2013 pages - Friends of Long Island Wrestling

Transcription

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Long Island Wrestling 2013
Editorial Staff*
Published By:
The Friends of
Long Island Wrestling
Bill Brennen is a 1956 graduate of
Mepham H.S. He graduated from Pratt
Institute in 1960 with a Bachelor of Fine
Arts Degree and is now a retired partner
of Brennen & Sadera, a New York based
graphic design firm. He has been active
in various aspects of Long Island wrestling
for over thirty-five years, working with
The Nassau County Wrestling Coaches
Association and The Friends of Long
Island Wrestling, where he is a board
member.
775 Wantagh Avenue, Wantagh, NY 11793
(516) 804-8676
www.friendsoflongislandwrestling.com
www.foliw.com
Editorial Staff
Executive Editor
Deputy Editor
Copy Editors
Design Director
Layout
Research Editors
Staff Photographer
Advertising
Jerry Seckler
Pascal Perri
B.A. Schoen & Robin Earl
Bill Brennen
Bill Brennen & Jerry Seckler
Bill Brennen & Jerry Seckler
Pete Venier
Jerry Seckler & David Hayes
B.A. Schoen attended Baldwin High School
and wrestled there for coach Buzzy Friedel. He
attended Moorhead State College in Minnesota
and majored in Mass Communications. He
was a referee for years, including two as
President of the LI Wrestling Official’s
Association. In 1996 he was elected to the
Baldwin Board of Education and, in 2009, to
the board of Nassau BOCES, positions he holds
today. Besides writing for this publication, he
has assumed the lead roll in the “Friends”
presence on the web.
Editorial Contributors
T.J. Brocking • Mike Candel • Glen Jochum • Chris Messina
Jamie Moffet • Larry Owings • Pascal Perri • James Sagos
Don Sayenga • B.A. Schoen • Jerry Seckler • Richard Shane
Jim Sheehan • Yar Smada • Lee Roy Smith • Dan Wetzel
Michael White
Pascal Perri was a champion wrestler at
both Mepham High School and Syracuse
University. He became one of the premier
wrestling officials in the United States.
He founded the National Association of
Wrestling Officials and is past president of
The Eastern Collegiate Wrestling Officials
Association. In 1995 he was inducted into
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame as an
“Outstanding National Official.” He
is an officer and board member of The
Friends of Long Island Wrestling
The Friends of Long Island Wrestling would like to thank the many people and
organizations that have graciously contributed stories and photographs in this issue of
Long Island Wrestling: The National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum, Mike Candel
(Nassau Community College), Pete Venier, Joe D’Aquila, Glen Jochum & John Griffin
(Stony Brook University), Jim Sheehan (Hofstra University) and all the families and
friends of our Hall of Fame inductees. We are grateful to all of our Sponsors: Asics
Corporation, Bethpage Credit Union, Michael DerGarabedian, Joe Settinari. In addition,
we thank all the individuals and businesses who have taken ads. Without this support,
we would be unable to publish this book each year.
In the mid 1950’s, Marlboro
cigarettes was looking for a
rugged, good-looking athlete
to feature in their national ad
campaign. Bill Farrell, a
Hofstra alumni and Little AllAmerican apparently had the
“look” and was selected to be
the model for the Marlboro
Man Campaign.
The picture on the cover
of this publication is of Bill
Farrell smoking a Marlboro
and covering his right
cauliflower ear with
his fist.On the back of his
fist was a tattoo. Bill’s
photograph appeared nationwide on billboards and in
numerous newspapers and
magazines. Bill Farrell,a physical fitness fanatic certainly did not smoke.
As you will read in these pages, Bill, became a multiple time National and
International Champion. He was also the U.S. Olympic wrestling coach in 1972. He
later founded one of the most successful sports oriented businesses in the nation.
Bill recently passed away at the age of 83 and is missed by all in the wrestling
community.
*Jerry Seckler Jerry Seckler biography
found on page 3 with the Presidents
Message
Pete Venier is a 1956 graduate of
Wantagh High School where he was a Long
Island wrestling champion.He then went on
to wrestle at Colgate University. While
serving as an assistant wrestling coach at
Connetquot H.S., he began to photograph
local wrestlers. His expertise soon became
nationally known. His work has been
featured in virtually every national
wrestling publication, and in many college
wrestling guides. He was inducted into the
National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2009.
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Officers, Directors and Committees
Hall of Fame Selection:
William Zagarino, Chairman • Bob Bury
Larry Cantor Mike Davey • Bill DeSario
Reggie Jones, Jr. • Jack Mahoney • Joe Patrovich Pascal
Perri • Jerry Seckler • Pete Venier
Officers:
Jerry Seckler, President
Pascal Perri, Vice President
Bill Trichon, Treasurer
Jack Friedman, Of Counsel
Pete Venier, Comptroller
Board of Directors
Roger Bogsted
Bill Brennen
Paul Brodmerkel
Richard Bury
Robert Bury
Larry Cantor
Pete Cimino
Mike DerGarabedian
Bill DeSario
George Dlugolonski
Group Representatives:
Neil Duncan
Dennis Dunne
William Farrell
Jack Friedman
Ronald Friedman
Louis Giani
Howie Greenblatt
David Hayes
Reggie Jones, Jr.
Paul McCarthy
Christopher Messina
Kevin Murphy
Paul Schmidt
B.A. Schoen
Frank Seckler
Joe Settineri
Paul Schmidt
William Zagarino
Colleges — Paul Schmidt
Officials — B.A. Schoen
Publications & Website
Bill Brennen • Dave Hayes • Pascal Perri
B.A. Schoen • Jerry Seckler • Pete Venier
Tournaments:
Advisory Board
Roger Bogsted
Michael DerGarabedian
Dennis Dunne
Ron Friedman
Sections — Nassau: Mike Davey • Howie Greenblatt
Suffolk: Chris Messina • Bill DeSario
Catholic & Private • George Dlugolonski
Bob Bury • Paul McCarthy • Pascal Perri
Jerry Seckler
Nick Gallo
Kevin Murphy
Pascal Perri
Joe Settineri
Awards:
Paul Brodmerkel • Neil Duncan
Committees:
Golf Outing:
Hall of Fame Induction Dinner:
B.A. Schoen • Frank Seckler • Pat Seckler
Jerry Seckler • Bill Trichon
Pete Cimino • Mike DerGarabedian • Dennis Dunne
George Dlugolonski • Nick Gallo • Kevin Murphy
Pascal Perri • Jerry Seckler •Joe Settinerri • Bill Trichon
Stanton Bishop Scholarship Award
Bill Brennen • Pascal Perri • B.A. Schoen • Jerry Seckler
Membership:
Mike Davey Chairman
Bob Bury is a charter member of the Friends of Long
Island Wrestling Board of Directors. He was a
National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee in 1987.
He began his wrestling career at Mepham High
School in 1945 under the tutelage of famed Coach
“Sprig” Gardner and was a three year Long island
champion. He continued his exemplary wrestling
career at Syracuse University.
Bob Bury, the outstanding wrestler, became Bob
Bury the distinguished wrestling coach in 1958.and
coached for 23 years.He coached many outstanding
wrestlers during his career and compiled a 200-76
record that included 61 Division Champions, 23
Nassau County Champions and 8 New York State
Champions. Two of his wrestlers, Tom Schlendorf
and John Walter, went on to win NCAA
Championships.
Mike Davey is a graduate of Calhoun High School
where he wrestled for Coach Bob Bury. He went on
to wrestle for SUNY Cortland where he helped his
team to a New York State Collegiate Championship.
After college he secured a position at South Side High
School in Rockville Center and was the wrestling
coach for thirty five years, coaching numerous
Nassau County Champions and NYS placewinners.
During that span Mike served terms as the Nassau
County NYS Wrestling Coordinator and President of
the Nassau County Wrestling Coaches Association.In
2011, he was inducted into The National Wrestling
Hall of Fame He recently spent four years researching
and publishing the second edition of“ The History Of
Long Island Wrestling”. He is a charter member of
The Friends of Long Island Wrestling and serves as
Membership Chairman.
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Bill Zagarino graduated from Mepham June 1950
He wrestled varsity Jr & Sr Year ,for legendary
Mepham coach, “Sprig” Gardner. He then began
college at Hofstra and wrestled on the freshman
team. He transferred to Millersville State Teachers
Collage and wrestled varsity his second and third
year. Bill graduated in January 1955 so he did not
wrestle the last 6 months. After graduation he
assisted JoeValla atAmityville high School and began
officiating wrestling. He was an official up to the
early 1980's As an official he twice represented
Suffolk County in the State Tournament .
He joined The Friends of Long Island wrestling and
became an active board member. He serves as
chairman of the Hall of Fame selection committee.
and also volunteers to work at the annual golf outing.
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Jerry Seckler, wrestled at Valley
Stream Central High School where he
lost only one dual meet freshmen
through his senior years. He was twice
a Long Island Champion; National
Prep School Champion; Jr. and Sr.
Metropolitan Champion; undefeated
two years at Penn State; member of the
Penn State EIWA Championship team;
varsity co-captain his senior year at
Penn State; varsity wrestling coach at
Columbia University; past President of
EIWA Coaches Association; Board
Member of the Metropolitan Wrestling
Association; member of the EIWA Hall
of Fame Committee; President of the
New York Downstate Chapter of the
National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He is
also a member of The National
Wrestling Hall of Fame.
dominated the Eastern United States. His unusual coaching
style was offered to any and all coaches who were interested,
and because of his “open room” policy and his students,
thousands of programs were effected and Long Island
became nationally known for exceptional wrestling
prospects. Wrestlers from Long Island Schools were
recruited by colleges across the nation.
Gardner brought a spirit of leadership to Long Island
wrestling and now it is time that new leaders emerge to pick
up the tradition begun by “Sprig”. The Friends of Long
Island Wrestling are proud that two of our members are now
ready to join in that leadership role. The challenge for
wrestling is no longer for changes in coaching styles, but in
the marketing of wrestling to the uninitiated public. The
time has come for the next generation to begin to assume
the responsibilities for guiding wrestling in the future.
Michael DerGarabedian and Noel Thompson
have been named to the Board of Directors of the
National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
Coach Frank “Sprig” Gardner arrived in East
Hampton, Long Island in 1928. He was the new Football
coach at one of the oldest villages in America. Gardner’s
roots were in southern
Pennsylvania, and he had
just graduated from Franklin
and Marshall College in
Lancaster, PA. “Sprig’s”
knowledge of wrestling
stemmed from his college
roommate who was a varsity
wrestler at F & M.
Gardner was a brilliant
coach and a trained physical
educator. He moved to
Mepham High School in
North Bellmore on the
South Shore of Long Island
where he became the
Football and wrestling coach. It was at Mepham where
“Sprig” began his storied career in wrestling. On Long
Island, a few high school wrestling programs were already
in place and wrestling had already been established in
YMCA’s and local colleges. The student body at Mepham
was ready and “Sprig” proved to have the right formula to
change the entire area into a wrestling incubator which
feeds American colleges nationally.
Gardner’s success, in part, came from his development
of a new concept in coaching. Sprig” created the concept of
“chain moves and drilling” in practice sessions. His unique
coaching style was rewarded with two undefeated decades
of dual meets and tournaments losing only once. His teams
Michael
DerGarabedian
Michael’s love of the sport
and excellence on the mat
earned him a scholarship to
the University of Michigan,
where he wrestled for the
“Wolverine” coaches Dale
Bahr and Joe Wells for five
years (1980-1985) and earned
a spot in the starting line up
four of those years. He
placed in the Big 10’s
Championship multiple times.
As a nationally ranked
wrestler, Michael’s last year in college was met with a life
altering decision, wrestling in the Big 10 Championship or
sit for the Law School Admission Test. Michael, governed by
a “wrestling lesson”, chose the latter and never looked back.
Upon graduating law school, Michael accepted a job in
Hartford, Connecticut. While there, he continued to use the
“mat lessons” to build what is now considered one of New
York’s most prominent law firms. Michael is consistently
quoted in local papers, national legal publications and has
been featured on prime time TV legal documentaries. His
trial record is unmatched by any other attorney in our region
and he attributes all of his success in out of the court-room,
to one “wrestling lesson”....”No one will ever out work me”.
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Noel Thompson
National Title in over a quarter-century in 2010. He
chaired the NYAC to four National Division 1 team titles,
20 individual National Champions, and two World Medals.
Previously, Noel was also President of NYAC Wrestling.
As a competitor, he wrestled for the New York Athletic
Club placing at the 2001 US Open in Men’s Freestyle.
Noel currently serves as Team Leader for the USA
Women’s Freestyle team for the 2016 Olympic Games in
Rio.
Noel graduated from Hofstra University in 2004 with
a major in marketing and a minor in history. Wrestling all
four years, he was a three-time team captain. He is a fourtime NCAA Qualifier — three times making the AllAmerican Round — and amassed 130 career collegiate
wins. He was awarded the Howdy Myers Award as
Hofstra’s Outstanding Male Athlete.
Attending Freeport High School in Long Island, Noel
was a New York State Champion, two-time High School
All-American, and was voted both Nassau County
Wrestler of the Year and Freeport High School Athlete of
the Year. He was also an Ironman Award recipient as
Captain of the Wrestling, Football, and Track & Field
teams. In 1997, Noel led Freeport High School’s football
team to their first Rutgers Cup Trophy since 1969.
Noel lives in New York City with his wife Mildred and
their son Noel Thompson III, AKA T3.
Noel is the CEO and Chief
Investment Officer of Thompson
Global LP, a Global Macro
Special Situations Hedge Fund
which takes discretionary
positions in commodities,
currencies, energy, equities,
and fixed income. He was
previously employed as a
salesman & trader in the
Equities
Division
for
Goldman Sachs & Co from
2005-2010 before working
for JP Morgan Securities from
2010-2011. Noel was also Chief Marketing Officer of Vukani
Energy, which traded and marketed crude oil and fuel
between South Africa, South America, and the Middle East.
In addition to his seat on the BTS board, Noel currently
serves on the Board of Governors for the National Wrestling
Hall of Fame and Hofstra University Athletics.
Noel previously served as Wrestling Chairman of the
New York Athletic Club, which was established in 1869.
Under Noel’s leadership, the New York Athletic Club
wrestling program won the first Women’s Freestyle
National Title in 2009 and the first Men’s Freestyle
Thomas B. Corsitto Insurance Agency
wishes to congratulate this year’s
Hall of Fame Inductees!
The Corsitto Agency has been serving the residents of Seaford
and the surrounding communities for over thirty years.
From personal to business Insurance, The Corsitto Agency
is a full service agency, family owned and operated.
Congratulations to Coach Sal LoStrappo and his Seaford
“Vikings” on a successful 2012-2013 season.
Best Wishes
Joe & Jack Corsitto
3900 Merrick Road, Seaford, NY
(516) 783-0400
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JEFF BLATNICK
OLYMPIC CHAMPION, TV BROADCASTER, AND TRUE
AMBASSADOR FOR WRESTLING
Jeff Blatnick died unexpectedly on October 24, 2012 at the age of 55
of cardiopulmonary arrest at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, New York.
Jeff, who beat Hodgkin’s lymphoma not once, but twice, would be remembered as
the kind of guy who makes a room go quiet when he speaks.
Blatnick was born and raised in Niskayuna, New York, a town that would later
name a high school gymnasium and a park after him.
He first hit the wrestling mat in 1973 when Niskayuna High School
wrestling coach Joe Bena was looking for a wrestler who was over 200 lbs.
In 1975, Jeff’s senior year, he would become the
New York State Heavyweight Champion.
Jeff Blatnick competed for Doug Parker at Springfield College, where he was a
two-time Division II national champion and a three-time All-American.
He was also a two-time Division I All-American placing sixth
in 1978 and third in 1979.
Jeff won the Greco-Roman Olympic gold medal in 1984 after
beating Hodgkin’s lymphoma for the first time.
Blatnick also provided television commentary for NBC during the
1988 Summer Olympic in Seoul, and later Olympic Games’ in
Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney. He was a commentator for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship, and named UFC commissioner in 1998.
Jeff lived in Ballston Lake, NY and is survived by his wife Lori,
and his two children, Ian and Niki.
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By Jerry Seckler
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS AND THEN ON TO
THE OLYMPIC GAMES
how to wrestle and he parlayed his early experience in
wrestling into 11 National Championships. He Chalked up 300
victories, a Canadian National Championship,and he placed
sixth in the World Championships. During his competition
years Bill also was selected as a model for a advertising firm.
He became the first Marlboro man. His pictures appeared in
Life magazine and on billboards all over America. Marlboro
was looking for a rugged looking athletic individual to promote their cigarettes, Farrell a non-smoker, fit the mold.
However, he had to cover his right ear with his right fist in
order to hide his cauliflower ear.
Without benefit of high school or collegiate wrestling Bill
Farrell enjoyed a substantial career as a wrestler and coach for
the New York Athletic Club. It was as a world team and
Olympic coach that he led his country to its best performance
in the 20th century. Farrell took over the national freestyle
team in the late 1960s, when it needed his organization and
management skills, as well as his coaching. He was known for
his ability to blend individuals with diverse personalities and
techniques, obtaining maximum
effort from each without conflict.
BILL WAS A GREAT BUSINESS
His knowledge of the international
MAN CREATING ONE OF THE
scoring system short-circuited Iron
MOST SUCCESSFUL PHYSICAL
Curtain deals at least twice saving
FITNESS BUSINESS IN
US gold medals. Bill would best be
THE NATION
remembered as the American
coach of the 1972 Olympic team
In his early years as a wrestler
where Farrell became the mentor
Bill befriended members of the
to Dan Gable, the only wrestler in
Japanese national team who were
modern history to win the gold
visiting the United States to
without having a single point
compete in the 1955 National AAU
scored on him, Wayne Wells
Championships. Through the
who battled one international (Left to right) Leigh Farrell, Jack Friedman, Bill Farrell, Pascal Peri, friendships that developed he
Bob DiBono and John Cusie at a reception for Dan Gable at the home of
competitor after another to Michael DerGarabedian
became the representative in the
become a gold medalist in the
United States for a Japanese
Olympics, and Ben Peterson finished off the team’s gold in
sneaker manufacturer known as “Tiger”. The 1955 national
1972 with his Olympic win. In addition there was a silver
championships was the first time that most wrestlers had an
medal for Rick Saunders and bronze for John Peterson and
opportunity to wrestle
Chris Taylor. However the Olympics isn’t
on a foam Mat. Bill
the point where Farrell began or
negotiated for an
ended his career it was more of a
exclusive sales contract
point in the center.
with the Resilite
company and became
HOFSTRA FOOTBALL TO
their representative
INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING
for everything east
AND BIG BUSINESS
of the Mississippi
After graduating from
River. His next
College, Farrell began to learn
acquisition
Bill Farrell was a frequent guest on the
TONIGHT SHOW and once engaged
in a mock wrestling match with host,
Johnny Carson
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included representation of the Universal Fitness Gym,
which rounded out his major inventories in physical
fitness field. Bill opened larger and larger warehouses
and employed more and more wrestlers in his
business.During his early years with Tiger bill worked
on improving the quality of the shoes. Early shoes had
a tendency to rip apart without much use, however they
were light, ideal for wrestling and particularly good for
those individuals who like to use TheIr legs. Bill would
send samples to selected college wrestlers all over the
nation and asked them to let him know how the
wrestling shoes held up , what they liked about the
“Tiger shoe” and what could be improved .“Tiger”
became ASICS a label that today is known worldwide,
as the finest wrestling shoe made.
Bill kew how to promote wrestling and physical
fitness. As his reputation and business grew Bill was an
often guest on the late night Johnny Carson TV show.
He wrestled Johnny, then went on children shows
performing with Marlo Thomas on the Bob McAllister
TV show and presented kid wrestling for the 1st time on
major TV.
Wrestling lost a major influence when Bill Farrell
passed away in June 2012
Farewell to a Great Friend!
By Pascal Perri
He was ruggedly handsome, intelligent, a super athlete, and a great friend. To our sorrow, he passed
away at the age of 82.
