81°
HARRISON, N.Y. -- Frank Surace stepped on the mat for the 113-pound wrestling final and found himself with mixed emotions.
The Fox Lane freshman knew that in order for him to win, he would have to beat his teammate and friend, Warren Gabrillo. It was pretty difficult having to wrestle a teammate who you see every day in practice, Surace said. I knew I had to go all out to win.
Surace had to put it aside for the match, and he went on to a 17-2 technical fall win in a Section 1 Large School Championship Qualifier at Harrison, Saturday.
The top four finishers in each weight class advanced to the Section 1 Large School Championship/New York State Qualifer, Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 11-12. The first day of wrestling will be held at Clarkstown South High School, beginning 9 a.m. Wrestling will resume with the semifinals, Sunday, 9 a.m., at the Goldstein Center on the campus of Pace University in Pleasantville. The finals are scheduled for 4 p.m.
The Foxes had 15 wrestlers qualify, led by 126-pound champion, Sam Speno, who was selected the most outstanding wrestler. Fox Lanes other champions included, Brandon Fay (99 pounds), Nick Engert (106), Danny Ventura (132), Tommy Grippi (138), Matt Pasqualini (160) and Danny Clune (220). Other finalists were Giancarlo Morreale (145), Ari Faust (138) and Andriy Lypchuk (285).
Gabrillo secured the first points of the match, on a takedown, but Surace reversed his teammate and eventually took the lead. Even though he is my teammate, after he got the takedown, I knew I had to get it going, Surace said. It was a bittersweet win because Warren works really hard in the room.
Fox Lane will now begin preparing to defend its title. Having 15 wrestlers qualify will give the Foxes a good opportunity to achieve their goal. This definitely says a lot about the depth in our lineup when you have two guys in the room who can get to the final in the same weight class, Surace said.
Team key -- Fox Lane (FL); Harrison (H) ; John Jay-Cross River (JJCR); John Jay-East Fishkill (JJEF); Mamaroneck (Mk); Nyack (Nk); Rye ®; R.C. Ketcham (RCK); White Plains (WP).
Championship
99 -- Brandon Fay (FL) major dec. Jay Albis (JJEF), 9-1; 106 -- Nick Engert (FL) pin. Manny Pragana (JJEF), 3:31; 113 -- Frank Surace (FL) technical fall Warren Gabrillo (FL), 17-2; 120 -- Matt Settembrino (RCK) dec. Adit Thakur (Nk), 10-8; 126 -- Sam Speno (FL) pin. Gavin Menchel (H), 2:46; 132 -- Danny Ventura (FL) pin. Luke Minasi (JJEF), 2:33; 138 -- Tommy Grippi (FL) pion. Ari Faust (FL), 1:21; 145 -- Dale White (JJEF) injury default over Giancarlo Morreale (FL); 152 -- Brad Marvin (RCK) dec. Ben Miller (Mk), 5-2; 160 -- Matt Pasqualini (FL) pin. Dion Duran (Mk), 1:06; 170 -- Declan Meyer (JJCR) dec. Brett Perry (JJEF), 3-1 OT; 182 -- Mike Rosenthal (JJCR) pin. Billy Gossett (JJCR), 1:23; 195 -- Murphy Wilson (RCK) pin. T.J. Lyons (JJEF), 1:06; 220 -- Danny Clune (FL) pin. Ethan Smith (JJCR), 3:33; 285 -- Charles Francois (Nk) pin. Andriy Lypchuk (FL), 3:41.
Third place
99 -- Matt Engert (FL) pin. John Wall (RCK), 3:46; 106 -- Alec Beresin (JJCR) major dec. Scotty Rodrigues, (FL), 15-5; 113 -- Dominic Testa (JJEF) dec. Max Velera (Mk), 2-0; 120 -- Ben Ettlinger (FL) won by forfeit over Joe Maida (H); 126 -- Danny Murphy (RCK) dec. Alex Lambiotte (JJCR), 8-3; 132 -- Matt Morabito (RCK) dec. David Polakoff (H), 4-2; 138 -- Max Lukaswitz (H) dec. Kessler Felix (Nk), 6-1; 145 -- Luka Pavicic (Mk) major dec. Jeff Dempsey ®, 12-3; 152 -- Tom Jensen (WP) won by forfeit over Aaron Johnson (JJEF); 160 -- Carlos Seminaro (WP) won by forfeit over Jonathan Leman (JJEF); 170 -- Joe Simolacaj ® dec. Chris Manjuck (FL), 6-2; 182 -- Billy Cipriano (H) pin. Gino Rutolo (JJEF), 3:43; 195 -- Trenton Floyd (JJCR) pin. Max McMullen (H), 3:24; 220 -- Cesar Cantori (WP) pin. Matt Pascoe (RCK), 2:41; 285 -- Tyler Vanderlinde (RCK) won by forfeit over Louis Talia (JJCR).
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