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CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. David Occhipinti has been a part of the Croton wrestling program since he was old enough to walk, going to matches and tournaments with his father and Croton coach, Sam Occhipinti.
He joined varsity in eighth grade and immediately established himself as one of Section 1s finest lightweights, winning the Section 1 Division II 96-pound title. It was the beginning of what has been an excellent varsity career for Occhipinti.
The senior is hoping to close out his career with two goals, helping to restore Croton to the upper echelon of Division II and winning a third sectional title and hopefully a state championship.
It just feels like yesterday that I was wrestling for a title as an eighth-grader, said Occhipinti, a two-time sectional champ also finished top-three his other two years. We are looking forward to doing big things for our team this year.
It has been a difficult few years for Croton as the Tigers numbers decreased. As a result, Croton found itself in an unfamiliar position of being the underdog. The Tigers were a perennial league champ, strong tournament team and consistently among the top teams in the Section 1 Division II championship.
Everyone is working really hard in the room and you can see it by the puddles of sweat on the mat, Occhipinti said. Some of us are even staying longer after practice, getting work done in the weight room.
The senior class is led by Occhipinti, D.J. Federick, J.P. OMalley, John Martin and Chris Kraft all of whom placed in the top six in sectionals last year. The juniors include Andy Horan and Dan Guido and sophomore Andrew Versitch, who is coming off a fine freshman year.
Two years ago, we had nine kids in the room and now we are up to 19, Occhipinti said. The low numbers have been disappointing, but weve always been positive that we were going to get it back. Weve been working hard and we know we will bring Croton wrestling back.
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