I have heard a good many stories about how Bill got into wrestling. None of them hit the mark. Here are
the facts:Years ago, after graduating from college, a number of our high school and college pals put together a championship softball team. The team was loaded with outstanding athletespredominately wrestlers. We played in a number of leagues and almost always won the
league championships.
Our manager was Joe Margiotta, who later became a major personality in Long island and New York
state politics. Joe was also a great supporter of Hofstra’s wrestling program.
Bill Farrell was our catcher and cleanup batter. In a very short time Bill and I became great friends. He
knew little or nothing about wrestling but he admired the way wrestlers handled themselves and the
respect they received from all who knew them.
Sometimes after practice a few of the wrestlers would demonstrate holds and even
roll around on the turf. Bill was fascinated and impressed when one of the lighter weight wrestlers would
easily take down the bigger football players. It was then that the wrestling bug got to Bill.
When the softball season ended, Bill asked me if I would come to the Hofstra Gym and show
him some holds and workout. I accepted At the time I weighed about 170. Bill weighed about
190 or more, was well coordinated and as strong as a bull.
We shot take-downs and worked top and bottom situations. In the early stages of our workouts
Bill was frustrated by how easily I could take him down and control him.
But he was a gifted athlete and it wasn’t long before he started to not only hold his own,
but to also gain more confidence in our scrimmages.
Finally, we reached the point where it was difficult for me to do much with him. It was then
that I knew it was time for him to move up to the next level.
For years, he teased me about how I never gave him a chance for “pay back”. I told him,
“Bill, my mother did not raise any dummies.”
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THE 2013 STAN BISHOP
SCHOLARSHIP AWARD
Stan Bishop loved
wrestling. Growing up on a
small farm in Pennsylvania
he also learned to love the
English language. When he
became an English teacher at
Valley Stream Central High,
he was able to combine these
two passions in ways he did
for the rest of his life.
Stan was an assistant to
Hall of Fame Coach Harold
Earl who relied on Stan to
accurately describe their
wrestlers’ matches for coaching
and promotional purposes.
He counseled wrestlers on how
to craft their college entrance
essays and other writing
samples.
When Stan retired he
became
the founding editor
James Sagos—Hicksville High School
of the Friends of Long Island
Wrestling Journal. Stan wrote
many articles for the Journal and helped many other contributors to be come
better writers.
Unfortunately, Stan passed away a few years ago and the rest of the editorial staff
miss him to this day. In his honor, it was decided to institute a writing contest to further
both of Stan’s passions.
This year’s winner, James Sagos, an eleventh grade student in Ms. Murphy’s
English class at Hicksville High School, has always had a passion for the sport of
wrestling. In seventh grade, James joined the Hicksville Middle School team, where he
developed his initial love of the sport. His reverence for the competitive nature of wrestling
is what he believes continues to hold his unyielding admiration. In addition to wrestling,
James has continued to focus on his high school academics as well as other extracurricular
activities, such as kickboxing. Like most teenagers, he enjoys spending time with his
friends and family, who have always been supportive of his athletics and education.
James feels that he will always hold a deep respect for the sport that has played an
influential role in his adolescent life. He will be presented with a $1,000.00 prize,
courtesy of Bethpage Federal Credit Union, later this year.
The Stan Bishop Prize committee would like to congratulate James and all the
other finalists and thank all the entrants and the English teachers who helped make this
a meaningful educational activity for all.
We especially want to thank the members and staff of Bethpage Federal Credit
Union for supporting this cause.
Wrestling to many, is more than a sport. It’s a way of
life. You have to eat right and run until your legs give out in
order to stay on top of your game. But when your match
finally comes and you know you’ve prepared yourself,
there’s nowhere else you’d rather be than on that mat. You
test strength against the other guy’s and when the round is
finally over, you feel like you’ve just went to battle. Yet
when the next round begins, you get your strength back,
and all the moves you went over in practice race through
you mind at a million miles per hour. Then after the match
is over, two things can happen. You can stand there with
your hands down, knowing that you could have done
something more, mentally preparing your next exercises that
you’ll do in practice so you won’t take another defeat. Or
you can stand there with your hand raised high in the air by
the referee, overjoyed at the great display of showmanship
you and your opponent just put on for the families and fans
who came to see you out there. Win or lose you still have
pride. Pride because you are a wrestler. Pride because
you’ve made it this far and didn’t give up on yourself.
Many people don’t have the heart to be called wrestlers
because it’s one of the toughest sports in the world. The
strength and endurance you need to have so you can give it
your all for two minutes straight and then needing to do
it again and again until one of you is the victor, takes
unparalleled mental toughness in order to push through.
Being a wrestler also entitles you to respect. You’re part of
a team, and when one of your teammates goes out for his
match, you give him your undivided attention. Cheering for
him and encouraging him for his next round, knowing that
in turn he will support you when you’re out there. When it’s
your time to go out, you can’t help but be a little uneasy
about being the center of attention, surrounded by a whole
crowd of dozens of people. It helps that you have your
teammates there to encourage you, to cheer you on until the
moment your hand is raised. Even if your hand isn’t raised
and instead your shoulders hit the mat and you get pinned,
your teammates are still there giving you confidence about
your next match, giving you advice on things that went
wrong and things you can do better. Some of them become
your friends and some become best friends, people who you
can’t imagine life without.
Wrestling is one of the best sports in the world. It fills
you with confidence, helps you create bonds with your
teammates and keeps you in the greatest shape. It shows
you how to push yourself and helps you mentally prepare
yourself for anything life throws at you. But most of all, it
gives you the pride of being able to call yourself a wrestler.
Even the wrestler with no wins, no ties, just losses, can still
hold his head up higher than any other person in school.
Wrestling. Well what can I say about wrestling that
doesn’t already give you images in your mind of heart and
courage. If you wrestle, have wrestled or know a wrestler,
then you know how hard the sport is and how much heart
and mental toughness it takes to do. During the wrestling
season wrestlers work their bodies like machines, passing
boundaries that they thought they would never be able to
accomplish.
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Congratulations to the 2013 Hall of Fame inductees
Bethpage is proud to support the LI Wrestling Scholarship program.
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A Brief look at the past, present and future of
THE NEW YORK STATE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT &
THE STATE OF WRESTLING IN NEW YORK STATE
By B.A. Schoen
The 50th New York State High School Wrestling
In the future it is hard to expect any section to dominate
Championship was a lot like the first one in 1963: Long Island
like the old days and there are two main factors I will cite to
dominated. In Division 1 Suffolk County finished first with five
argue that point. First: In 2004 a two-division system was
champions and Nassau County finished second with three
introduced at the tournament with the aim of helping smaller
individual champs.
schools compete. And Second: there is the rise in strength of
A Tournament Upstate dominated by Long Island.
other sections. In particular PSAL (thanks to Beat The Streets)
It once seemed tougher to qualify for the tournament for a Long
The once “Sleeping Giant” as Al Bevilacqua has always called
Island wrestler than to actually compete upstate. In the first
the City, is waking up. In addition the CHSAA is
several years, the “States” were almost a celebrity tour of the
getting stronger every year. In 2012, for the first time, the OW
State for Long Island wrestlers. In 1963, for example, seven of
went to a wrestler representing a parochial school—Jamal
12 weight classes were won by boys from Sections 8 or 11. 1964
Hudson, 130 lb. Champion from St. Anthony’s). Hudson
was even more dramatic: Nassau won 10 weight classes while
dominated the mats in more ways than with the fastest pin
Suffolk medaled in one of the
(00:08) in tournament history. He sang the National Anthem
remaining three.(the number of
just before the start of the finals.
weight classes has ranged from 12—
Comparing a wrestler to
15 over the years). Section VIII had
another, maybe more than in other
the first Two time champ: John
sports, is always going to difficult.
Harris from Hempstead in 1963-’64.
Even when two wrestlers have a
The dominance couldn’t last
record of head to head matches,
and it didn’t. Although Long Island
there can still be legitimate debate
has always been taken seriously, the
about their relative skill. This is
rest of the state has certainly caught
especially true in cases when one
up. Section 11 has the most titles by
wrestler was out of his normal
section: 20 and the most champions:
weight class or was coming off an
151. Section 4 has the second most
injury or other layoff.
individual golds 141. Nassau
In scholastic wrestling it gets
wrestlers (Section 8) have 108 titles
even more complicated as the
and they have won the State title a
weight classes change over the
total of 10 times.
years and, maybe more importantly,
The term upstate is pretty
the lifestyle of wrestlers evolves
accurate. All but three of the
over the years. In the “old days”,
championships have been contested
wrestlers were often good athletes
north of the Throgs Neck Bridge.
who excelled in several other
Walt Whitman HS (1964 & 66) and
sports and only spent one season
The Nassau Veteran’s Memorial
on the mats. Some of the early
Coliseum (2006) have been the
coaches hadn’t been wrestlers
Four of Long Island’s New York State Champions: Al Palacio, Long
furthest East and South locations of Beach; Kerry McCoy, Longwood; Tom Schlendorf, Calhoun; Jesse
themselves. Ed Reinisch, Sal
the State Tournament.
DeFazio and the “Father of
Jantzen, Shoreham-Wading River
The Onondaga County War
Wrestling”, “Sprig” Gardner, all had
Memorial has hosted the tourney more than the rest of the sites
great coaching careers without benefit of mat experience prior
combined; 37, versus 6 for the Albany (Pepsi Arena/Times
to their coaching stints.
Union Center), and two each for Buffalo, Rochester and South
Sprig didn’t have a secret technique to training champions,
Huntington.
he shared everything he learned. He invited coaches and
When the NYSPHAA first conducted a state wrestling
wrestlers to his room and ran clinics in the summer. To be the
tournament, it probably started more arguments about regional
demonstrator at Sprig’s camp was a high compliment, Bob
superiority than it settled. In a notable series Valley Stream
Stock, Joe Bavaro and Reggie Jones Jr. are three notable
Central HS and Ithaca HS had a home and home series. And,
examples. Extremely lucky wrestlers got to spend a few days at
according to who you ask, it either established or refuted the
the Coach’s East Hampton cabin where wrestling, bluefishing
argument that the best wrestling in the state was to be found on
and clamming were practiced.
Long Island or upstate. Two young men who participated in
In the 1960s more wrestlers began to expand their
those matches, John Zabata (VSC) and Steve Shippos (Ithaca)
season and wrestle in freestyle events like the Jr. and Sr. “Mets”.
went on to have long careers as coaches in Nassau County.
The late Bill Farrell and Vince Zuaro were among the Long
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Islanders who were active in these programs.
(http://thematslap.com/) first as a paper and, since 2001
The 70s and 80s saw the rise of kid wrestling and again,
as a website. In 2011, Tony was named Photographer of
Long Islanders were instrumental in its rise. Jumper Leggio and
the year by the National Wrestling Media Association.
his friend Bill Knapp started Bayshore kid wrestling over forty
That really is quite an honor when you
years ago. Terry & Marcia Haise and Ed & Marsha Gould are
consider the great photographers like Pete Venier
among the many who really helped this aspect of our sport
(FOLIW), Dane Petersen (SPORTPIX) and Joe D’Aqila
grow.
(FOTOTRENS) we have here on Long Island alone.
The 1990s were not a period when Long Island dominated
Today we have the internet, web sites, facebook, chat
up state, particularly Section VIII. In 1990 Craig Vitigliano (98
rooms, cable and satellite TV as well as streaming video.
Plainedge) was Long Island’s only State Champ. In 1991 Nick
Sites like youtube offer more matches than a fan should
Hall (215 Longwood) was the Island’s lone gold medalist.
or could watch. Skype and streaming video will bring
Suffolk came back and was the top section in ’92, ’94 and ’99
more of the States to fans everywhere.
but in 1994 and ’95 Nassau did not have a State Champ. Of
The future? Don’t ask me! I think it’s important to
course, the exception was Jesse jantzen of Shoreham Wading
realize that 50 years is a long time for a man but the blink
River, with his run of four state titles from 1997-2000.
of an eye for mankind. Wrestling is Man’s Oldest Sport
The New Millennium has seen Suffolk standing tall again
and it’s in good shape today. Interest and participation
while Nassau has clawed its way onto the podium as well. In
are high. Women’s wrestling is an Olympic event and
addition to placing second in the 50th edition of this great
California and New York City have started new, girls only
tournament, Nassau had the #1 Dual Meet Team in the state,
wrestling leagues with their own seasons and
Wantagh. They are a perennial Nassau power. In fact, Pete
championships.
Henning of Wantagh was the first NY State Champ by virtue of
Dangers? They are out there. Financing is a big one.
being the 95lb. winner in that first
Taxpayer supported scholastic
tournament.
sports of any kind is only about
To what can we attribute this
100 years old and, to a great
resurgence? Certainly, Long Island
extent, an American idea. In
wrestlers put in the time both
Europe, for instance, wrestling is
off-season and off-Island. Johnny
almost exclusively a club sport.
Robinson’s intensive camps, The
Typically, a community has a
University of Minnesota and the
club for a sport and families join
Fargo
Dome,
on
the
for generations. It becomes a
campus of North Dakota State have
center of social as well as athletic
become familiar sights to Long
interaction. In the United States,
Islanders and clinicians from all
our best competitive swimmers
over the country. Many of these
often come from this pathway.
clinicians have come to take part in
Budget woes are deep, wide
a new development: the rise of
and not about to go away soon
independent and, in some cases,
for Public Education. Other danfor-profit wrestling clubs. Vougar
gers?
Health
and
safety
Oroudjov, Razor Wrestling and
concerns. The HIV/Aids panCraig Vitigliano’s Ascend are promidemic 30 years ago raised
nent examples of this trend and
concerns about blood borne
they each can claim their share of
disease and the Wrestling
the Island’s success.
community responded well.
Media coverage has also
Concussions and skin diseases,
expanded. Besides this annual Four of the legendary coaches that catapulted Long Island into national ringworm and MRSA have been
wrestling prominence: Harold Earl, Valley Stream Central; “Sprig:
journal, now about 13 years old, Gardner, Mepham; Lou Giani, Huntington; Ed Reinisch, Baldwin
getting a lot of attention and it
coverage of the “States” and high
is up the whole community to
school sports in general have evolved over a half century. This
protect athletes, officials and coaches from these threats.
may be the biggest change of all. When Long Island had two
Positive elements? Human Nature and the American
daily newspapers, generations of coaches and wrestlers kept
Spirit. Wrestling is the purest sport and the easiest to do.
composition notebooks into which they pasted box scores of
I’ve refereed wrestling matches in the Solomon Islands
every high school match. These notebooks became ammunition
with contestants who put on shoes for the first time in
in marathon seeding meetings that preceded the qualifying
their life when I brought them Asics shoes and singlets
tournaments.
from TW Promotions They had a brand new mat
In 1963, there were more newspapers but many fewer TV
donated by the Olympic development fund. Before they
channels and no one, even Al Gore, had heard of the internet.
had that mat, they threw a pile of palm fronds over a flat
The Amateur Wrestling news was, and continues to be an excellent
spot on the coral and covered it with a tarp. Then they
source for results across the nation. Since 1979 Long Island has
grabbed a hold of each other and they Wrestled!
benefitted from the work of Tony and Jim Nordland. Both are
former Amityville wrestlers who have published the Mat Slap
Ever it has been thus and ever it shall be.
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I was recruited by several national wrestling
universities, including Oklahoma University,
Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Oregon University,
Portland State, Brigham Young University and
Washington University. I attended Washington
University and as a sophomore, wrestled at 158
pounds. I was the PAC 8 champion at that weight, and
I decided that to be an NCAA champion I would have
to pull down to my best weight.
It turned out that Dan Gable was also wrestling
at that weight. I had wrestled Dan before and lost by
a few points. I was confident that because I was two
years older with more experience, I had a chance of
defeating him.
In the national tournament, both of us had falls
in every match so it was a showdown in the finals.
Everyone kept asking me why I chose to meet Dan
when I could have avoided him by wrestling at another
weight. I felt that I could win and had everything
going for me. Dan was consistently being pestered
by the media to see if he really was going to end his
career with a perfect 182–0 record. The media
helped me out by placing a little seed of doubt into
Dan’s mind.
My strategy was to throw anything and everything that I had at him. Consequently, I made mistakes
that cost me some points during
the first
At the 1970 NCAA Wrestling Championships,at
Northwestern University, what is considered the
“Greatest Collegiate Wrestling Bout Ever”, was
wrestled between undefeated Dan Gable from Iowa
State and a virtually unknown Larry Owings, from
Washington University . Much has been said and
written about that historic event. Recently, during
a conversation with the winner of that bout, I asked
Larry, “When everyone was running away from Dan’s
weight class, what prompted you to pull weight so
that you could meet the great Dan Gable?” Larry
was gracious enough to give us an exclusive account
of why he wanted to meet Dan head on. This is an
abridged version of Larry Owings story. told in a
letter to Pascal Perri, the third man
on the mat that evening in the
Northwestern field house, from
Larry Owings. Due to space
limitations, Larry’s letter has
been abridged. For the complete
story go to
FriendsofLongIslandWrestling.com.
I have been asked to share my
recollections of my NCAA title bout
with Dan Gable. It all began when I
was a senior at Canterbury High
School in Oregon. I wanted
to be an Olympic
champion.
Pascal Perri was the referee for the GableOwings match that is considered by many
as the greatest collegiate bout ever contested.
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Page 13
period. My style required action, strength and
decided it was time to get it all done. With 40 seconds
endurance.
left, I became aggressive and pushed Dan.
In the first period, I did what I call an underarm
I was able to snap his head down into a front
spin, a variation of a Greco Roman throw; I spun
headlock. I wanted to go for a cradle, but Dan
through and was not successful. I came back with a
wouldn’t let me get to the side, so I worked down
leg trip just as Dan shot on my leg. It was like I was
and noticed that his left leg was close enough.
saying, “Here Dan, take
Spinning in the opposite
my leg for an easy
direction, he fell awkwardly
two points.”
to his butt and I jumped
I found myself down,
on top with a Whizzer
but came right back out
and held him for a near
and tried another underarm
fall. I was pressing hard
spin to the opposite side.
for a fall, and knew I
This time it worked, and
had scored 4 points in
Dan tried to counter with
the maneuver. I only
a stepover. I countered
hoped referee Pascal
with a roll through to
Perri would score it.
score 2 points. At the
I hung onto his leg
end of the first period,
near the out-of-bounds
the score was 3–2 in my
mark and waited. If I
favor.
got in trouble I was out
I chose to start on the
of bounds; if not, the
bottom for the second
time would expire in
period because I never Larry Owings has Dan Gable on his back in the third period as Pascal Perri looks on. A few the match. When Pascal
moments later he awards decisive back points to Larry who went on to win the match 13-11
wanted to be on the bottom
Perri called time out,
in the third period. The top position was always my
Dan was inbounds and the rules said that 3 supporting
best, and I wanted that to be where I could turn
points had to be out for the official to stop the wrestling.
someone in the third. I escaped again and came right
Nevertheless, the match was stopped and the score clarified,
back with a fireman’s carry. I started the fireman’s
which Dan could not believe.
carry on one side of the mat and drove Dan across
It’s funny what goes through your head during a match. At
the mat to the far side. I realized we were going to
this point the score was 13-11 my favor, with only a few
go off the mat and I mustered all my strength and
seconds left. I figured I’d got here by being aggressive, so I shot
hoisted him up and threw him over. I never had that
in and grabbed his leg to finish the match.
amount of strength before and I don’t know where it
I helped Dan up and walked off the mat hiding my face
came from. Dan was now down 6-2. I was on top
in my hands, to escape everyone looking at me. The crowd
attempting several pinning combinations, only to
was wild and the roar of the fans was deafening. Referee Pascal
have him move off the mat and out of bounds.
Perri had to shout to get us to hear and we hardly heard the
Thanks
to
an
impartial
and
honest
whistle. The tournament stopped at that point because the fans
referee I was awarded a penalty point for Dan “fleeing
could hardly believe what had happened. I could hardly
the mat.”
believe it myself — I had just beaten the invincible Dan Gable!
