mamk); Mount Vernon (MV); New Rochelle (NewRo); North Rockland (NRock); Nyack (Ny); Ossining (Oss); Pearl River (PR); Port Chester (PC); RC Ketcham (RCK); Rye (Rye); Scarsdale (Scar); Sleepy Hollow (SH); Somers (Som); Suffern (Suf); Tappan Zee (TZ); White Plains (WP); Yonkers (Yonk); Yorktown (Yk)

285
Justin Douglas (NewRo) dec Sean Barry (HH) 3-1 OT 1
Tyler Vanderlinde (RCK) pin Anthony Campanelli (Som) 3:53
Michael Manni (TZ) dec Frank Curnaj (SH) 3-1 OT 1
David Varian (Yk) dec Charles Francois (Ny) 5-2

220
Dom DeVita (Som) dec Ethan Smith (JJCR) 6-0
Chris McGann (TZ) pin Jason Dorsainville (ER) 1:06
Dan Clune (FL) dec Bryan Burger (Suf) 1-0
Tyler Lilly (NewRo) pin AJ Cesarini (East) 3:47

195
Mike Spinelli (Mah) pin Trent Lofaro (Oss) 1:33
Paul Okeke (CS) dec Matt Day (Arl) 4-3
Scott Wymbs (HG) dec Ekpenede Imasuen (NRock) 8-3
Nick Giancaspro (Som) dec Deondre Pierce 9-5

182
Jacob Berkowitz (Scar) maj dec Jason DiBeneditto (Som) 8-0
Ryan Boyle (NRock) pin Michael Amato (Bea) 5:31
Thomas Murray (Yk) dec Mike Rosenthal (JJCR) 9-3
Tome Marku (CS) dec Bruno Albertassi (Brew) 17-11

170
Aaron Butler (NewRo) maj dec Valdon Djekovic (TZ) 14-2
Steven Sabella (Yk) dec Declan Myer (JJCR) 2-0
Brendan Nunziata (Arl) dec Harry Erickson (Brew) 4-1
Jack Braun (Scar) dec Brett Perry (JJEF) 8-2

160
Matt Pasqualini (FL) pin Aaron Gallagher (Mah) 1:26
Dion Duran (Mamk) dec Devante Harrell (Oss) 5-4
Nick Giella (Suf) maj dec Anthony Scott (Arl) 9-0
Phil Siegel (HH) pin Gabe Palacios (SH) 3:35

152
Brian Realbuto pin Lance Perlmutter (HH) 0:31
Bran Marvin (RCK)dec Desmond Djekovic (TZ) 4-2
Kyle McAlpin (Brew) dec Nick Didio (NRock) 4-3
Ben Miller (Mamk) maj dec Aaron Johnson (JJEF) 8-0

145
Joe Mastro (Yk) pin James Laurent (NewRo) 1:56
Ryan Becker (CN) dec Josh Perlmutter (HH) 2-0
Dale White (JJEF) pin Giancarlo Morreale (FL) 3:03
Mike Caputo (NRock) tech fall Chris Pecora (Car) 17-0

138
Jake Srednicki (Mah) maj dec Larry Courtien (Som) 13-5
Christian Wassweiler (Bea) pin Joe Koshakow 5:20
Max Bachmeier (Mah) dec Charles Garcia (TZ) 5-3
Tom Grippi (FL) pin Steve Moreno (PR) 0:27

132
Danny Ventura (FL) maj dec Jimmy Duncan (Brew) 9-1
Colby Kash (CN) dec Edwin Jiminez (SH) 5-0
John Tambunting (Scar) dec Kevin McDermott (HH) 5-3
Luke Minasi (JJEF) maj dec Fred Saintil (MV) 10-2

126
Sam Speno (FL) tech fall Juan Pablo Loja (SH) 17-2
Tommy Gonska (Brew) dec Daniel Jureller (Scar) 16-14 OT 1
Danny Murphy (RCK) dec Gavin Menchel (Har) 7-5
Matt Caputo (NRock) dec Jon Russo (HG) 11-4

120
Liam Erickson (Brew) maj dec Derrick Feliciano (Arl) 15-4
Jake DiMarsico (NRock) dec Jimmy Kaishian (Yk) 4-2
Adit Thakur (Ny) dec Ben Ettlinger (FL) 7-0
Mark Settembrino (RCK) pin Joe Maida (Har) 4:34

113
Troy Feniger (NRock) dec Frank Suarce (FL) 5-2
John Muldoon (PR) dec Jon Alvarez (ER) 5-0
Alex Delacruz (Oss) pin Dean Guervarra (CN) 2:44
Dylan Realbuto (Som) maj dec Travis Becker (Arl) 12-0

106
Mike Parise (Brew) pin Alex Notaro (CS) 4:27
Bryan Ferrandi (New Ro) dec Mike DiNardo (Mah) 4-0
Nick Tolli (Arl) dec Alex Oliveto (Suf) 2-0
Blaise Benderroth (NRock) pin Manny Pragana (JJEF) 1:26

99
Nick Barbaria (NewRo) tech fall Brian Hong (CN) 18-3
Alfredo Olmedo (Arl) dec Brandon Fay (FL) 9-6
Jon Errico (BH) pin Derek DiMarsico (NRock) 3:41
Kevin Rodriguez (PC) pin Jay Albis (JJEF) 3:41

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