A Look at the Weekend: Hall Wins National Preps, Cornell Beats Hofstra and Much More

This article is from 02/23/14

For decades, Blair Academy has had a stranglehold on the National Preps championship. The New Jersey powerhouse had won more than 30 straight crowns - until this weekend.  Wyoming Seminary, led by a coach deeply connected to New York, Scott Green, broke the streak, taking the title.

In addition to the coach, Sem had several other contributors with Empire State ties.  2013 NYS placer John Busiello nabbed fifth at 106, beating former Pine Bush standout Chris Cuccolo in his last bout.  Meanwhile, Jimmy Overhiser (Corning) notched sixth at 120 for Sem, while Nicky Hall (Longwood) captured the 182-pound championship.

A pair of Poly Prep grapplers made the medal stand - Noah Malamut (eighth at 113) and Adis Radoncic (sixth at 170).  Also at 170, former Section 6 competitor Brandon Dallavia recorded a fourth place showing for Blair Academy.

Mike Berkowitz of Long Island Lutheran also earned honors, grabbing sixth at 126.

The full results for the National Preps can be found here.

Some College Action

Cornell Tops Hofstra to Finish Dual Season at 13-1

Cornell completed a 13-1 dual slate with a 28-19 victory over Hofstra at the Friedman Wrestling Center on Senior Day.  Picking up bonus points for the Big Red were Mark Grey (133, forfeit), Gabe Dean (184, forfeit), Jace Bennett (197, pin) and Jacob Aiken-Phillips (285, major).  Luke Vaith and Joe Booth both recorded technical falls for the Pride, while Cody Ruggirello won by fall.

Both teams will next prepare for the EIWA championships in Philadelphia in two weeks.  For more on the dual, see this link.

Binghamton Finishes Home Slate With Two Pennsylvania Foes

The Bearcats dropped a pair of home meets to Bucknell and Bloomsburg, but picked up some solid victories.  149 pounder Joe Bonaldi earned a win over top 20 competitor Bryce Busler of the Huskies, 2-1, while 197-pounder Cody Reed picked up a major decision on Senior Night.

For more, see here and here.

Navy Takes the Annual "Star" Match Against Army

Navy toppled Army 29-6 in the annual rivalry match.  Coming out on top for the Black Knights were Paul Hancock (157) and Ryan Tompkins (184).  To find out more, see this link.

Columbia Sweeps Harvard and Brown

On Friday night, the Lions dominated Harvard 33-10 before beating Brown by a similar 33-9 tally on Sunday.

Picking up victories in both duals for Columbia were Penn Gottfried (125), Angelo Amenta (133), Markus Scheidel (157), Josh Houldsworth (165) and Shane Hughes (174).

For more, see this link.

Northern Illinois Tops Buffalo

Northern Illinois came out on top against Buffalo by a 20-14 score on Sunday.  The Bulls picked up four victories during the event.  Max Soria (125) and Nick Flannery (141) both posted majors, while Justin Farmer (133) and Tony Lock (184) also collected wins.

For more, see here.

And a Few Days Earlier - Ithaca Over Cortland

Earlier in the week, 15th-ranked Ithaca topped #5 Cortland in dual action, 20-13.  Jimmy Kaishan (125) and Alex Gomez (133) got the Bombers off to an 8-0 lead with a decision and technical fall, respectively.

However, Cortland's Brian Bistis and Bobby Dierna responded with victories to cut the lead to 8-6 before consecutive wins by Kevin Collins and Kris Schimek made it 14-6 in favor of Ithaca.

The next match pitted two top 10 wrestlers against each other at 174 pounds, with Cortland's Lou Puca topping Carlos Toribio in the tiebreakers.  Another overtime contest followed, with Dan Glinko besting Nick Bellanza of Cortland at 184 to make the team score 17-9.

Joey Giaramita of Cortland earned a major at 197 to pull his squad within 17-13, but Shane Bartrum finished things off for Ithaca with a decision at heavyweight for the 20-13 final.

With more results, contact us at newyorkwrestlingnews@gmail.com.