The match continued with Dan scoring more
Dan Gable was a great wrestler. I am just glad that I was
points and battling back in the third period. He was
in the right place at the right time. I was pumped for the match
building up riding time points near the end of the
and I’m not certain anyone could have beaten me that night.
third period. Dan now had accumulated 2 points
Over the years I’ve come to accept stuff that comes with
riding time, and the match score was 9-8. With
winning. I have come to the conclusion it is worth it if I can
running time, Dan was in the lead 10 to 9. Bout time
make a difference in someone else’s life. I have now devoted
was running out! I thought he was stalling and I
my skills to helping others have success in the sport of
looked up at the referee as if to say, “He’s only holding
wrestling. I have only one thing to say that I want you to
on.” The referee did not appear to agree, so I
remember: the bigger the challenge, the greater the reward.
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AMATEUR WRESTLING
New York Is The Birthplace Of
By Don Sayenga
Due to the remarkable popularity of high school and
who was and who wasn’t an amateur athlete. To settle
college wrestling west of the Hudson River, notably in Iowa
debates, an extremely strict list of rules and restrictions was
and Oklahoma, most people tend to forget the American veradopted by the N4A in May, 1885. Despite agreement on the
sion of our sport originated in New York. We are lucky to live
rules, some of the clubs had been finding ways to get around
in an informative age when digitizing older books and
them. For example, a New Yorker named Lawrence “Lon”
documents allows anyone with a PC and good browser to
Myers, who was beyond debate the fastest runner anywhere
seek out the records of our founders. Our heritage, formerly
in the world, was paid a salary to serve as the secretary of
buried in the dusty corners of sprawling libraries, is now
the Manhattan A.C. which meant his expenses were covered
readily available on-line.
when he competed. Myers held the USA records for all the
According to Fred Janssen, whose History of American
sprints and middle distance races.
Amateur Athletics and Aquatics (New York, 1888) is the
Seven months after the strict rules were adopted in
primary authority for the early days, the first attempt to con1885, during the annual wintertime boxing and wrestling
duct a nationwide amateur wrestling championship was
competition at the New York A.C. (which was considered by
announced by the National Association of Amateur
some to be a championship) competitors from the
Athletes of America (“the N4A”) to be held
Schuylkill Navy A.C. of Philadelphia PA
somewhere in New York City on May 7,
challenged the amateur status of one of
1887. The N4A meet, hosted by the
the boxers. NYAC officials turned the
Manhattan Athletic Club at 524
dispute about the boxer over to
Fifth Avenue, kept getting postthe N4A for judgment. The
poned over and over again. A
association refused to get
power struggle between the
involved, claiming it held no
Manhattan A.C. and the New
jurisdiction. The Schuylkill
York A.C. may have been at
Navy and the NYAC were
the heart of the delay.
irked by the aloof attitude of
Those two major clubs
the N4A. They retaliated by
had been prime movers in
convening a meeting in
the original formation of the
October 1887 at a hotel in
N4A in 1879 when they united
Manhattan to enlist support
with a dozen other clubs, located
from other clubs.
mostly on Long Island, Manhattan,
In January 1888, the dissidents
and nearby in New Jersey, intending to
formed of a new, rival organization,
conduct championships for runthe Amateur Athletic Union
ning, jumping, and weight
(“the AAU”) and began
The original New York Metropolitan Opera House was the venue for
throwing events. The N4A was
recruiting members of the
many of the early National Wrestling Championships.
modeled after the IC4A, a
N4A to join with them in a
collegiate organization formed
more rigid, more exclusive
at Princeton in 1873. Although track and field meets in
league. Meanwhile, the Manhattan A.C. proceeded with
the warm season were the main activity of the N4A, other
its 1887 plan to hold a national amateur boxing and
championships also were planned for sports such as Bicycle
wrestling championship for the first time. Amateur
Racing and Tug-of-War. The “national” character of the N4A
boxing then was very popular in the metropolitan area.
was certified by the membership of the San Francisco
It was the main attraction of the event. For wrestling,
Olympic Club and one additional club from Boston, but it
only one weight class (135 lbs.) was announced. The
was primarily a New York organization.
final bout of this much-delayed N4A mat championship
The N4A hoped to expand its activities nationwide using
meet was held January 17, 1888 at Clermont Avenue Ice
telegraph contact with athletic clubs in other cities. It was a
Rink in Brooklyn. The national wrestling winner was a
fragile alliance. The primary issue of contention within the
man named Chenoweth who represented the Pastime
N4A, right from the start, was the great difficulty of defining
A.C. located on E. 66th Street.
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Page 15
It is important to understand the social nature of the
springtime date to a mid-winter date. The next three
men’s clubs comprising the N4A and the AAU. In those early
championships (1889, 1890, 1891) were held at the Met in
years the average workingman had very little leisure time
the month of December. Unfortunately, the opera house
after a 12-hour workday, and very little extra cash to pay for
suffered a destructive fire in the summer of 1892 and the
a club membership. The clubs of New York were modeled
building was closed for repairs. The Garden, an indoor arena
after the London A.C. in England. Members were supposedly
on Madison Square, 26th & Madison, had opened in 1890. It
elite gentlemen who competed in sports for joy alone, for
could have provided a good venue for holding an indoor
exercise, or for the glory of their club, much like amateur
tournament but its schedule was fully booked. As a result
actors in the theatre. They did not accept any form of
there was no 1892 national amateur mat championship.
remuneration for their activities. A distinct odor of class
The AAU’s financial plight got worse and worse.
distinctions can be detected. Exclusivity of that kind is
After much debate 1890-91, the AAU agreed to a total
difficult to define and even more difficult to control.
reorganization known as the Mills Plan, named after its
James Sullivan, President of the Pastime A.C., was
primary sponsor Abraham G. Mills, a sports enthusiast from
unhappy with the way the N4A conducted its first amateur
the NYAC better known as the man who formed baseball’s
wrestling meet. His club traditionally had been a leader
National League. Under the Mills plan, the AAU gave
in boxing and wrestling activities. Sullivan threw
up all its aims to hold championships of other
his support toward the AAU. The shift by
sports such as bicycling, bowling, tennis,
Pastime A.C. was followed by the Staten
rowing, skating, and yachting. The clubs of
Island A.C. and the Detroit A.C. The new
the New York City area formed a
AAU organization promptly announced it
new alliance called the Metropolitan
would conduct its own version of a
Association of the AAU. Similar
national wrestling championship with
coalitions were formed in other cities
two weight classes (120 and 158). The
including the Atlantic Assn. in
finals were held April 6, 1888.on the
Philadelphia, the New England Assn. in
stage of the Metropolitan Opera House at
Boston, the Central Assn. in Chicago,
1411 Broadway. The Met at the time was
and also distant smaller groups known
one of the newest social centers of the city.
as the Southern and the Pacific
The intent of the AAU when
associations. Later, some of these were
planning an indoor sporting event was to
divided into two or three groups.
create a gala social affair attended by
The AAU itself became an association of
elegant ladies and gentlemen dressed in
associations. It continued to function with a
evening clothes. According to the New York
small staff from a rented office in Manhattan.
Herald an “immense” crowd
The Atlantic Assn. of the AAU
witnessed the preliminary
volunteered to conduct the
In 1891, Dr. Edward Hitchcock Jr. published an influential book describing
Catch-As-Catch-Can wrestling. The book proved very popular an went
matches April 3 and 4 at the
January 1893 AAU boxing and
through several editions
NYAC. The New York Times
wrestling championships at the
said perhaps 3000 spectators
Academy of Music in downattended the finals. Both of the first AAU wrestling champitown Philadelphia. This was the first time the meet ever was
ons won by fall. At 120, John Steil, New York Turnverein,
held outside New York. It was hosted by the Philadelphia
pinned Frank Mueller, National Turnverein, Newark (4:36),
Amateur Swimming Club whose entrants won all five
At 158, Jacob Shell, Schuylkill Navy, pinned Thomas Smith,
weights, largely because no one from the Metropolitan clubs
Pastime A.C., (5:02). In the beginning, the fashionable social
was there. The following year the meet returned to NYC at
promotions of the AAU succeeded admirably, but the fad
Madison Square Garden which served again as the site in
didn’t last long.
1896. The tournaments of 1895 and 1897 were held at
During the summer of 1888 the N4A and the AAU held
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia respectively.
rival national track meets. This caused a counterproductive
The AAU’s financial troubles at the time of the Mills
squabble. For example, the San Francisco Olympic Club sent
Plan were part of a severe economic depression in the
athletes all the way across the country to compete at the N4A
United States 1893-1897. The slump had a major impact
meet. After traveling that distance they were denied the right
upon wealthy gentlemen amateurs of the athletic clubs.
to compete in the AAU meet. The N4A steadily lost support.
Many clubs closed. Others, such as Berkeley A.C.,
Finally, it collapsed. Be careful what you wish for - although
morphed into social clubs. The Metropolitan AAU lost a
the AAU thereby had gained complete control of amateur
majority of its membership. Due to the financial difficulathletics, its ambitious aims had strained its financial backing.
ties, a badly organized AAU wrestling tournament was
Renting the opera house wasn’t cheap. When spectator
scheduled for June 1898 but the records are garbled. The
attendance fell off at the March 1889 national boxing and
only bright spot for wrestling in those days was the
wrestling championships, AAU leaders decided they might
advent of YMCA programs combined with the expansion
be able to attract a larger crowd by changing from a
of new facilities such as the elaborate gym built by J.P.
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Page 16
Morgan for his church, St, George’s Episcopal, on East
& Elbow, Jujitsu, and others. In November, 1897, Leonard
16th Street.
wrote: “...the catch-as-catch-can style...is the least artificial and
During the years leading up to the 1898 Spanish
the most ancient mode, as well as the one which is
American War, a rapidly-growing interest in physical
destined to have the greatest popularity... no exercise brings
education was taking place in the colleges and secondary
into play all the muscles of the body in a more thorough
schools of the United States. In 1891, a professor from
manner, and none is more interesting than wrestling”.
Cornell, Dr. Edward Hitchcock Jr., published an
Hugh Leonard’s influence as a coach and referee
influential instruction book describing the
was widespread. The wrestling world lost a great
Catch-As-Catch-Can style of wrestling. He had
leader when he was killed accidentally by a
become director of the college gym at
lightning strike in the summer of 1914.
Ithaca in 1884. His book was popular and
The same year Leonard’s handbook was
it went through several editions. He also
published, Columbia hired one of “Doc”
instituted some wrestling classes at
Hitchcock’s disciples as gymnasium
Cornell. Hitchcock’s father (known as
director, a medical doctor named Watson
“Doc” Hitchcock) had established the
Savage. His career was similar to Dr.
nation’s first college phys ed program at
Anderson’s. He was an 1882 grad of
Amherst. One of the many men “Doc”
Amherst who studied medicine at
inspired was a medical doctor from the
Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn
Midwest named William G. Anderson
before entering private practice. Dr.
Dr. Anderson began working for
Savage became a physical education
Adelphi University in 1885. In the years
enthusiast. He operated a private gym plus
prior to establishment of the Nassau County
a normal school for physical education
campus at Garden City, Adelphi was located
teachers on West 79th Street. He completely
on Lafayette Street in Brooklyn.
reorganized the Columbia gym
Although at first it was merely
programs and served as a
(Above) Dr, Watson Savage was hired by Columbia University in 1894. He
a small academy, primarily
leader for several organizations
completely re-organized the gym programs and hired Gustav Bojus (Below) to
attended by women, enrollof
physical
education
teach grappling moves to his students Together, they organized the first
ment grew rapidly when Dr.
professionals. He hired an
intercollegiate wrestling match in 1903. The match between 4 wrestlers from
Columbia and four from Yale ended in a 2-2 tie
Anderson created the Brooklyn
expert turnverein wrestler,
Normal School for Physical
Gustav Bojus, to teach grapTraining to educate gym teachpling moves and gym apparaers. In 1892, Anderson took a new job as
tus skills to his students.
head of the gymnasium at Yale University.
Dr. Savage also was enthusiastic about
He relocated his teachers’ school to the
measuring the strength of every student in
Yale campus at New Haven but his influschool. The compiled strength test results
ence on the sport of wrestling in New
were submitted competitively against
York would resurface in a big way a
the results from students at other
decade later.
schools. As of November 1899,
In 1894, Hugh Leonard, the
intercollegiate competition in
wrestling instructor at the Manhattan
Gymnastics exercises with apparatus
A.C., was offered a better job by NYAC.
was already underway at several colleges
He switched employers and became a
and universities in the Northeast when
fixture at NYAC where he remained
representatives agreed to form the
employed for the next 20 years. Leonard
Intercollegiate Gymnastics Association.
was a skilled boxer and wrestler, gifted with
When Savage hosted the first IGA national
outstanding teaching skills. Backed by some
championship competition at Columbia March
funding from NYAC members, he created a series
23, 1900, his team emerged as winners, edging
of photographs with another teaching professional
Yale University for the title.
from Manhattan, George Bothner, which he combined
In March 1903, the annual IGA gymnastics
into a 265-page textbook. Those wonderful images were for
championships were scheduled to be held at NYU. Dr.
many years displayed at the NYAC but now they seem to
Savage and Prof. Bojus (or both?) came up with a unique
have disappeared. Lucky for us, Google Books recently
idea. While preparing their gym team for its successful
digitized Leonard’s volume and made it available online. It is
confrontation against the defending gymnastics champs
by far the best wrestling book ever written prior to 1900.
(Yale), they communicated with Dr. Anderson at New Haven
Prior to formation of the N4A in 1879, at least a halfto open the door for a novel proposal: a team of four student
dozen different styles of wrestling had been seen in New
wrestlers from Columbia would issue a challenge to an equal
York including Cumberland, GrecoRoman, Side Hold, Collar
number of Yale students. Dr. Anderson thought it was a
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9:25 AM
Page 17
wonderful notion. At the time he was in the process of
Harold Milbank, YU “but the superior strength and stamscheduling an intramural wrestling tournament. Four
ina of his opponent proved too much for him”. C. T. Neal
intramural winners at Yale accepted Columbia’s challenge.
of Yale was unable to make the train trip, allowing
Columbia Spectator reported March 20, 1903: “Under
Columbia to claim a win by forfeit for William Hennen at
the auspices of the Gymnastics Association the first interheavyweight. One week later a return match took place
university wrestling championships ever held in this
at New Haven consisting of three weights
country will take place in the gym tonight
(no heavyweight) which Yale won 2-1.
between Columbia and Yale...The men who
Unfortunately, Columbia University
will make up the wrestling team are in good
again reorganized its gymnasium in June
condition and have been training hard for
1903. Dr. Savage departed and Gustav
tonight’s event. During the past two
Bojus went with him, temporarily haltweeks Mr. Bojus has been putting them
ing the CU wrestling team. Although
through the holds and breaks, and spent
Bojus continued to coach the CU
the greater part of yesterday morning in
gym
team
as
an
unpaid
teaching the men the finer points of the
volunteer for several years, he
game.” Twenty-five cents admission
became more famous for introducing
was charged for the event. The program
physical education in the Elizabeth
included two minor basketball games in
and Jersey City public school systems.
addition to the dual.
He died in 1926. The Savage training
This first-ever college dual meet resultschool for physical ed ucation teachers
ed in a 2-2 tie. The bouts were decided by
later was absorbed by NYU. Dr. Savage
two out of three falls. J. Sheldon (135) CU,
died in 1931.
got two quick falls, each in less than two
We owe a lot to these early leaders,
minutes. Jacob Lindenberger
coaches, and competitors. I
(145) CU “kept on the defense
hope their efforts can
Dr. William Anderson was at Yale University in 1903. He was
an enthusiastic supporter of the initial wrestling match between
most of the time and lacked
become more recognized,
Columbia University and Yale University. The match featuring
aggressiveness”. Two fast falls
and the heritage of wrestling
four wrestlers from each school ended in a 2-2 tie
“were won pretty easily” by
on Long Island and Manhattan
Carrington A. Phelps of Yale. At
can become better known
158, Thomas Cook, CU “put up a hard fight” against
throughout the rest of the country.
This image, from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper April 14, 1888 shows the 158-lb preliminary
in the gym at the New York Athletic Club when Thomas Smith, Pastime AC, pinned L. Sweet of the
San Francisco Olympic Club in 11 min 22 sec. It is probably the oldest illustration of amateur
wrestling in America. Three days later in the AAU national championship finals at the Metropolitan
Opera House, Smith was pinned by Jacob Shell, Schuylkill Navy AC, in 5 min 2 sec.
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The Al Bevilacqua
WRESTLING ROOM
I want to thank everyone who has made this room possible.
We have lists of donors on a plaque outside of the room. I want
to emphasize my gratitude to a particular group of people: I
would like to thank the parents whom I have become great
friends with through this sport and the Friends of Massapequa
Wrestling. I never had to ask twice to get the parents to help at
any of the numerous tournaments we run. When the “Chiefs”
won their second consecutive Dual Meet Championship, I
received a text from a coach from another team, which said, “I
loved watching The Massapequa Family sitting together,
cheering for every kid, supporting every one win or lose. It was
obvious that your group had a common goal and everyone had
a role. There was no politics no BS. You should be proud of the
program”. So, as this room has come together, I’ve gotten that
feeling again. Together, we did something wonderful that will
never be erased. Thank you for letting me be a part of it.
Thanks for everything Bev.
Al Bevilacqua with two of his grandsons cutting the ribbon to officially open the
new wrestling room at Massapequa High School named in his honor.
Funding for the Al Bevilacqua Wrestling Room came exclusively
from former students and associates of Al Bevilacqua. The
design, delivery and installation of the RESILITE wall and floor
mats was done by TW Promotions, Inc. of Ronkonkoma NY.
The following speech was given by Friends of Massapequa Wrestling
President, Dan Wetzel at the dedication of the Al Bevilacqua wrestling
room at Massapequa High School
October 5, 2012:
Well, the day has come. We are finally able to show everyone the new Al Bevilacqua Wrestling Room. The room is being
dedicated to a man who has been a part of Massapequa
wrestling from the beginning. Al has been a student, a wrestler,
a coach, a teacher, and a mentor for so many people in his 60+
years of association with Massapequa. While he has moved on
to bigger stages in the national and international circles, he has
never been far from his Massapequa roots. His passion for the
sport has reached 100s of 1000s. The Beat the Streets Program of
which Al is the founding father has put wrestling into the inner
city. The program, which has been growing exponentially, gives
kids an opportunity to meet great mentors and compete in a safe
environment. As Coach Bevilacqua has said, “The wrestling
room is the greatest teacher of kids”. In the room, wrestlers are
taught many life skills, independence, preparation discipline, and
the indomitable spirit to never lie down, never quit. The reality
of “you can’t win em all” is abundantly clear. You can prepare
extensively and still lose. This happens in life. You need to get
up and prepare and make adjustments for the next match. Life
gives you many curve balls, if you quit, you lose.
Not only is this room a dedication to a great mentor, but it
is also an ever-changing museum of wrestling history in
Massapequa (Massapequa HS and Berner HS). From the
beginning of Massapequa wrestling in the basement & cafeteria,
to wrestling in this state of the art facility, the history of
Massapequa HS is etched on the walls. Today’s kids can look up
and find someone to emulate or aspire to be like. Massapequa
wrestling is as rich in history as any other HS in the state. Now
all you have to do is look up to find inspiration.
The dramatic change in the wrestling room is evident in these before and after photos. The
Massapequa wrestling team now can enjoy one of the finest facilities on Long Island.
Photos courtesy of Joe DAquila—phototrens.com
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A Wrestling Family’s’ Success Stories
THE FOXENS
By Jamie Moffet
The two phone calls came in rapid succession in the fall
Captain of NYAC athletics, Chris Cassell, who was the
of 2011.
leading figure on their search committee. I met with Chris
“Dad, the wrestling program at Brown is saved. Our first
and his team three or four times. They asked me a lot of
tournament is next month in Binghamton. Hope you can be
questions - from wanting to know if I had the time to do a
there.”
proper job, to how I’d go about recruiting elite wrestlers to
“Dave, the Wrestling Chairman’s job at the New York
the Club. I must have done okay; they gave me the job.”
Athletic Club is opening up. Do you have an interest?”
As the wrestling season progressed during the second
Dave Foxen, a familiar figure to Long Island wrestlers
semester, David still was not having an easy time winning
and fans, didn’t realize it but he was about to embark on a
matches, but he was starting to show that he could be
six-month ‘ride of his life’.
competitive with all the others in his weight class in the East.
It goes without saying that the position of the New York
“The big turnaround for David came in late January when
Athletic Club (NYAC) Wrestling
he went up to Cornell and beat their
Program Chairman is one of the most
174 pounder in the dual. Cornell was
prestigious jobs in amateur wrestling—
ranked in the top 5 in the country and
and has been over the last six decades.
beating their #1 guy in his weight was
Dave talks about the opportunity.
a big confidence booster,” says Dave.
“I was very familiar with the club
“The coaches started to encourage him
since I’d been active with their
more as his training program picked
wrestling program for over 35 years. I
up. He helped Brown win the dual
wrestled for Bill Farrell and Sonny
against Princeton with a pin over the
Greenhalgh for 10 years and have
Tiger wrestler who had defeated him
helped Sonny with odd jobs ever since.
earlier in the season. He won some
I knew that the position would take an
more bouts along the way, but
enormous amount of time and
dropped the last two matches of the
attention to minutia on my part. But,
dual season to Brown of Lehigh and
sure, why wouldn’t I be interested? I
West of Columbia.”
figured, realistically, that I was the most
Dave assumed his NYAC leaderqualified person for the job. I had the
ship position on January 25, 2012. With
time available since I was no longer
his new responsibilities at the NYAC
working full-time. I couldn’t sit back. I Unseeded David Foxen capped of his wrestling career at plus his coaching job with the wrestling
Brown University winning the EIWA 174 lb. title
applied for the position.”
team at Port Washington high school,
with a series of stunning upsets.
Meanwhile, the college wrestling
Dave only caught about half
season for Brown University and Dave’s son, David, opened
of his son’s dual meet matches. “The NYAC job is all
in November with little fanfare. David won the starting spot
encompassing. While it is very prestigious, it requires a lot
at 174, his sixth different weight class while competing at
of detail. I personally make all the travel arrangements for
Brown. However, David took his lumps to start his senior
our wrestlers. I talk to them all— Freestylers, Greco guys
year. His father explains.
and the women—on the phone to discuss expense money
“David is a serious student as well as a wrestler and he
and travel plans. I contact the college coaches like Sean
needed to pay close attention to his strenuous academic
Bormet, Rob Koll, Tom Ryan, all former NYAC competitors,
requirements. His major is Electrical Engineering and he’d
to make sure their best wrestlers represent the NYAC. I go
regularly pull all-nighters just to keep up with the course
down to the practice room several times a month to see how
work. He wrestled in the Binghamton Open and
the workouts are going. I work with Captain Cassell to make
the Keystone Classic in November and in the Wilkes
sure he’s updated on our plans and budget. Thankfully, I
tournament over the Christmas holidays. He lost most of
formed a committee with a great group of guys, like Rafael
those matches. While I never gave up on him, I figured that
Soto, Paul Kieblitz, Nick Catana and Hooman Tavakianon,
David might as well consider the wrestling season as being
who help me whenever I need it.”
practically over with and that his best bet would be to focus
With the EIWAs approaching at Princeton, young David
on his studies and graduation.”
stepped up his training pace and was able to take a break
Even though Dave was a well-known figure to the
from his rigorous academic schedule. Dave remarks,
NYAC powers-that-be, he still needed to go through the
“He started getting a regular night’s sleep every night and
formal candidate selection process. He recalls, “I knew the
the difference became apparent on the mat. I knew that he
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9:25 AM
Page 21
could go with the guys in his weight class and had the
time. He went for and got the deciding takedown. He was
ability to possibly win the tournament. I thought he’d
now in the finals. “
likely win some matches and then fall out —on a bad call
So, in the 174 pound finals it was the unseeded David
or some other misfortune. I was hoping he’d wrestle well
Foxen against Navy’s 4th seeded Oscar Huntley. .Could the
but wasn’t at all sure what to expect.”
underdog from chronically wrestling-deprived Brown
David was not seeded in the top eight at 174
University run the table and upset his fourth consecutive
due to his unimpressive record,
opponent? Yes. Emphatically, yes!
particularly from the early part of
Again relying on his superior conthe season. In the first round he
ditioning, David scored a winning
drew the #6 seed, McPeek from
takedown towards the end of the
Bucknell. Dave recalls, “McPeek is
3rd period to win the championship,
tough and they had a back and
3-2. It was the first time since 1963
forth match till near the end.
that an unseeded wrestler won an
Dave’s conditioning paid off in
EIWA title.
the third period and David ended
“I just couldn’t believe it”, says
up winning, 9-3. He then had to
father Dave. “I got so emotional. I
wrestle the #3 seed, Columbia’s
saw where he always wrestled
West, who defeated him two
hard but never caught a break.
weeks earlier. David came out
Now at the end of the season it all
strong, got the opening takedown,
finally came together. He had four
was in control the whole time and
tough, tight matches and he had
won in an upset, 5-2. Up to that
the right attitude and conditioning
point, this was probably his best
to win them all to become the
match of the year.”
Easterns champion. He told me
The EIWA semi-finals saw
that the best bus ride of his life
things break David’s way.
was the one that Sunday night
“David’s opponent was the 2nd
from Princeton back to Brown.”
seeded wrestler from Lehigh who
Watching his son wrestle
had defeated him in overtime in
in college is no longer on Dave
the dual. I think that loss inspired
Foxen’s ‘to-do’ list, but his duties
David into knowing that he was David Foxen receives a hearty congratulation from his coach Dave at the NYAC continue to build. “To
going to win this time around, no Clark after his victory in the EWIA finals
me, being responsible for all
matter what. We both felt it was
NYAC wrestling is an important job.
payback time. Again, it was a very close bout, going into
We are a huge part of the elite amateur wrestling world. The
overtime. In the sudden death period, David wasted no
NYAC needs to be represented the right way and I intend to do
(Left) David has his hand raised in victory after his final bout. (Right) David on the podium at the award ceremony. He became the first unseeded wrestler to win an EIWA
championship since 1963. His dedication to a vigorous training program paid off as he scored four upset wins on his way to eventual victory.
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It started simply enough. In March, National high school wrestling
champion Dylan Palacio of Long Beach, NY asked Rocky Point coach
Anthony Ciolino to try to put a team together for the AAU’s Disney
Duals wrestling tournament at the ESPN Sports Complex in Orlando,
FL. Coach Cio, as he is called, had put many teams for events like this
together so he figured it would be no different than before.
“Cio” started making the usual phone calls to find the best kids
he could. He also needed a coaching team. He looked no further than
Steve Hromada and Max Bacerro, two other Rocky Point coaches. The
last piece was a team administrator as required by AAU. Kim Leo
McClaugherty, jumped at the opportunity.
The team consisted of kids from different parts of the state of New
York, most of whom had never met each other or the adults who
would be with them for the 5 days of the tournament.
Sixteen kids settled into rooms of four and started to get to know
their new teammates and coaches. Everyone weighed-in on Friday
morning and went to spend the rest of the day playing at the pool or
in one of the Disney parks. A coaches meeting in the early evening
brought Kim and Anthony back to the sports complex,
getting team rosters and the schedule for the first day of wrestling. An
hour after the meeting, they were called back to the arena to get the
devastating news that several of their wrestlers would be
ineligible to be considered for team scoring purposes because of AAU
districting guidelines.
When all was said and done, 12 of the 16 wrestlers brought down
could be counted. Those not officially scoring could wrestle but would
be considered a forfeit for scoring purposes. This left the team with a
12 point deficit at the start of every match and no back up plan if anyone was injured. In a tournament this tough, things were not looking
good.
Day one had 3 matches. Having no practices together and no
warm up opportunity at the tournament, the team showed up ready
to see what they could do, eager to get the feel of the coaches and
their teammates. The fit of everyone was apparent from the start. The
kids were quick to support each other and easy to coach.
The first team, from Ohio, and the second, from Michigan,
know what hit them. Neither team won a single bout within the match.
Had it not been for the 2 weight classes forfeited, the
matches would have been complete shut outs. The third team, also
from Ohio, fared a bit better winning 2 of the twelve actually
wrestled. The team bond was becoming obvious.
The second day would not be so easy. First team up was Diesel,
a well known powerhouse from PA. The solid NY line up fell, losing
all but three bouts that match. Five of the matches were lost by one
point. The next 2 matches allowed the team to regroup and come
back strong, winning both decisively. The only downside of the day
was a trip to the hospital by the heavyweight El Shaddai Gilmore,
where he was treated for dehydration and released.
The third day brought two more wins before being faced with the
MAWA team, reputed to be the best there. After looking at the brackets and knowing a win would not be possible because of the 12 point
deficit, the team voted to forfeit the match. They headed back to the
hotel to rest for the four matches they would face on the last day.
The final day was long. Looking around the arena, everyone was
tired and there were a lot of bruised and injured wrestlers. Two wins
and two loses for the day had them finishing the tournament in 8th
place. In a field of 42 teams and with only 12 of 14 weight classes scoring, the finish was impressive. The team received their medals and
rushed off to catch flights home, but not before hugs, handshakes and
phone number exchanges. This event brought them together and
everyone involved will be changed forever because of the time spent.
This was supposed to be a one-time event, but kids and coaches are
already saying “next year...”
The team consisted of Lucas Malmberg, Jimmy Overhiser,
Justin Cooksey, William Koll, Nick Kelley, Dylan Cohen,
Alec Dierna, Corey Rasheed, Nick Hall, Dylan Palacio,
Tristan Hamner, Nick Mitchell, Jake Berkowitz, Austin Hayes,
Max Anton and El Shaddai Gilmore.
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Page 23
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Page 24
Lifetime Service Award Winners
Harold Earl, 1995
Al Muller, 1995
AI Bevilacqua, 1996
Joe Campo, 1996
Joe Russo, 1996
Bob Bury, 1997
James Davey, 1997
Reggie Jones, 1997
“Jumper” Leggio, 1997
Bill Linkner, 1998
Ted Petersen, 1998
Jerry Seckler, 1998
Terry Haise, 1999
Ken Hunte, 1999
Ed Luksik, 1999
Nick Gallo, 2000
Ed Rooney, 2000
John Schaefer, 2000
Ken Cellan, 2007
Robert “Doc” Fallot, 2007
Bob Goldberg, 2007
Gary Mims, 2007
Sam Boone, 2001
Cliff Clarke, 2001
Lonnie Kittle, 2001
Guy Guccione, 2002
Walter Stewart, 2002
Joseph Valla, 2002
John Walter, 2002
Gary Abbott, 2008
Neil Duncan, 2008
Bob Gerbino, 2008
George Munnich, 2008
Don Snyder, 2008
Bill Starke, 2008
Irv Apgar, 2003
Ed Hubbard, 2003
Matt Sanzone, 2003
Paul Brodmerkel, 2009
Kevin Murphy. 2009
Richard Smith, 2009
Pete Venier, 2009
Sonny Greenhalgh, 2004
Don Jackson, 2004
Ed Reinisch, 2004
Bob Armstrong, 2010
Roger Bogsted, 2010
Larry Cantor, 2010
Bill DeSario, 2010
Chris Edmond, 2010
John Hamilton, 2010
Jack Mahoney, 2005
Steve Shippos, 2005
“Brick” Stone, 2005
Bob Busby, 2006
Paul Gillespie, 2006
Tony Mellino, 2006
Mike Davey, 2011
Mike Fitzgerald, 2011
Paul Kieblesz, 2011
Bill Knapp, 2011
Terry Phelan, 2011
Fred Recher, 2011
Michael DerGarabedian,
2012
Howie Greenblatt,
2012
Chris Messina, 2012
Joe Patrovich. 2012
Bill Santoro, 2012
Gary Ventimiglia, 2012
Bill Brennen, 2013
Sal DiFazio, 2013
Dick Doherty, 2013
George “Doppy”Doherty,
2013
George Dlugolonski, 2013
Reggie Jones, Jr., 2013
Norm Maisel, 2013
Distinguished Members
Henry Wittenberg, 1977
Dr. Vince Zuaro, 1984
Frank “Sprig”Gardner,1986
William Farrell, 1987
Lou Giani, 2003
Outstanding Americans
Roone Arledge, 1992
Steve Friedman, 1993
David Pottruck, 1994
Arthur C. Rutzen,1994
William Baldwin, 2003
Pascal Perri, 2006
Setrak Agonian, 2007
Outstanding Officials
Pascal Perri, 1995
Mark S. Piven, 1997
Medal of Courage Recipiants
Rohan Murphy, 2001
Charles Gadson, 2005
Pat Augustine, 2007
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Page 25
his health failing in his last few
The wrestling legend of the
years of life. His presence alone
late Bill Farrell is one the National
created
a
joyous
reunion
Wrestling Hall of Fame acknowledged
for those requesting to sit in his
in 1987 with his enshrinement as a
section of Hall of Fame seating. He
Distinguished Member. What is
was active in fundraising events
extraordinarily unique about Bill
and worked at maintaining
is that he was so multi-talented,
communications and relationships
he contributed to the sport in
with so many people in the sport
a variety of ways. In fact, he
that he befriended and mentored,
would have qualified for induction
including myself.
in two other Hall of Fame categories,
Perhaps the best example I can
the Order of Merit and
think of in highlighting Bill
Outstanding American.
Farrell’s legacy was in his own
In a sport that requires
backyard, through his “commitment
so much focus, Bill exemplified
of service” and his “camaraderie of
that it’s possible to be a multispirit” with the members of the
dimensional person who can be
New York Athletic Club, Friends of
good at many things in life. He
Long Island Wrestling and the
left us with many values to pass
Downstate Chapter of the NWHOF.
along to future generations. To
Bill Farrell indeed left a blueprint
start with, he beat the odds by
for what our Hall of Fame should
taking up the sport competitively
Before serving as Executive Director of the National
be, and that is to make sure and
at 26 years of age. He let it be Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum, Lee Roy Smith was the coach
preserve the legacy of Bill Farrell for
known that it’s never too late of the Arizona State wrestling team from 1992-2001, and was
recognized
four
times
as
the
Pac-10
Coach
of
the
Year.
future generations.
to get in the race if you have
As a competitor, Lee Roy was a two-time Oklahoma Prep
passion and are willing to compete.
State Champion and two-time Junior National Champion. He
He balanced a successful business was also a three-time All-American at Oklahoma State and
Executive Director
career with his coaching duties by earned four Big Eight individual titles. In 1980 , Lee Roy won
bringing a set of communication and an NCAA title wrestling at 140 lbs.
management skills that successfully
brought the best out of his
wrestlers while also promoting the sport to both the media
Bill Farrell became one of the most
and the public.
successful freestyle wrestlers to ever
Bill’s engagement in the sport went well beyond his
come from Long Island. He became
an All-American and World
active wrestling and coaching days. While building his
Team member.
company TW Promotions Inc., he continued to advance the
As coach of the 1972 USA
sport with his support of USA Wrestling and Fila. Not only
Olympic freestyle wrestling team he
did he ensure that the sport prospered on the national and
led the squad to a record six
medals,including three gold. Bill
international platforms, but also he led the way bestowing
was inducted into the National
financial endorsements for our nation’s best wrestlers.
Wrestling Hall of Fame as a
It became very apparent that Bill appreciated this sport
distinguished Member in 1985.
like no other. He did everything he could to be present at
the annual NCAA DI Wrestling Championships even with
Lee Roy Smith
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Page 26
THE FRIENDS OF LONG ISLAND WRESTLING &
THE DOWNSTATE NEW YORK CHAPTER OF THE NATIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME
WELCOME A GREAT WRESTLER HOME TO LONG ISLAND
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Page 27
You are cordially invited to The Nineteenth Annual
Downstate New York Chapter
National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum
Awards Banquet
Friday, April 19, 2013
Villa Lombardi
877 Main Street
Holbrook, NY 11741
Join old friends and competitors at this
special annual reunion honoring
the 2013 inductees
Bill Brennen • Sal DiFazio
George Dlugolonski • George Doherty
Dick Doherty • Reggie Jones Jr.
Norm Maisel
For Information contact:
The Friends of Long Island Wrestling
775 Wantagh Avenue
Wantagh, N.Y. (516) 804-8676
www.friendsoflongislandwrestling.com
www.foliw.com
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It was 1980 when Bill made
a phone call to the sectional
wrestling chairman that began a
new direction in his life. All Bill
wanted to know was how could
he find a wrestling schedule for
the Nassau County tournament.
For years he had been frustrated
by the lack of information about
wrestling There was little
newspaper coverage or any
other way for an interested
spectator to plan on seeing a
good match or tournament. He
loved the sport and enjoyed
watching the matches. A simple
reason that expanded to over 30
years of intense work in the
sport of wrestling.
Bill’s journey began as a
spectator, trying to follow
results of the wrestlers from his
Alma matter at Mepham High
School. It didn’t take long
before he began attending
Nassau & Suffolk County dual meets and county tournaments.
Attending the State Championships meant a five-hour early
morning drive, a full day of watching the tournament, and a
late night drive back home. He did this for many years.
Bill also regularly inquired if there was anything he could
do for the various wrestling programs on Long Island.
Eventually he was invited to assist at meets. That developed
into other duties at the county tournaments. Each duty
quickly helped Bill became a significant member of the
sectional wrestling tournament committee. He began
assisting the head table and produced the wall brackets at
many tournaments.
(Left) Bill working on the 2013
edition of Long Island Wrestling.
Previous covers are displayed on the
wall behind. (Below) Bill with the
2011-2012 wrestling schedule poster
he designed for the Hofstra Wrestling
program
28
Once wrestling coaches
discovered that Bill was a
graduate of Pratt Institute and a
partner in a New York design
firm that worked on design
projects for the New York Mets,
New York Yankees, and the
New York Islanders hockey
team, it became obvious that he
had much more to give to
wrestling. During the ensuing 20
years Bill annually designed and
produced the program for the
Nassau County tournament. He
also created the brackets for
tournaments, designed flyers, Tshirts and posters. Each effort
fulfilled a need of the wrestling
community. His design skills
coupled with his real working
knowledge of program design,
advertising
and
wrestling
allowed him to promote the
sport with class and style.
Wrestling coaches were
busy coaching, parents were busy being parents. However it
was Bill who promoted wrestling throughout the county. It
was his signature work that showcased the quality wrestling
programs that existed. Of course he remained a steadfast fan
and an innovative supporter of wrestling. At a wrestling
dinner Bill was asked to join the fledgling group known as the
“Friends of Long Island Wrestling” by President Jerry Seckler.
Seckler had a dream of producing a publication that would
both market Long Island wrestling and showcase the history
of the sport on Long Island. It was clear that Bill was the man
to approach.
In 1990 Bill Brennan became a charter member of the
“Friends Of Long Island Wrestling” and was placed on the
Board of Directors. After several years of producing periodic
newsletters, The “Friends” began to publish an annual
magazine. Bill became the designer and head of the
editorial staff of that publication, “Long Island Wrestling”,
celebrating its 14th anniversary this year..
In 1994 The Friends of Long Island Wrestling
became a chapter representative of the
National Wrestling Hall Of Fame and Bill has
had an active roll in the chapters’ efforts to
help wrestling grow. He serves on several
committees and has been a representative at
the National Hall of Fame Annual Chapters
Conference. His generosity with his talents
and his time make him the perfect candidate
for the prestigious award of a “lifetime
service to wrestling”
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Salvatore DiFazio traveled an
unusual route to wrestling excellence.
Attending Mepham High School as
an All-League baseball player, he
graduated from Ithaca College and
served as an officer in the United
States Marine Corps from 1955 to 1957.
He attended Columbia University and
received his master’s degree in 1960.
Sal began his teaching career in
the Half Hollow Hills School District
in 1960; he coached baseball for 12
years and taught business education
for 28 years. But everything changed
in 1961, when at the request of his
athletic director, Sal DiFazio was
hired as the school’s very first
wrestling coach. Although Sal was
unsure about the new position, he
was determined to succeed. Armed
only with his strong athletic
background, Sal taught himself how
to wrestle by reading books and
attending clinics by Sprig Gardner
and others. For the next 27 years,
Salvatore DiFazio had a new passion — wrestling.
Coach DiFazio began the wrestling program at the junior high
level for one year, and in 1962, Half Hollow Hills had its very first
varsity wrestling team. When the school expanded, Coach DiFazio
had the school design the wrestling room that Half Hallow Hills
wrestlers use today. To motivate his new wrestlers, Coach DiFazio
started the HHH Wall of Fame.
Sal’s teams competed with powerhouse Brentwood High
School. In 1975, in front of a packed gym of more than 2,000
people, Half Hollow Hills ended Brentwood’s 79-match winning
streak and their quest for a 10th straight league title by winning the
dual meet 22-18. The win also earned
Half Hallow Hills the League I Title.
In 1971, Half Hollow Hills
became the first team in New York
State to field two varsity and junior
varsity wrestling teams. For the next
ten years, the “black” and “red” teams
had 48 student-athletes wrestle every
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. It
was a lot of hard work, but Coach
DiFazio felt that the best way to keep
students interested in the sport was to
give them matches every week. Many
teams today follow the same format,
creating “B” teams to keep students
involved. He did this with the help of
only two assistant coaches, Tom Finn
and Joe Goonan.
In 1978, Coach DiFazio led
Half Hollow Hills to its first and only
Suffolk County title, edging rival
Huntington High School by five
points. Half Hallow Hills crowned
one county champion, Mike Rogers,
and had four place winners. For his
efforts, he was awarded the Suffolk County Coach of the Year
for 1978.
Salvatore DiFazio retired in 1988 and was awarded the Grand
Master Award by the Suffolk County Coaches Association. Coach
DiFazio finished his coaching career with 239 varsity dual meet
wins, three league championships and the 1978 county
championship. He coached 22 league champions, 24 Suffolk
County place winners, five county champions, and two New York
State place winners.
More importantly, Coach DiFazio’s wrestlers learned the
importance of hard work, goal setting, accountability, dealing with
failure, and how important is is to have a passion in life. He expected his wrestlers to conduct themselves in a professional manner,
“show humility in victory and be gracious in defeat.” He made
sure his athletes respected their teammates, opponents and coaches. Coach DiFazio always led by example and was a great role
model to his wrestlers. Eight of his wrestlers and assistants went on
to become teachers and head wrestling coaches.
For 55 years Sal has been married to his lovely wife, Mary Lou.
They raised five children and spend time with their 14
grandchildren. He now enjoys his retirement spending time in
Newfoundland, Pennsylvania and Sunset Beach, North Carolina.
Sal DiFazio is known as the father of Half Hallow Hills
wrestling. His commitment to the sport of wrestling and to
teaching his wrestlers to act like champions on and off the mat
have earned him a place in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
for Lifetime Service to wrestling.
(Left) Sal intently watching his Half
Hollow Hills team in action He had
239 career dual meet wins. (Below) Sal
is shown in the wrestling room with some
of his team working on a pinning
combination.
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DOING WHAT HE DID BEST
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Coach George Dlugolonski,
or Coach “Dugo” as he is known,
has led his Chaminade High
School team and his wrestlers
to outstanding achievements
since 1973. Further, Coach
Dugo has demonstrated
incredible longevity and
continuity in his commitment
to developing young high
school wrestlers. Not only has
he taught wrestling skills, he
has shared lessons with his
and integrity.
George Dlugolonski has
an enormous heart and is
always willing to go the extra
mile for his wrestlers and their
families. He is extraordinarily
selfless and always puts his
athletes first.
Approximately 100 to 150
boys participate in Chaminade
wrestling, spread across the
novice, junior varsity and
varsity teams. Many of these
wrestlers have not had the
benefit of youth or middle school wrestling programs, and
those who have wrestled before represent the full range of
preparation and programs. Coach Dugo welcomes all.
Despite the difficulties of coaching a wide pool of participants
with varying skills, Coach Dugo demonstrates a very serious
commitment to participation.
Chaminade wrestling has had great success under
George Dlugolonski, but his program is not solely about
winning. He chooses not to cut athletes from the team, and
works hard for all his wrestlers, from the most talented to
the ones who may never achieve a win. Coach Dugo knows
that the life lessons of wrestling — perseverance, character,
dedication in pursuit of a goal, teamwork, commitment,
courage, and self-confidence — are just as valuable,
maybe more valuable, for the boy with the least
amount of natural talent compared to the wrestler
who enjoys a wealth of natural ability and skill.
Coach Dugo also served as chairman of the
CHSAA Wrestling League from 1980 to present. It’s
a position that comes with significant administrative,
fundraising and time commitments. During his
tenure as chairman, the league grew meaningfully in
scale and size. Dugo also led the admission
of the private school league as a
section in the New York Public School State
Championship Tournament.
He has not only taken on,
but excelled in these
additional responsibilities,
despite the depth and breadth
of his commitments at
Chaminade.
George Dlugolonski
qualifies for admission in
the National Wrestling Hall
of Fame because of his
integrity and commitment
to doing things the right
way. On almost a daily
basis, he is presented with
opportunities to make the
right choices and to teach
his wrestlers how to
behave and how to act. He
knows how to win — and
also how to lose — with
dignity. He disciplines
captains and all-state
wrestlers equally with
second- and third-string
wrestlers. George teaches
respect for the sport and
respect for officials; his own behavior and attitude
continuously demonstrate this for the young, impressionable
wrestlers in his program. Chaminade wrestlers compete
hard, but are clean wrestlers. They do not showboat or
flaunt their wins, and they do not make excuses or throw
tantrums when they lose. It is no surprise that Chaminade
wrestling teams are perennial Sportsmanship Award winners
and that Chaminade wrestling alumni have gone on to great
achievements in their personal and professional lives.
(right) George shows his enthusiasm
coaching one of his Chaminade wrestlers.
(below) George and assistant coach,
Tony Nordland offer encouragement
at the state tournament.
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George “Doppy” Doherty
Upon graduation in
and his younger brother
1950, Dick enlisted in
Richard “Dick” Doherty
the United States Navy,
began their illustrious
and
later
attended
wrestling careers long
Millersville State Teachers
before stepping onto the
College. While wrestling
wrestling mat to represent
at Millersville, Dick
Amityville High School.
competed for Coach
The Doherty household
Rupp, whose teams
included eight children,
compiled an overall
five of them boys. This
record of 29 wins, 7
likely meant that there
losses, and 1 tie. Dick
was some grappling taking
finished his career at
place prior to lacing up
Millersville having placed
their own wrestling shoes.
two times in the
But it was not until the
Pennsylvania State Athletic
mid to late 1940s that
championships. But it
their wrestling careers — and their dedication to the sport —
was not until after college though that Dick Doherty truly made
really took off.
his mark in the wrestling world as a coach and mentor to many
Doppy wrestled for Hall of Fame coaches Lonnie Kittle and
student athletes.
Joe Valla at Amityville High School from 1945 to 1949, where
Together, he and his brother Doppy started the wrestling
he amassed a winning record and captured two Long Island
program at Berner High School in 1963 while they were
championships. In addition, he earned a New York State AAU
teachers in the Massapequa School District. Dick would
Freestyle wrestling championship. Upon graduation from high
eventually assume the responsibility of the head coaching job
school, Doppy took his wrestling prowess to the state of
at Berner following the unfortunate and untimely death of
Pennsylvania, where he attended Millersville State Teachers
Doppy in 1974 at the age of 44.
College. While there, under the tutelage of legendary coach Ted
This selfless coaching duo dedicated a big part of their lives
Rupp, he posted a career record of 30 wins and only 2
to the sport of wrestling and helped inspire young athletes to
losses, including 13 victories by pin.
become fine men. While Doppy and Dicky were incredible
Doppy would go on to win three Pennsylvania State
athletes in their own right, their real gift was their ability to
Athletic Conference Championships as well as an AAU Mid
inspire so many ordinary athletes to greatness. They had an
Atlantic Freestyle championship in 1951. Following the comuncanny ability to see potential and cultivate it. It was because
pletion of his varsity career in 1953, Doppy received the
of this ability to build self-esteem that so many young men were
Theodore H. Rupp award for the most outstanding wrestler at
led to believe in themselves and excel, not only in the sport of
Millersville. In 2003, he was inducted into the Millersville
wrestling, but in life.
University Hall of Fame. His nominating sponsor expressed
Their dedication, motivation, and love for the sport of wrestling
admiration for Doppy by writing, “He was by any standard the
enabled them to amass an impressive list of coaching achievements.
first ‘big time’ wrestler that Millersville ever had. His record
Together, they coached Berner High School Wrestling from 1963speaks for itself, but more than that he was a great leader and
1982 for a combined total of 19 years, and during this time they
a fine example of sportsmanship throughout his career. In those
produced two New York State champions, 10 New York State placefour years (1949 to 1953), George was
winners, 10 Nassau County champions,
chiefly
responsible
for
bringing
including two outstanding wrestlers and 36
Millersville into national prominence as a
Nassau County place winners. They won
wrestling powerhouse.”
an impressive 18 high school tournament
Dick Doherty wrestled from 1946
championships and compiled a combined
to 1950 at Amityville High School for
overall dual meet record of 182 wins, 56
coaches Lonnie Kittle and Joe Valla. Like
losses, and 2 ties. In addition, Dick was
his brother, he compiled a winning
runner-up for the Nassau County Coach of
record during his high school career,
the Year award in 1981, and both he and
capped off by a second place finish in
Doppy were recipients of the prestigious
the Long Island championships.
Legends of Nassau County Wrestling
Dick was instrumental in leading
Award in 1992 and 1994, respectively. The
the Amityville wrestling team to two conDoherty brothers were posthumously
secutive runner-up finishes in the Suffolk “Doppy” and Dick started the wrestling program at Berner
inducted into the New York State
H.S. and produced an impressive record of 182-56-2
County tournament in 1949 and 1950.
Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1996.
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Reggie Jones Jr. exemplifies the phrase “Lifetime
Service to Wrestling.”
Born into a prominent
wrestling family, Reggie has
spent his life in the sport. In
both junior and senior high
school, Reggie competed at
Bellmore’s John F. Kennedy
H. S., where he developed an
impressive competitive record.
During this formative period,
Reggie was exposed to several
Hall of Fame coaches, including
Don Jackson, John Schaefer
and Ken Hunte.
He earned a scholarship
to Westchester State College in
Pennsylvania and while there,
wrestled for Milt Collier.
During his college career,
Reggie defeated most of the
outstanding wrestlers in his
league and distinguished himself in Pennsylvania college
wrestling circles.
Upon graduation, Reggie
became an assistant coach at
his alma mater, Kennedy High, then moved on to Long
Beach High School, where he began working with his
college teammate, Paul Gillespie. Together, while at Long
Beach, the coaching team of Jones and Gillespie earned 17
team titles and two state
championships.Both Reggie
and Paul dominated New
York State high school
wrestling and Long Island
wrestling for 20 years.
Afterward, Reggie went on to
become one of the top
wrestling officials in New
York; he was selected to
officiate the New York State
Championships eight times.
With his tremendous background
and
legendary
coaches behind him, Reggie
Jones Jr. was destined to
make his mark in wrestling.
After 28 years in the sport,
he has returned as an
assistant coach once again,
with his college teammate,
Paul Gillespie, to coach the
Wantagh
High
School
program. They have quickly
moved that program into
contention for state recognition.
As an assistant coach, Reggie
has been teaching and
drilling the fundamentals, while placing an emphasis on
strength and conditioning. His insistence on discipline and
detail has helped him to be an effective teacher of “folk style”
wrestling. Reggie’s command of wrestling and his quiet
professionalism have been an inspiration to athletes,
coaches, wrestlers and spectators. He continues to be a
favorite official at the college level, and is known for
his integrity and dedication to the youth of
our community and the sport of wrestling.
In addition to his achievements in
wrestling, Reggie Jones, Jr. continues to work
as an ocean lifeguard supervisor and is an
EMT working with the Nassau County
Lifeguard Examination Board.
Reggie Jones Jr. has spent half a century in
wrestling. He is one of the great people in our
sport and in our community. He is most deserving
of his honor to “Lifetime Service to Wrestling.”
(left) Reggie coaching at Long Beach High School were he spent 20
years as assistant coach to paul Gillespie.
(right) Reggie has become one of the top officials in New York State
at both the high school and collegiate levels. He has officiated at the
New York State Tournament on eight occasions.
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2011-2012 ...A Banner Year For
WANTAGH “WARRIORS” WRESTLING
During the course of the past season, the Wantagh
Warriors captured their first ever New York State Dual Meet
Championship walking out the Albany arena with a perfect
record of 29-0 and were ranked number one in New York
State. In 2009, the team also won the New York State
individual tournament.
The Wantagh Team won the Long Beach Tournament,
New York Civil War Duals at Shenendahowa High School,
David Blum, Patchouge-Medford, Ted Peterson, Nassau
Team Championship, Nassau County Qualifying
Tournament, and The Nassau County Title.
The team was led by Jose Rodriquez, the 99 lb.
Champion and New York State finalist and Danny McDevitt,
138 lbs., who captured the the Nassau County title and
finished 5th in New York State. Chris Araoz, 130 lbs. and
Vinny Turano, 126 lbs. both finished 2nd in Nassau County.
Kyle Quinn, 106 lbs, .Nick Vines, 132 lbs. and Chris Loew,
170 lbs. all took third in Nassau County. James Corbett
captured fourth place at 182 lbs. as did Sean Tomlinson at
195 lbs. Finishing out the All-County standings in fifth place
were Doug Rogers at 152 lbs. and Alex Wedell at 182 lbs.
Steven English finished in 6th place at 285 lbs.
The graduating class included Chris Lowe who is attending
Columbia University, Alex Wedell at Cornell University,
Doug Rogers and Kyle Fogiletta at Hofstra University, and
Steven English at Stroudsburg University.
The Head Coach was Paul Gillespie, a National Hall of
Fame member, Reggie Jones, Jr., a recently nominated
National Hall of Fame inductee, Ray Hanley Jr. and Pat
Daddino.
The Wantagh team is working with a strong foundation
using a kids program which is in it’s fifteenth year as well as
a good middle school program. The Wantagh Club is open
all year round and welcomes other towns and athletes.
Wantagh “Warriors in Action! Starting from top row left to right:
Chris Aroz, Chris Lowe, James Corbett, Kyle Quinn, Gary Sidoti,
Dan McDevitt
All photos courtesy of: Joe D'Aquila / phototrens.com
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Norman Maisel grew up in
Camp Hill, a small town in
central Pennsylvania. He attended
West Shore High School, where
he lettered in three sports. He
attended Gettysburg College,
where he majored in psychology
and graduated with honors, and
earned letters in football,
wrestling and track. His first job
after college was as a teacher
and head football coach at
Hallifax High School.
Probably the most influential
event in Norm’s wrestling career
occurred when he returned to
Gettysburg to earn advanced
degrees, coach freshman football
and act as assistant wrestling
coach. The legendary Frank
“Sprig” Gardner was the head
wrestling coach at Gettysburg,
and Norm had the experience
of studying wrestling with the
master.
Following his year at
Gettysburg, Norm became a
coach at East Meadow High School, and soon after, he was
named head wrestling coach at Amityville High School, a
position he held for the next 25 years. During his years at
Amityville, his teams had a record of 261 wins, 85 losses,
and 2 ties. This record includes 15 League titles, and 3
Section XI Class B titles. During his tenure, there were
two state champions, 10 Section XI winners, and 53
individual place winners. Under his reign, 87 wrestlers
achieved the title of league
champion. Both his first and
last teams were undefeated
(along with two others).
Norm was chosen League
Coach of the Year eight
times and Suffolk County
Grand Master. The Amityville
wrestling room was named
after him, and he was
recently inducted into the
Amityville Sports Hall of
Fame.
Norm was instrumental
in helping to set up the
Town of Babylon youth
wrestling program, and he
was also very involved in
Freestyle
and
Greco
Roman wrestling.
Many outstanding high
school coaches have come
out of Norm’s Amityville
program — among the
best are Steve Gaydosh,
the most outstanding
wrestling
coach
in
Alabama; Ken Maisel, the coach of University High
School in Morgantown, West Virginia, a perennial top
ten finisher in the West Virginia State Tournament;
Tony Walters, who has built the St. Anthony’s program
to one of the best in New York State; and Bill Maisel,
whose 2003 team won the overall Section XI title.
Norm left Amityville in the 1990s to accept a job as
athletic academic coordinator at Michigan State University.
(left) Norm competing at Gettysburg College. He later returned
and was assistant wrestling coach under “Sprig: Gardner.
(Center) Norm and wife Jan. (Right) Norm cheering on Tony
Walters who is now wrestling coach at St. Anthonys. Many of
Norms wrestlers have become successful coaches.
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COACH & CHEERLEADER
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The Cedar Brook Golf
Club is located in
Old Brookville, one of
the most exclusive
communities on
Long Island’s
Gold Coast.
Golfers include
Olympians,
national champions
and
celebrities
The
annual
golf outing
Is the
major yearly
fund raising
event
we hold to
pay for all the
programs
we sponsor
to assist
wrestling
SAve the date
and help Us....
help
wrestling
Call for details:
The Friends Of Long
Island Wrestling
(516) 804-8676
Our 2012 Host Was Rob Anspach,
Head Wrestling Coach of Hofstra University.
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By: Pascal Perri
It takes a very special person to become an
outstanding wrestling official. Great Coaches and/or
wrestling champions do not necessarily make the
grade.During more than 70 years in wrestling, I have
seen great officials, and I can state with complete
confidence that there has never been a better one
than Mark Piven.
Mark is a Long Island native. He was an outstanding high school wrestler coached by wrestling
legends, Sprig Gardner and Ken Hunte at Mepham
High School. During his high school career he won
numerous titles including the prestigious Long
Island Championship.
At Penn State he was coached by another
wrestling legend, Charlie Spidel. Mark was
a mainstay for three years on a very
strong P.S.U. team. He topped off his
college career with a 3rd place finish
at 130 pounds in the 1964 NCAA
Division 1 Championships at
Cornell. After graduation, he won
several AAU championships and in
1968 he took 3rd place in the Final
Olympic trials in Ames, Iowa at 125.5
pounds when he was forced to default
in the final round robin due to an
injury.
After graduation Mark spent
several years coaching at the high
school and college levels.
All of his wrestling activities
prepared him for the next
step in his wrestling career.
He was now ready to
buy a whistle and stripped shirt and step onto the
mats as a “Rookie” Referee.
Mark had learned his trade well. In a very few
years he built a reputation as one of the most
outstanding mat officials in the nation. It was not
long before he was invited to officiate many of the
“spotlight” duals and championships. By the end of
his officiating career, he had refereed 19 NCAA
Division 1 National Championships, 24 EIWA
Conference finals, The Big 10 Championships, the
National Duals, the Virginia Duals, the NWCA
East/West Meet, the NWCA All Star Meet, and
many more college, open, and high school
championships.
In 1997, Mark Piven was inducted
into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
in Stillwater, Oklahoma as an outstanding
official. This was a fitting tribute to
one of wrestling’s greatest officials.
Wrestling for Mepham High School in
1960, Mark Piven became Ken Hunte’s
first Long Island Champion. In 1964,
wrestling for Penn State, Mark finished
third at the NCAA tournament, losing
only to 3-time NCAA Champion & 2-time
Olympic Champion, Yojiro Uetake
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NASSAU COUNTY
WRESTLING OFFICIALS
AT THE 2012
SECTION 8 TOURNAMENT
Back row: (left to right) Ken Richards, Avi Shmuley, Matt Fiala, Jerry Armengau
Vincent Paolano, Roy Scott
Kneeling (left to right) Bill Starke, Pat Sullivan, John Hamilton, Rob Aquilina
Bill Young, Nick D’Anna
NASSAU COUNTY WRESTLING OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION
President: BILL YOUNG
Vice President: JIM HALL
Secretary/Treasurer: GERRY ARMENGAU
Interpreter: BILL STARKE
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SUFFOLK COUNTY
WRESTLING OFFICIALS
AT THE 2012
SECTION 11 TOURNAMENT
Back row:(left to right) Rich Boscarino, Greg Mazzola, Chad Smith, John Trucello
Front row: Sean Broking, Dan Harrell
SUFFOLK COUNTY WRESTLING OFFICIALS ASSOCIATION
President: CHAD SMITH
Secretary/Treasurer: ROY SCOTT
Interpreter: JOHN TRUCELLO
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years, 3,000 seizures, and every possible drug, my seizures were
still uncontrolled and getting worse. I was a candidate for
surgery and a portion of my brain was removed. I remember
thinking,, better me than my two brothers going through this
experience! I had to win, and would.
Today I’ve been 100 months seizure free without side
effects. I pinned epilepsy!
Richard Shane is a former Baldwin High
School wrestler who battled epilepsy for
many years before successful surgery ended
the crippling seizures. What follows is
Shanes’ story in his own words.
Having wrestled at Baldwin Harbor Junior High School
and then at Baldwin High School, prepared me for my biggest
match...me vs. epilepsy. Epilepsy has a winning record, typically
demoralizing its opponents. A feeling of despair and defeatism
frequently felt by people.
When my first seizures began at 22, I told myself “get back
to the gym. Too much partying in college, go back to the gym
and work this thing out of me”. The match went into overtime,
but after 22 years and some 3,000 seizures, I beat epilepsy! It was
mano a mano, just like in high school. Someone has to win, why
not me? If I ran longer than my opponent, worked harder, I
could be the victor. At Baldwin, I probably had about an 80%
winning record. I was a division runner-up, losing in overtime in
the finals.
Two coaches influenced me: Tom Lamendola at Baldwin
Harbor Jr. High and, of all people, the boys varsity basketball
coach, Mike Cohen. I was told he used me as an example
during halftime of a game, saying to the team: “You guys have
to work harder. Look at Shane. He doesn’t have the greatest
ability in the world but he works harder than anyone else, so he
wins.”
That’s the attitude I brought with me into the wrestling room
and against epilepsy; Determination to win. So after those 22
Richard Shane was an inspiration to many athletes at Baldwin High School. He is
pictured above competing as a varsity wrestler. He finished as a division runner-up after a
overtime loss. After a long bout with epilepsy, he had surgery and is now free of seizures.
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Proof that size dosen’t always matter
JOHN GLENN “Knights”
WRESTLING
By: T. J. Brocking
The John Glenn Knights have been considered one of
NYS. The team only graduated two seniors from the
the premier wrestling programs on Long Island and NY State
previous year, and had a lineup full of All Suffolk County,
since 2007, and they arguably have had the best run of any
and All league kids. The team had so much depth that their
small school in Suffolk County history.Led by Head Coach
"B" team competed in many tournaments and dual meets
T.J. Brocking and assistant coach Bill Davey their run began
which they also had a lot of success. "The 2009 team was
by capturing the Division 2
still a growing year for us. We
Suffolk County Championship
went into that Suffolk County
in 2007 and finished ranked
tournament not knowing if
eleventh in NYS D2. They
we were going to be able to
finished their first post-season
win the whole thing. That
tournament with 7 champions
always has been the goal, but
and 4 other finalists; all of
I was still looking to the 2010
which were returning for the
season when our core group
following year. When asked
were going to be seniors. We
about what he thought about
wrestled very well and were
his first year as the head varable to come out on top of a
sity coach, Brocking said "We
couple of very good teams in
knew that we had a real speHauppauge and Longwood."
cial group. They came up
said Brocking
through our very successful
In 2010 the team had
youth program; the Blue (Above) The 2010 John Glenn team is shown celebrating their second consecutive
a season that many coaches
Wave, led by Tom Giaramita, Section XI Championship. They were also ranked number one in New York State.
dream about, they won their
and our middle school team (Below) Nick Meinson. 2010 New York State champion. He helped the “Knights”
second consecutive Suffolk
led by Darren Szokoli. It was record their third consecutive undefeated season.
County Division 1 Championship,
not clear how good we were
finished undefeated for the
going to be over the next
third year in a row and
couple of years, but we saw a
finished the season ranked
lot of potential"
first in NYS. The team was led
After a successful season,
by New York State champion
and with so many athletes
Nick Meinsen, and a handful
coming back the Knights
of other current college
decided to move out of
wrestlers. When Brocking
Division 2 and up to Division
was asked about that year he
1 for the 2007- 2008 season.
said "That season was so
With a team loaded with
special I was so lucky to have
underclassmen the Knights
kids that wanted to be the
were able to earn a very
best. And they did everything
respectable 4th place finish in
they could to reach their
the County tournament. More
team and individual goals."
importantly the season helped
After graduating one of the
develop the young talent against the better competition,
such a successful senior class in the 2010 team , the team
which helped lead to the success over the next
responded great as the 2011 Knights placed second in
couple of years. Brocking said "looking back now it was a
Suffolk County (behind Longwood) crowning 3 individual
great move for our program, it really helped us to motivate
champions (most in tournament) and finished 5th in NYS.
the kids to get better. It was a test for all of us to see if we
They also won their 5th consecutive League Dual Meet and
could wrestle with the the best."
Tournament titles. " I am still a little upset about the county
The team rolled into the 2009 season with confidence and
tournament in 2011, I felt if we wrestled our best we could
captured the Suffolk County Division 1 Championship; the
have pulled it off. Unfortunately for us, Longwood wrestled
first in school history and finished the season ranked 4th in
great and we just couldn't make up the point difference.
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meets, where we just can not find
However, to have some of the
kids at certain weights. We have
guys that helped build our probeen fortunate enough to develop
gram go out with Suffolk County
kids that have been able to fill
titles, and All State honors made
gaps to help our team be successme feel a lot better " Brocking
ful. And more importantly our
said.
individuals have really been able
Many considered the John
to excel."
Glenn team to be finished with
During Coach Brockings run
their run in 2012. What people
they ran up a 64 dual meet win
thought of as a rebuilding year
streak which is currently the 3rd
turned out to be another
longest in Suffolk history . Since
successful season for the Knights.
2007 the team has crowned 3
In
2012
the
Knights
NYS Champions and has had a
finished 5th in Suffolk and
total of 13 All State wrestlers. At
crowned 2 NYS Champions (James
the Suffolk County level , which
Dekrone, and Nick Bellanza). The
only teams that finished ahead of
has been the dominant section
John Glenn in the team race were
in New York for over a decade,
much larger schools. Brocking said
36
Knights have earned
when talking about school size "I
Division 1 All County wrestlers
try to use it as a positive for our
in the last 5 seasons. "The program
small town. I am lucky that I
was set up to be successful
can develop a relationship with
because we had so much support
from the Superintendent, the
every kid in the district from In 2012, James DeKrone (above) and Nick Bellanza finished the
kindergarten to high school. season as New York State Champions. The John Glenn team as a whole, Athletic Director, Board of
Education, youth coaches, middle
Everyone knows that I am going to were very successful, finishing 5th in the Section XI tournament
school coaches and of course the parents and kids.
push for the best athletes to be wrestlers, and be a part of
They wanted to be the best, and it worked out"
our team. Being such a small school hurts us more in dual
LYNBROOK YOUTH ASSOCIATION
Hilary Becker • Bob Becker • Kevin Murphy
Salute the 2013 Inductees Into
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame
Bill Brennen • Sal Difazio • George Dlugolonski
George & Richard Doherty
Reggie Jones. Jr. • Norm Maisel
As Well As
Friends of Long Island Wrestling Jerry Seckler, President
Hofstra Wrestling
Rob Anspach Head Coach
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SUFFOLK COUNTY COACHES ASSOCIATION
SALUTES THE 2012 DIVISION 1
NEW YORK STATE & SECTION XI CHAMPIONS
Front Row (left to right) ALEX TANZMAN, Westhampton Beach; NICK PICCINNI, Ward Melville
COREY JAMISON, Huntington; MATT LESHINGER, Sayville; MAVERICK PASSARO, Eastport-South Manor
NICK MAURIELLO, Hauppauge; MALIK RASHEED, Longwood; COREY RASHEED, Longwood
Back Row (left to right) NICK HALL, Longwood; TYLER GRIMALDI, Half Hollow Hills West
DYLAN SEBOLT, Longwood; GIO SANTIAGO, Sachem North; ZACK CONNOR, Islip;
DAVID RUBINO, Commack; MICHAEL HUGHES, Smithtown West
NEW YORK STATE PLACEWINNERS
CHAMPIONS:
NICK PICCINNI; SEAN McCABE, Connetquot; MAVERICK PASSARO; JAMES DEKRONE, John Glenn
NICK BELLANZA, John Glenn
RUNNER-UPS:
ALEXIS BLANCO, Brentwood; COREY RASHEED, NICK HALL, TYLER GRIMALDI
THIRD PLACE:
ALEX TANZMAN, MATT LESHINGER, DYLAN SEBOLT
FOURTH PLACE:
JJ FABIAN, Shoreham Wading River; GIOVANNI SANCHEZ, Central Islip; NICK MAURIELLO
MALIK RASHEED, JOE CALDERONE, Walt Whitman
FIFTH PLACE:
NICK LUPI, Huntington
SIXTH PLACE:
ANTHONY PISTONE, Sachem East; GIO SANTIAGO, ZACK CONNOR, MICHAEL HUGHES
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SUFFOLK COUNTY COACHES ASSOCIATION
SECTION XI CHAMPIONS AND
NYS PlACEWINNERS
Front Row (left to right) LUCAS WEBB, Mattituck; MICHAEL MENZER, Center Moriches
HUNTER HULSE, Stony Brook; JUSTIN UNDERWOOD, Bayport-Blue Point
SEAN KELLY, Babylon; RYAN HAKE, BAyport-Blue Point
DYLAN ROBERTS, Port Jefferson; DOM EVANGELISTA, Port Jefferson
Back Row (left to right) PAUL CAVANAUGH, Port Jefferson; TRAVIS BASKERVILLE, Center Moriches
TOMASZ FLIPKOWSKI, Mattituck; BRIAN LOSCAMP, Babylon; CHRIS BAGLIVI, Mattituck
KEVIN GIRON, Hampton Bays; HARRISON DeSOUSA, Bayport-Blue Point
FOURTH PLACE:
HARRISON DeSOUSA
FIFTH PLACE:
TRAVIS BASKERVILLE
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SANDY WASN’T DANDY FOR
NASSAU CC’s WRESTLERS
By Mike Candel
All of which left Schmidt scratching his head.
For 17 days, Nassau’s wrestling team could not get into its own
practice facility. But that wasn’t the only problem. Some team
members lost their homes. Others were living in frigid homes
with no power. Still others had no means of transportation. So
even if they could’ve found a way to get to practice, there
would’ve been no place to practice.
Schmidt, who has guided the Lions to five national junior
college championships was forced to make some hard and
unhappy decisions. “We dropped out of some meets that have
been a regular part of our schedule for years,” the coach said.
“We basically became a spring semester sport this season.
Our first meet (Wilkes Open, Dec. 28) comes after the fall
semester ends.”
The Merchant Marine dual meet. Out. The New York State
championships. Out. The Bob Quade Open in New Jersey. Out.
Not only were the Lions out of the Long Island Open, but the
event which has been hosted by Nassau CC for more than 30
years, had to be moved to Kings Point.
“We won’t wrestle at home the entire season,” Schmidt said.
“We’re going to be road warriors.”
It has been a difficult pill to swallow for one of the country’s
elite wrestling programs. “I’m chomping at the bit to get going
because on paper we have an outstanding team,” the coach said.
Indeed, the Lions have five former state high school champions
and numerous county titleholders on their 38-man roster.
The picture is muddled at 125 where Stephen Drew
(Connetquot), John Pelligrino (Levittown) and Andrew Traficante
(Lindenhurst) are battling to win the starting nod. At 133lbs John
Miller (Shirley), who laid out last year after earning all-American
honors two years ago will be one of the favorites to win a
National Championship. Nine grapplers are competing at 141
where former state champion James DeKrone (John Glenn)
appears to have the edge if he can make weight. If he can’t, it
could open the door for Santiago Valdez, a Virginia state titlist. If
DeKrone is forced to move up a weight class, he will have to get
past another state champion, Kyle Wade (Islip).
As if Anthony Herring (Freeport) and Adam DeJesus (Long
Beach) didn’t have enough trouble competing against each other
at 157, both have been displaced from their homes. DeJesus,
who lives in Long Beach, stays with his aunt Marie in Freeport
three days a week. “The other four days,” DeJesus said, “I stay
in our apartment in Long Beach but it’s really cold.”
DeJesus still can’t get over the sight of water pouring into the
apartment where he lives with his parents, two brothers and two
sisters. “We couldn’t control it,” he said. “We tried to keep it out
but there was nothing we could do about it. We figured it would
stop eventually but it never did.”
Needless to say, transportation to Nassau CC for classes and
practice sessions has been a nightmare for DeJesus. “When I’m
in Long Beach I take two buses and it takes at least two hours
to get to Nassau. I have to catch a 6:45 bus in the morning to get
to the college by 9.” That’s more than two hours to
Battling through adversity has always been an integral part
of athletics. A basketball team is losing by 10 points with two
minutes to go and rallies to win at the buzzer. A runner trails by
five yards in the closing moments of a quarter-mile race but
comes from behind to win at the finish line. An exhausted
wrestler is losing by one point with less than 15 seconds remaining in the final period yet digs deep into himself and gets a reversal to gain a one-point victory as time runs out.
Those are some of the usual adverse situations athletes must
face. However, the coaches and wrestlers at Nassau Community
College had no way to anticipate the kind of adversity they
would be up against this season.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this,” said the Lions
longtime coach Paul Schmidt. “Hurricane Sandy has thrown our
team, in fact all of Nassau’s teams, into chaos.”
That’s because Nassau’s Physical Education and Athletic
Complex became a shelter for literally hundreds of people who
lost house and home in the storm. Everywhere you looked there
were cots; in the Field House, in the Main Gym and even in the
hallways, to say nothing of the army of staff people from the
county, the police department and the Red Cross who took over
the building.
In spite of the terrible conditions on Long Island after hurricane Sandy, the members of the
Nassau Community team worked hard at practice to prepare for a drastically altered
season. They are optimistic about their chances for another national championship.
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negotiate a trip that ordinarily would take 35 minutes. “Since the
hurricane, public transportation is all over the place. You never
know if a bus is going to be on time or if it’s going to show up.
Not surprisingly, all the traveling and living in two different
places has taken a toll on DeJesus. “I’m not well rested, so I’m
wrestling tired,” he said. “You can’t work as hard (on the mat)
when there’s so much other stuff going on in your life. Just
living is a fulltime job right now.”
Still, DeJesus and his teammates persevere. “These kids love
to wrestle,” Schmidt said. “It keeps them going.”
The Lions appear to be strong in the upper weight classes,
too. Juan Carlos-Diaz (Levittown) is attempting to drop down
from 174 to 165. If he can’t do it, the starter looks like Miguel
Ponce (Elmont). Former state champion Chanse Menendez
(Hauppauge) has the inside track at 174 and Frank Merante
(Sachem), a national qualifier last year is solid at 184. “Merante
didn’t place at the nationals,” Schmidt said. “But he got there and
that’s a significant achievement. We expect big things
from him this season.”
Ian MacIneirghe (East Islip) is the leader at 197 and 285pound Yaseen Mudassar (Levittown), an all-American last
year, will try to improve on his fifth place national finish.
Mudassar is ranked second in the NJCAA preseason
ratings.
The challenge for this particular Nassau team is obvious.
Despite the fact that all that talent has been displaced, delayed
and held at a near standstill thanks to Hurricane Sandy, the goal
remains the same: climb to the top of the junior college
mountain again.
“We’re going to be real good by the end of the season,” said
Schmidt. “We should be peaking at tournament time. This year,
especially, I’d love to see us come home with a national
championship.”
And wouldn’t that be something.
VOUGAR OROUDJOV
Two-time World Champion Joins Long Island Wrestling Community
national reputation in America. He displayed an
exceptional knowledge of wrestling and a perfect
style of demonstrating various wrestling moves.
Vougar worked with the Nassau Community College
team and in the summers coordinated a training program clinic for all those who wanted to improve their
wrestling technique.
At present, Vougar has been married to Zhanna for
the past 22 years and is the proud father of 3 sons, Nick
20, Vitale 13, and George 9. Nick is currently competing
for Cornell University.Vougar’s most recent assignment
has been Team Leader of the American Men’s Freestyle
World Cup Wresting Team which incidentally took place
in Vougar’s home country of Azerbaijan this year.
Vougar Oroudjov comes from Baku, Azerbaijan, which
was a part of the USSR. Vougar, considered one of the
greatest wrestlers in the world, immigrated to America in
the late 1990’s. When asked what made him decide to
leave his home he summed it up in one word, “freedom”.
He further added it was also the family opportunities
available as an American.Oroudjov was a World
Champion in 1991, 3rd place Olympian in 1992 and
World Champion in 1995.
Upon arriving in California, Vougar landed a job as
an assistant coach at Lamson Junior College. After a 3
year stint, he moved to New York and approached Paul
Schmidt, the Head Wrestling Coach at Nassau Community
College. It was at Nassau where he began to develop his
(Left) Coaches Paul Schmidt and Vougar Oroudjov bring a world of knowledge to the
Nassau Community wrestling program, making it one of the most successful in the United
States.
(Above) Vouugar demonstrates a move with one of the Nassau wrestlers. He is considered
one of the most accomplished technicians in the world and the results can be seen in the
success of the Nassau team.
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NASSAU COUNTY COACHES ASSOCIATION
SECTION VIII & NYS CHAMPIONS &
PLACEWINNERS
Front Row (left to right) J. RODRIQUEZ, Wantagh; J. COOKSEY, MacArthur;
M. RAGHUNANDAN, Long Beach; J. LANZILLOTTI, Roslyn; M. LOFRESE, Garden City
M. IRBY, Freeport; D. McDEVITT, Wantagh; L. HERNANDEZ, Mepham
Back Row (left to right) D. TRACY, Mepham; D. PALACIO, Long Beach; D. SPURGEON, Plainedge
A. JONES, Plainedge; R. ZORN, Sewanhaka East; A. COLE, Uniondale; D. SALKEY, Uniondale
CHAMPIONS:
D. PALACIO • D. SPURGEON
RUNNER-UP:
J. RODRIQEZ • J. COOKSEY
THIRD PLACE:
K. SEWKUMAR, Long Beach
FOURTH PLACE:
A. JONES
FIFTH PLACE:
R. PERSON, Bellmore JFK • D. McDEVITT • R. ZORN • D. SALKEY
SIXTH PLACE:
M LOFRESE
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NASSAU COUNTY COACHES ASSOCIATION
SECTION VIII CHAMPIONS
& NYS PLACEWINNER
Front Row (left to right) N. CASELLA, Locust Valley; H. DUSOLD, Locust Valley; C. EXUM, Oyster Bay
R. ARNEL, Oyster Bay; R. HENEY, Locust Valley; M. LONG, Mineola; J. FORMICOLA, Locust Valley
Back Row (left to right) B. MEYER, Oyster Bay; J. MASSARO, Mineola; R MORGAN, Oyster Bay
D. RANKIN, Oyster Bay; D. GORRY, Mineola; I ESTEVEZ, Oyster Bay; R SALINAS, Carle Place
NEW YORK STATE PLACEWINNER
RUNNER-UP:
NICK CASSELLA
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“HAUPPAUGE A FEW YEARS AWAY”
By Chris Messina
The Hauppauge wrestling team has been hit hard the past
few years graduating a good number of seniors year after year.
2011-12 was no different with Hauppauge saying goodbye to
eight veteran starters. With the eight in place, the 2011-12
“Eagles” went 11-1 winning the League IV dual meet and
tournament crowns. This team was responsible for winning
over 80 matches in the past four years along with four league
dual meet titles and three league tournament championships,
not to mention several top ten finishes in the NYS team
rankings. Hauppauge finished sixth in the Suffolk County
Championship with four individual place winners. Nick
Mauriello, capped an outstanding career winning the 132 lb.
Suffolk County title, placing fourth in the NYS tournament.
division at the NHSCA National tournament held in Virginia.
Chris has already grown to compete at 126 or 132 this year and
has his eye on breaking the Hauppauge history books. Seniors,
Jake Cherkes, Tal Granot, Max Chin, Seungsoo Im, Mike Rizzo
and Joe Calabrese, all will be adding much needed depth in the
middle and upper weights. Jake won the league tournament
at 195lbs. and was one match away from a Suffolk County
placement. Granot, and Chin both placed 4th in the league
tournament.
Juniors will be led by 3rd place league
finishers, Mike Byrus, Austin Munro, Ralph Cazzetta and
Connor Kelly.
Cazzetta, spent a month at the J Robinson
Intensive camp in Minnesota and is ready for the next level.
All have worked very hard in the off-season and will be
Nick finished his career with 128 wins, placing In the Suffolk
Championship 3 X’s and winning two league championships
along the way. He is attending Binghamton hoping to break
into the lineup in 2012-13. Graduate, Sam Schwartzapfel,
finished a nice career for Hauppauge as a two time Suffolk
place winner, finishing fourth this past year, ending with 112
career wins. Sam is attending Hofstra.
Returning for the Hauppauge team is 2010 NYS champion,
Mark West. Mark entering his senior year has currently
amassed 119 varsity wins along with three Suffolk County
placing’s. He won his 3rd League championship this past year,
including several individual tournaments. He is looking to
win his second Suffolk and NYS title’s at 120-126 lbs. Freshman
sensation, Chris Mauriello, also has his eye on a Suffolk and
NYS title. Entering his freshman year as a 2X All-County and
2X League Champion, Chris has accumulated 72 varsity wins.
In 2012, he was crowned the 2012 National Champion in his
looking for a place in the Suffolk tournament. Juniors,
Dominick Holder, Vinny Drago and James Louison, should add
some more depth in the upper weights. Much of the future
talent could be found in the sophomore class. League place
winners, Dan Murphy and Francisco Bisono, lead a list of
several very talented wrestlers. Dan Smith, Nick Kurz, John
Donahue, Ricky Panciroli, Mason Ezring and Anthony
Ottaviano, all have had some varsity experience and could
break into the line-up. Hauppauge may also get some help
from middle school wrestlers, Jake Silverstein and Ben
Tepperman both having success on the national level. The
season will prove to be very exciting with several tough teams
in league four. Half Hollow Hills West, East Islip and Riverhead
all are returning very talented and experienced teams.
Hauppauge’s strength will once again be in the individual
tournaments. Hopefully the “Eagles” can find a way to soar
once again.
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“A PICTURE SAYS A
THOUSAND WORDS”
By Chris Messina
Over the years coaches face many obstacles in developing a
contributed to Nick making it thru this deadly infection beginning
team and sometimes lose sight as to what’s really important. How do
with the outstanding care given at the hospital and the tremendous
we measure our successes and failures regarding our team, our
support he received all over Long Island and New York State, but
individuals, and ourselves? Do we count wins and losses or
none more than the fact that he was in terrific shape as a result of him
individual achievement at the post season tournaments? Have we
being a wrestler. Twelve days on life support thousands of prayers
taught our wrestlers any messages for life? I’m sure everyone has their
and his family by his side, Nick finally showed the ability to breathe
own opinions but sometimes fate puts
on his own and signs of improvement.
everything in perspective. Such is the case of
Although his body showed the effects of the
Hauppauge’s own Nick Mauriello, who
illness, losing 25 lbs., Nicks long road to
Nick had all the makings of a true
recovery was about to take place. Most of
champion spending years coming thru the
the physicians on hand did not know what
ranks of the youth program at Hauppauge
effects the illness had on his body but all
starting to make his name on the national
were in agreement the chances of him
level. Nick began wrestling varsity as a
wrestling again were slim to none. But then
ninth grader and immediately made a
again not many people truly understand the
tremendous impact on the Hauppauge
mind of a wrestler or the power the one
program. He won several tournaments
possesses when competing at such a high
during the year at 96lbs., including the
level. Nick knew from the moment he
League V Championship. He finished the
opened his eyes that he would not be denied
year at 31-3 and although was seeded first in
the opportunity to fulfill his dream of becoming
the Suffolk county tournament unfortunately
a Suffolk and New York State champion.
came down with bronchitis the week of the
From his early days of using a walker to his
counties and had to settle for fifth. His sophlong hours of rehab only his family and those
omore year proved to be as
of us in the wrestling community knew it
difficult. Starting the year at 103 lbs. Nick
was only a matter of time when he would
quickly grew out of the weight and moved
return to probably the most demanding sport
up to 112lbs. by the time the
in high school today. After months of
tournaments came around, although small
weightlifting and conditioning Nick came
for the weight, Nick placed second in
back to Hauppauge as a senior ready to take
the leagues and fourth in the county
on the world. Much to the surprise of the
tournament. He finished with a 21-6 record.
Medical field who witnessed his illness, Nick
Spending considerable time over the
started the season on fire. He won the
summer preparing to have a legitimate shot
Bellport, East Hampton and Massapequa
at a Suffolk and NYS title, Nick began his
tournaments and was voted the MVP of the
junior year on fire winning the Bellport and
Massapequa tournament. He placed second
Massapequa tournaments and placing third
in the Eastern States Classic and won his
Nick Mauriello is shown winning the Suffolk County barely
in the prestigious Eastern States Classic. His a year after being stricken with an illness that threatened second League tournament and given MVP
record up to that point was 31-2. He was not only his wrestling career, but his life.
honors. His dream of becoming a Suffolk
focused and ready to take on the League
County champion was realized approximateand County tournament when a pain in his neck would not go away.
ly one year after he was stricken with the infection. Immediately after
With the league dual meet title on the line with Islip and the
his victory, the crowd of close to five thousand coaches, wrestlers and
Newburgh Duals a few days away Nick was given a few days rest to
spectators jumped to their feet to give Nick and his achievement a
see if his muscle pain would subside. Missing the Islip match and
standing ovation. Not because of the win in the finals but due to his
Newburgh tournaments did not sit well with Nick but he stayed home
unbelievable courage and will to realize his goals regardless of the
and was sent to a Chiropractor and then an orthopedic specialist. The
path that was given to him. Although he did not complete his quest
orthopedic physician first put him on pain relievers then decided to
to become a New York State champion, Nick placed fourth to add his
take him off of the medication when little change occurred.
place in the history books at Hauppauge.
Apparently the medication was masking the symptoms of a deadly
As his coach, even to discuss Nick’s junior year is very difficult.
disease that soon found Nick being rushed to the hospital with a 200
After thirty five years of coaching, winning the leagues and counties
plus heart rate and a staggering high blood pressure. He was moved
seemed so meaningless when confronted with one of your own
from one Hospital to Stony Brook where he was tested for various
wrestler’s life. All that our staff, district and community wanted was
infections. Nick was soon on life support, suffering from a combination of
to get Nick back and healthy, everything else was placed on a back
MURSA and a rare disease called Lemeire’s syndrome. Apparently,
burner. Now, one year later, to witness the miracle of life and
the infection starting in the muscles of the neck, invaded the carotid
triumph, we have all added another attribute of wrestling to the long
artery, spreading throughout his organs and body. Many things
list that exists today.
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By Yar Smada
Dylan Palacio had one of the great seasons in New York
State Wrestling history in 2012. His hard work and determination
catapulted him to a perfect senior campaign. When it was all said
and done his resume was second to none: 2012 National
Champion, 2012 New York State Champion, 2012 Nassau County
Champion, 2012 Eastern States Champion and Most Outstanding
Wrestler. It was a great ride and a
season packed with exciting wins over
nationally ranked opponents.
In January at the Eastern State
Championships, Palacio dropped down
to 152 pounds to challenge defending
State Champion and freestyle National
Champion Brian Realbuto of Somers
(Section 1). Before a packed house,
Palacio scored an 8-5 win over
Realbuto. He was voted the Most
Outstanding Wrestler for his win. After
securing his third Nassau County title
with an impressive win over highly
regarded Joe Cataldo of MacArthur, it
was off to the New York State
Championships in Albany. Four
members of the Palacio family have
won Nassau County titles: Al Palacio
(4), Dylan (3), Leo and Luis. In three
previous trips to the states, Dylan had
been denied the elusive New York State
title. In his sophomore and junior years
he dropped his semi-final match. He
battled back to take 4th in 2010 and 3rd in 2011. This year would
be different. He defeated highly regarded Frank Affronti of
Wayne (Section 5) in the semi-finals to reach the finals. In the
championship round, Palacio would face Tyler Grimaldi of Half
Hollow Hills West (Section 11) at 160 lbs. Dylan did not let up
as he defeated Grimaldi 11-4 to capture the coveted title of New
York State Champion. He became the tenth New York State
Champion in the history of the Long Beach Wrestling Program.
He joins his uncle, Al Palacio (3x State Champion) on the
Long Beach Wall of State Champions along with Richard Santana,
Scotty Graham, Aldy Teran, Kevin Haggerty, Eduardo Delgado
and P.J. Gillespie. After Albany, his season was still not over. His
next goal was to be a National Champion in April at the
N.H.S.C.A. Senior Nationals. In a charity event called Pinning
Down Autism in March, an All-Star team from New York
wrestled an all-star team from New Jersey. Palacio (41-0) squared
off against undefeated New Jersey State Champion Raamiah
Bethea. In an exciting match, Palacio would secure a fall on
Bethea in the third period to help Team NY to an exciting win
over the Garden State. Palacio was voted the Most Outstanding
Wrestler of the event. The next stop was Virginia Beach for the
National High School Coaches Association National
Championships in early April. Palacio would not be denied as he
ran off seven straight wins to capture the 152 lb. National
Championship. In the semi-finals, he scored at 15-4 win over
Ben Sullivan of national powerhouse Apple Valley in Minnesota.
In the finals, he scored a dominant 6-2 victory over multiple- time
Georgia State Champion Austin Trott. He became the
second Senior National Champion in
the last twelve years, joining Jonathan
Masa (2000) for the Long Beach
Marines. You would think that his high
school career would come to an end
with this victory...think again! Palacio
would then go on to win the New York
State titles in Greco-Roman and
freestyle. He was voted the
Outstanding Wrestler in the GrecoRoman tournament. These victories
helped him to win the New York State
“Triple Crown” of Wrestling. He
wrestled in the Flowrestling National
Club Duals with Team Excel, went
undefeated and helped Excel win the
team national title. A key win was over
Pennsylvania State Champion Garrett
Peppelman. In June he wrestled with
Team NY at the Disney Duals and
went undefeated. With that came the
end of a great career and a perfect
senior season.
Palacio will continue his wrestling
career at Cornell under the direction of Head Coach Rob Koll.
In addition, to Palacio, two other Long Beach wrestlers earned
All-American honors at the N.H.S.C.A. National Championships
in Virginia Beach. Krishna Sewkumar (106) and Mark
Raghunandan (113) both earned All-American honors by
finishing fifth in the nation. Long Beach became the first team in
New York State to have three senior All-Americans in one year.
Sewkumar was Nassau County Champion and two-time All-State
finisher and Raghunandan was a two-time Nassau County
Champion, three time All-State finisher. Raghunandan will
continue his career at S.U.N.Y. at Brockport.
This year, the Marines of Long Beach will be young and will
look to its four seniors for leadership. Steven Sewkumar, second in
Nassau County last year will lead the way and look to capture the
Nassau County and State title. Also look to Joe Sweeney, Walter
Ulloa and Zamarr Allen for big points. Junior Jaemen Connelly,
third in Nassau County last season, will look to climb to the top of
the podium this year. Top newcomers include: Alan Teemer, Mike
Alcivar, Tyler O’Conner, Tyler Ostrander and Marke Sutton. This
years schedule will be loaded again as the Marines will compete in
the “Battle at the Beach”, Baldwin Tournament, Grapple at the
Garden, and the Eastern States.
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Continuing a Tradition of Excellence
BALDWIN WRESTLING
The inception of Baldwin Wrestling Program by Coach Ed
Program recalls walking into the county tournament unseeded and
Reinisch in 1941 has been followed by many decades of
pulling off several upsets to earn All- County Honors. These alumni
success. Over the years, there have been numerous influential
exemplify the Baldwin Wrestling legacy of hard work and success on
wrestlers. Here’s a decade by decade look at some of them.
the mat.
The 1940s were the era of National Wrestling Hall of Fame
After an 11th place finish in Nassau County last season, the
member; Reggie Jones Sr.. He was a Long Island Champion and coBaldwin Bruins Wrestling Program is determined to elevate the team
Captain of the 1946 Bruins Team that gave Mepham High School their
to new heights. The Bruins aspire to uphold a legacy of
first loss after 100 consecutive wins. Reggie Jones Sr continued his
success which dates back to 1941. A dedicated coaching staff, led by
wrestling career by coaching at Garden City Jr High and refereeing
second year Head Coach James Murphy and Assistant Coaches Mike
across Long Island.
Janosko, Tom Daddino, Paul Stuart, Tom Llewellyn and Tyshawn
The 1950’s featured heavyweight wrester Tom Megale, who
Scarlett, have established a culture of accountability, motivation and
continued the Baldwin way of commitment by coaching at Tresper
commitment both on and off the mat. Several key strategies have
W. Clarke High School. B.A Schoen is one of three
been implemented this season to instill these important values into the
brothers who were Captains of the team in the 1960s. He is an example
young wrestlers.
of the dedication and commitment
The value of responsibility
that goes hand in hand with
is demonstrated though a strict
being a Bruin. Mr. Schoen
practice- uniform policy which
coached youth wrestling with
requires each wrestler to have
other alumni, Steve Shippos and
headgear, white socks and a
Chris Jackson and was the
designated color shirt in order to
Baldwin Junior High Coach with
participate in practice. A new
Alum, Nick Dinisio.
mandatory attendance policy, that
During the 1979 season,
immediately punishes truant
Mike DerGarabedian helped set a
wrestlers,
keeps
practice
record for Baldwin by winning a
numbers elevated. The Baldwin
county championship with two
Coaching Staff and Athletic
other teammates. Even a fractured
Director Ed Ramirez, frequently
leg during his senior season could
use the term “ student - athlete” to
not deter DerGarabedian from
emphasize that high academic
achieving his victory.
standards must be met before
B.A. Schoen presents Bruin Senior Quin Knauer with the Steve Shippos “Champion
DerGarabedian advises all of Champions Award” at this year’s Bruin Cup. The award is sponsored by NWHOF
athletic competition. Each Bruins
Bruins Wrestlers to stay with the Executive Board Member Michael DerGarabedian, like Schoen a Baldwin alum.
Coach uses their past learning
sport no matter how difficult it
experiences
derived
from
may be. He also believes that “Baldwin Wrestlers stand out from other
collegiate wrestling, football and even the Navy, to
schools because, other wrestlers aim to win with the strength of arms
provide inspirational anecdotes that motivate wrestlers. Off season
and legs, while Bruins look to win with their heads and their hearts”.
open- mats, demanding summer track workouts and trips to Granby
Bruin Alum, Mike Robinson attributes Baldwin’s
Wrestling Camp prove the commitment level of the entire Baldwin
accomplishments of the 1980’s to the camaraderie of teammates. The
Program. Our team’s effort will be put to the test with upcoming dual
competition for starting jobs and intense practices helped formed a
meets against formidable opponents Brooklyn Tech, Sachem North
fraternity of Baldwin brothers that lasts a lifetime. Under Coach Steve
and Shenendehowa. During the first practice of the season, the
Shippos, the Bruins won the county dual meet
coaches discussed the distinction between a goal and dream. After
tournament in Robinson’s junior season.
explaining that goals are achieved though a series of positive
The 90’s featured the career of Kevin Shippos, the winningest
proactive steps and dreams are useless fantasies, each wrestler was
wrestler in Baldwin history. Kevin was a New York state champ as
required to formulate a list of personal goals. The coaches
well as a member of the USA Wrestling World Team that
encouraged the team to include a state championship on our team’s
traveled to Europe when he was a “Kid” wrestler. Shippos is
aspirations. A novice wrestler may view a state championship as a
currently the Head Football and Assistant Wrestling Coach at
lofty ambition, but the Baldwin Coaching Staff stressed that each
Massapequa High School.
journey begins with one step. With these sentiments in mind, during
The new millennium Bruins were led by the “All-American “,
every practice, match and tournament, the Baldwin Bruins Wrestling
Chris Weidman, Baldwin’s fourth State Champion. Chris is called the
Team takes one step closer on our march towards victory.
“All American” because he has been at one at every level he
competed at: Kids, High School, Junior College (Nassau Community
The above was written by Michael White, winner of last year’s Stan Bishop Prize.
College) and Hofstra University. He is now an undefeated UFC fighter.
Mike is a Senior and a member of the Baldwin Bruin Wrestling Team. As we go to
Most recently, five year varsity wrestler Dylan Cohen advises
press, Mike has not decided where he will be next year but he has applied to Penn State
current Bruins to stay with wrestling because of the inherent life lesalong with several other universities.
sons of hard work and goal setting. The latest graduate of the Baldwin
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By Jim Sheehan
Coming off a record-setting season for a first-year wrestling
Championships to earn All-American honors. Brilliant both on the
coach in school history, Hofstra Head Wrestling Coach Rob
mat and off, Bonanno was also named the CAA Wrestling ScholarAnspach will be looking for an encore performance from his Pride
Athlete of the Year, named to the Capital One-CoSIDA Academic
grapplers in 2012-13. Anspach, a
All-American At-Large second team,
long-time assistant under both Tom
and the NWCA All-Academic team.
Ryan and Tom Shifflet, took the
Bonanno is looked upon as a
reins of the Hofstra program
legitimate national title contender as
following the 2010-11 season.
his preseason rankings as high as
In his first season in charge, the
fourth will attest. “If all goes as we
Pride recorded a 12-3 dual match
expect, we sincerely believe that
record, a 5-1 mark in the Colonial
Steve Bonanno could finish in
Athletic Association, Hofstra’s
the top two in the country,”
second consecutive CAA title and
Anspach says.
the 11th conference title in the past
Returning to a starting role at
12 years and a 23rd-place finish with
133-pounds this season is
two All-Americans at the NCAA
junior Jamie Franco (Monroe, NY),
Division I Wrestling Championships
who also had a career-best season a
in St. Louis. Anspach’s .800 winning
year ago. He posted a 21-13 record,
Coach Rob Anspach is starting his second yearn coming off a season that
percentage was the best by a firstadvanced to the CAA finals for the
saw his team win the CAA tournament and have two all-Americans
year coach in program history. He
first time and earned his first bid to
was also the first new coach in Pride wrestling
the NCAA Championships. Franco’s hard-work last season and in
history to win his first 10 dual matches.
the preseason this year has earned him a top 20 ranking in some
But the new season brings new challenges and Anspach and
of the preseason polls. “Jamie made a huge jump on the mat from
the Pride will be faced with many as Hofstra will face, arguably, the
his freshman to sophomore seasons,” Anspach says. “He gained a
most difficult schedule in program history facing such notable
lot of valuable experience and we expect him to build upon that
national powers like Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio State, Oklahoma,
success this season.”
Cornell, Wisconsin, Lehigh, the CAA Duals, and appearances in the
The 141-pound weight class is one of five divisions with three
Ken Kraft Midlands Championships in December and the National
or wrestlers competing. But this class is led by returning starter,
Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Duals at
Cornell in February.
Anspach and staff will be armed with the biggest roster
in recent years although a good many are young and
inexperienced on the Division I level. Included in that roster are 15
returnees and eight starters. Among the returning starters are two
returning All-Americans in senior Steve Bonanno at 125 and senior
Justin Accordino at 149. Bonanno is one of two CAA champions
returning from 2012 along with junior Luke Vaith
at 141 while senior Paul Snyder, who was a conference
champion in 2011, gives the Pride three CAA champions on the roster.
While the roster is large, there will be several weight
classes that are deep in numbers but short on experience with
many expected to red-shirt. Other weight classes are short on depth
but sometimes deep in talent. “Our biggest hope this
season is that we don’t get hit by the injury bug,” Anspach says.
Senior Steve Bonanno achieved All-American status last season with an 8th place
“But if we do the guys understand that this is a team sports and they
finish at the NCAA Tournament. He is a threat to improve on that this year.
may have to move up or down a weight to help make us the best
possible team we can be.”
junior Luke Vaith (Hastings, MN), whose star continues to rise and
The 125-pound weight class is one of those weight classes that
shine brightly. Another one of the Pride wrestlers to record a careeris short on depth but deep in talent with the return of All-American,
best season in 2011-12, Vaith recorded a 23-10 record including a
senior Steve Bonanno (Wantagh, NY). The three-time NCAA
12-3 mark in duals and a 5-1 record in the CAA. He captured his
qualifier had a career-best season as a junior, posting a 31-9 record
first conference title and earned his first NCAA Championship bid.
including 14-1 in duals and 6-0 in conference matches. He captured
His work the past two seasons has him destined to get to the Allhis first CAA title last season after two previous trips to the title
American podium in the near future. As Anspach explained. “We
match and then went on to place eighth in the NCAA
are looking for Luke to make a statement nationally and he is
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posted a 3-3 record at 157 in two open tournaments last year
after recording a 13-11 mark in the same class in 2010-11. “We
expect big things from Nick this season,” Anspach said. “He has a
lot of talent and is very quick. He just needs to be more consistent
in his wrestling.”
The Hofstra 174-pound weight class returns its starter in 201213 in sophomore Jermaine John (Brooklyn, NY). John was thrust
into the starting line-up after the graduation of Ryan Patrovich and
posted a 9-17 record as a freshman. The former three-time AllNassau County selection and All-New York State pick, is better
prepared for the battles ahead this season. “Jermaine gained
valuable experience as a freshman starter,” Anspach commented.
“We look for him to continue to improve and become more
consistent this season.”
Like at 165 pounds, the graduation of two-time CAA
champion and three-time NCAA qualifier Ben Clymer has left a
void at 184 pounds for the Pride. But senior Taras Luzhnyy (Kiev,
Ukraine) is expected to fill the void in 2012-13. Luzhnyy, who
attended the National University of the Ukraine, has impressive
Junior Luke Vath earned his first conference title last season along with a trip to the
NCAA tournament. He is looking to achieve All-American status this year.
certainly capable to do that,”
If ever Hofstra should have won a national Comeback Wrestler of the
Year Award it should have happened last season for Justin Accordino
(Wilkes-Barre, PA). The returning All-American and starter was granted a sixth year of eligibility after missing most if not all of the 200910 and 2010-11 seasons with knee injuries. Accordino
battled back and recorded a career-best season last year, posting a
26-14 record with a 12-3 mark in duals and a 5-1 record in the CAA.
He was a first-time conference finalist and earned his second NCAA
Championship bid. He didn’t disappoint at nationals, defeating the
12th-seed and the fifth-seed before losing to three top-10 seeds to
place sixth and earn All-American honors. “We are looking for Justin
to continue his late season run from a year ago that led him to the
All-American podium,” Anspach said.
The 157-pound weight class returns another starter in
senior Tyler Banks (Griswold, CT). Banks, who has wrestled in 96
matches during his Hofstra career, posted a 12-13 mark at 157
pounds as a junior after recording a 21-16 mark at three weight
Paul Snyder, expected to start for the fourth consecutive season, hopes to win back the
CAA title he earned as a sophomore and go onto the NCCA tournament.
international freestyle credentials but very few in college circles. He
placed second at the 2010 World University Championships at 84kg
and finished third in the Cup of the Ukraine Senior Championships.
Luzhnyy also took home the gold at the Ukrainian Nationals in
2010. “Taras brings a wealth of international experience and a lot
of success,” Anspach says. “He is very talented on his feet and is a
tireless worker. I expect good things from him by the end of the
season.”
The 197-lb. starter from a year ago returns in 2012-13 in junior
Tim Murphy (Nazareth, PA). The two-year Hofstra letterman, who
came to Long Island after one year at Edinboro University, posted a
10-22 record as a red-shirt sophomore. “Tim gained a lot of
experience and helped us out a lot last year,” Anspach commented.
“He worked very hard over the summer and has made some big
improvements in his wrestling coming into the season.”
Senior Paul Snyder (Greensburg, PA) is the Pride’s eighth and
final starter who is returning to the line-up in 2012-13. A CAA
champion and NCAA qualifier as a sophomore when he posted a 2516 record, he was 19-13 as a junior a year ago. The durable Snyder,
who is expected to start for the fourth consecutive season, brings a
wealth of experience to the weight class as he has wrestled in 110
matches over his three years in a Pride singlet. “We think Paul can
be the top wrestler in the CAA this season,” Anspach said. “He too
put in a great summer and worked real hard. We are looking for
him to close out his career with a conference title and do something
at nationals.”
Sophomore Jermaine John, gained a world of experience as a freshman and
should be a big asset to the team as the 174 lb. starter .
classes as a sophomore including an 18-15 slate at 157. “Tyler
continues to get better every year,” Anspach said. “We expect him to
make that jump to a consistent wrestler who can contend for a
conference title.”
Following the graduation of two-time CAA champion, four-time
NCAA qualifier and 2011 All-American, P.J. Gillespie, the 165-pound
weight class is one of those divisions with numbers but not a great
deal of college experience. Red-shirt sophomore Nick Terdick (East
Northport, NY) appears to be the front-runner in this class. He
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By Glenn Jochum
Coach Shaun Lally is conducting a tour of the space the 28
Lally explains that lack of television coverage, a complex
wrestlers in his newly formed wrestling club use as their
scoring system and other factors have taken their toll on the sport
practice room at the Pritchard Gymnasium from 6 to 8 pm on
of folkstyle wrestling, which has been enjoyed by high school
weeknights. It’s long been used as a racquetball court or a place
and college students and their fans since the dawn of the 20th
where wrestlers or martial arts buffs can work out their moves.
century.
The space is tiny for 28 people. But that’s okay, Lally
But Lally doesn’t dwell on the negative. “We are very lucky
says, because not everyone can make every practice due to
to have a budget and a charter and a place to wrestle,” he says.
scheduling conflicts.Lally keeps tabs on who attends each
A former collegiate wrestler at the University of Pittsburgh, Lally
session with an accountability chart posted on a wall in the praclived in New York until the age of five when his immigrant
tice room. As long the wrestlers make as many practices as they
parents joined a wave of Long Islanders moving to the Pocono
can, there is a place for them on the team, he explains.
Mountains in the early 1990s. He almost gave up on the sport
The Stony Brook Wrestling Club will field 11 weight
after suffering a neck injury at the age of 23. “I herniated a disc
classes ranging from 125 to 285
and have a metal plate with four
pounds. Most of the club’s wrestlers
screws in my neck,” he says.
are from Nassau and Suffolk
Eventually over time he couldn’t
Counties, but it also features students
turn his back on the sport that
from upstate New York, New York
he loved so much. “I started
City, New Jersey, Arizona and
volunteering to coach at Parkland
Russia. “We have talent here at the
High School in Allentown, PA,
University that hasn’t even been
where I went to high school,” he
tapped into,” said Lally.
said.He then moved back to New
As Lally and his squad await the
York in 2008, to accept a position
purchase of a $10,000 mat, which
as junior high school coach in Port
will eventually find a home in the
Jefferson. He followed that up
state-of-the-art Campus Recreation
with a head wrestling coaching
Center that opened next door to
position at Nazareth High School
Pritchard on October 19, he grapples
in Brooklyn from 2009-2010 to
Photo:Courtesy of John Griffin
with the dilemma of how to stretch
become a high school wrestling
the $3,000 allotted to his club by the Coach Shaun Lally and his new Stony Brook team have high hopes for
referee. He also volunteered to
Undergraduate Student Government the growth and success of the wrestling program that will compete in a
participate in Beat the Streets for
this year to cover costs such as league governed by the National Collegiate Wrestling Association
one year, a program aimed at
equipment and travel.
establishing a wrestling program in every New York City school.
In his first year as wrestling coach, Lally says he hopes
Missing Long Island, Lally returned in 2011 to put down roots
to hold a golf outing and find other ways to help pay for the mat.
and start a family. He contemplated building a wrestling program
Prior to this year, Stony Brook students who wanted to wrestle were
at the community college level but realized that the constant
part of a loose-knit fraternity of athletes who used the space whenturnover would disrupt continuity. Instead he approached
ever it was available. As a result of Lally’s vision and
then Manager of Intramurals and Sports Clubs Dave Hairston at
recruiting, now, for the first time, the club is part of a league,
Stony Brook at the Department of Campus Recreation and was
governed by the National Collegiate Wrestling Association.
encouraged to join the National Collegiate Wrestling Association.
The club is set to embark on its first full season of competition,
“We’re excited,” says Lally “This program has the potential to turn
which begins with a dual meet on Saturday, November 10, at 12 pm
out an All-American or a National Champion. With no alumni or
against the University of New Haven in New Haven, Connecticut.
history I’m excited to see who will be the first one atop the
Because there is no home facility, for now, all the Stony Brook
podium,” a term that Lally explained includes the top eight AllWrestling Club’s meets will be away. But that doesn’t
Americans. Lally pauses, smiling broadly. “Perhaps you’ve heard
discourage Lally, who says he is grateful to finally have a
of a coach here named Matt Senk,” he says. “He began a
“structure, a system, leadership and a model.”Fortunately, the 29-yearbaseball program here 22 years ago and took it from there to
old Lally, who is volunteering his time as coach, isn’t
Division 1 until he reached the Collegiate World Series this year.
shouldering all of this alone. Club President senior Bobby
I would like to be that kind of a coach.”
Beneventano handles University protocol, including rosters and other
For more information, contact coach Lally at (610) 703-4974
paperwork.
or [email protected].
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Dear Friend of Wrestling
Would you like to sit in on a skull session with
Cael Sanderson? Or play a round of golf with Dan Gable
as your host? How about attending dinner with the
Legends of Long Island Coaches? Enjoy discussing a
controversial call with the best officials in the nation, while
simultaneously supporting the great youth,
high school and college programs offered on Long Island
and the Metropolitan area.
You can accomplish any of the above by sending in
your 2013 membership today.
The dues paid for membership are used 100% in
support of wrestling programs and we are a
“Not for Profit Corporation”, developed to assist in
the education and support of active programs and
in marketing the sport of wrestling.
Since all of the funds we receive in membership
are used in these activities, you will have a tax deduction
for the total amount provided.
Wrestling needs your support.
Please return your membership check in the amount
of $50.00 or more today!
79
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Page 80
Friends of Long Island Wrestling, Inc.
STATEMENT OF WHAT
WE DO
We are the Downstate New York Chapter of
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame
We actively and financially support:
Hofstra University • Columbia University
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy- Kings Point
Nassau Community College
New York Athletic Club Holiday Tournament & Russia USA Dual Meet
Friends of Long Island Wrestling, Inc.- Facebook
Distribution of our national publication Long Island Wrestling
Local & metropolitan wrestling programs
Annual Hall of Fame Induction & Reunion Dinner
(To Date, inducted 80 National Hall of Famers)
Annual golf outing
Rules & Interpretation clinic for coaches & officials
Nassau & Suffolk County Outstanding Wrestler Trophy
Financially support county tournaments
Stan Bishop Literary Scholarship Award
Friends of Long Island Wrestling, Inc. Website
Mayors Cup Wrestling Tournament
Downstate New York Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
Provide financial assistance to high school/college austerity programs
Revisit & present schools with a replica plaque honoring
their Hall of Fame Members
And, much, much more.....
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HONOR ROLL
The following pages are dedicated to those individuals who have
actively supported the mission of the Friends of Long Island Wrestling
and The Downstate New York Chapter of the
National Wrestling Hall of Fame
2012 Honor Roll Members
Ron Abatelli
Josh Abbey
Gary Abott
Joseph Acerra
Ray Adams
Set Agonian
Ken Ahern
Kevin Akner
Mike Albano
Joseph Amaalfitano
Peter Amaroso
Rich Anderson
Rob Anspach
Irv Apgar
Mr & Mrs Rob Aquilina
Joe Aquilina
Steve Arcuri
Jerry Armengau
Robert Attonito
Patrick Augustine
Konstantine Avdeev
Rich Avingone
Paul Aviza
Doug Axman
William Baldwin
Frank Barbuto
Leonard Barone
William Barrett
Peter Barros
Nickenson Bazelais
Hilary Becker
Dr. Paul Bedell
Phil Bellisari
Robert Bennett
Dennis Bermudez
Al Bevilacqua
Matt Bielo
James Bishop
Mr. & Mr.s. Mark Blankmeyer
Mike Bloom
Tom Bobal
Nick Boccard
Paul Boccia
Roger Bogsted
Peter Bongiorno
DR. Jap Boosman
Rich Boscarino
Sean Bradely
Dan Bragoli
Mr. & Mrs. William H. Brennen
William J. Brennen
Sean Breves
Craig Brodmerkel
Paul Brodmerkel
Kevin Brodsky
Mr. & Mrs. Jason Bross
Mike Buonagurio
Robert Bury
Richard Bury
Robert Busby Jr.
Jorge Cabrales
Bruce Campbell
Steve Candela
Larry Cantor
Rudy Carastro
Sal Carillo
Mr. & Mrs, Richard Carroll
The Castelli Family
Jorge Castro
Joe Catalanotto
81
Rob Catapano
Ed Cavanagh
Ken Cellan
Russ & Sharon Cellan
Joe Ceruli
Joe Chetti
Santo Ciccarello
Daniel Cilla
Pete Cimino
Ron Coan
Raymond Cody
Joe Colloca
Mr. & Mrs. J. Columbo
Rod Conduragis
Raymond Connell
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Connor
Russell Conti
William Coogan
Spencer Cook
Melvin Cooper
Mike Coppinger
Clark & Carol Crespi
Christopher Critchley
Bill Crum
Mr. & Mrs. John Cummings
Lou Curra
Arturo Curtis
Mark Czachor
Steve Dalberth
Michael Daly
Alfred Daniello
Stephen Dansi
Nicholas D’Anna
David Darrow
Michael Davey
1/11/13
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Bill Davey, Sr.
Jay Davis
Mr. & Mrs. Anthony DeFendis
Joseph DeForca
Brian Degaetano
Domnick Delvecchio
George DeMatteo
Richard DeMott
Craig DeNicola
Michael DerGarabedian
Bill Desario
Carl & Debbie DeStefanis
Nick DiFranco
Ted DePasquale
Pete Dirlam
Dan DiSalvo
George Dlugolonski
Joseph Doherty
Carlos Dolmo
Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Donatelli
Kevin Donohue
Michael Dowlig
Peter Doyle
Phillip Drago
David Drew
Owen Dugan
Neil Duncan
Dennis Dunne, Jr.
Jim Durso
James Earl
David Edelman
Christopher Edmond, Jr.
Mike Emmert
Robert & Eveln Emmons
Jack Endee
Joe Enea
Pete Erber
Steve Erber
James Ernst
Christian Espinosu
Mrs, Michelle Ivy Esquenazi
Jim Farrel
Denis Farrell
Bill Farrell
Umbert Fasolino
Sharon Faucett
Mr. Larry Faucie
Lorrie & Jeff Faulhaber
Tom Fauvell
Chris Feder
Scott Feldman
Mike Ferruggiari
Matt Fala
Mike Fitzgerald
William Fitzgerald
Michael Fokas
Cliff Forziat
Dave Foxen
Michael Franco
Julian Frank
Jack Friedman
Steve Friedman
Charlie Gadson
Frank Gagliardi
Nick & Patti Gallo
Damian Garcia
Ken Garcia
Matt Gaynor
Jason Gerondale
Lou Giani
Tom Giaramita
Paul Gillespi
Randy Gilmore
Joe Giulintano
Tim Godoy
Fred Goepfert
Bob Goldberg
John F. Golden
Arnie Goldstein
Jerry Goodfellow
Joseph Goonan
John Gorman
Steven Grabher
Marvin Grady
Mr. Dale T. Granger
Doug Grannelle
Howie Greenblatt
Sonny Greenhalgh
Guy Guccione
Dan Guido
Alan Gurien
Chick Hackney
Terry Haise
Marcia Haise
Earl Haley
Jim Hall
Ed Haller
John Hamilton
John Hamm
Peter Hamm
Daniel Harrell
Cliff Heinze
82
Rob Hendrick
John T. Hiller
Chris Holder
Fred Holle
Kevin Horner
Ed Hubbard
Tom Hudson Gregory Isgro
Don Jackson
Adam James
Mike Jimenez
John Justice Johnson
Reggie Jones, Jr.
Reggie Jones, Sr.
Horace Jordan
Dan Kakits
Joan & David Kaplan
Jim Keen
Robert Kelly
Jon Kesler
Paul Kieblesz
Bobby Kizis
Kenny Klein
Rich Knazik
Pete Kopecky
Zach Korman
James Kraus
Kenneth Kronke
John Laddomada
Lou Lago
Joe/Ben Lamanita
Mitchell Langsam
James LaVinne, MD
Skip Lawrence
Robert & Elizabeth Lee
Guy Leggio
Jumper Leggio
Barry Lemily
Bill Lentino
Michael Leonard
Rober LaVein
Edward Lewandowski
Willam Ligouri
Mike Limmer
Lindenhurst Wrestling Club
Bud Linkner
Mellisa Locast
Ben Lore
Mike Lorenzen
Rich Lorenzo
Sal LoStrappo
Mike Luckert
1/11/13
9:27 AM
Dominick & Ilene Macchia
Mike Macchia
Chris McDonald
Doug Macleod
Gordon Macleod
Mr. & Mrs. Tom Maddock
Mike Mafia
Jack Mahoney
Norm Maisel
Shahad Malik
Tom Mangan
John Mankowich
Paul Mankowich
Anthony Marcigliano
John Markwalter
Peter Marques
Richard Martinez
Arty & Karen Martinez
Frank Massaro
Anthony Massone
Mr. & Mrs. Masters
Anthony May
Greg Mazzola
Charles Mazzoni
Darren McAlonie
Austn McCann
Paul McCarthy
Ian McConnell
Patrick McGovern
Shaun McGowin
Brian McKee
P Michael McKenna
Cardon McKenzie
Mike McLaughlin
Thomas McLaughlin
Cory McNamara
Anthony Mecca
Todd Medeiros
Izzey Medina
Bryan Meehan
Tony Melito
Mr. & Mrs. Tony Mellino
Tony Melosci
Robert Mentz
James Mercante
Fred Messina
Philip Messina
Chris Messina
Ed Metzger
Eric Mikkelson
Ray Mills
Page 83
Gary & Barbara Mims
Wayne Miranda
Anthony Mirra
Kieran Mock
Mark Montgomery
Mr. Rick Morales
Tim Moran
Margie & Don Mosher
John Moss
Billy Muir
Audrey Muller
Mike Mullick
George Munnich III
Kevin Murphy
Rohan Murphy
Jim Murphy
Mike Murtha
Mike Muscara
Greg Muscarella
Jim Nanos
John Nappy
Mike Nastri
Ira Nathel
Patrick Nesdill
Kevin Nichols
Mike Nicoll
N. Shore Razor Wrestling Club
Michael Novogratz
Terry O’Brien
Patrick O’Donnell
Damilola Ojo
Sean O’Malley
Jim O’Rourke
Patrick O’Sullivan
Leo Palacio
Steven Palacios
Rob Paletta
Mr. & Mrs. R Panariello
Michael Panico
Vincent Paolano
John Pappas
Nick Parker
Robert Parker
Chris Pascucci
Joe Patrovich
Ryan Patrovich
Billy Patton
Nicholas Pecora
Mike Pellitta
Joe Penna
John Perkins
83
Pascal Perri
Florence Perri
John Perugini
Eileen Petersen
Dane & Joyce Petersen
Glen & Laurel Petersen
Richard Petracca
Matt Pheffer
Terry Phelan
Don Pike
Ryan Pingitore
Mark Piven
Robert Plaia
Chris Pollin
David Pottruck
John Price
Ryan Proce
Joe Puma
Gregg Quilty
Kurt Rahner
Eduardo Ramirez
Richard Ranalli
Richard Ranalli Jr.
Rick Ranno
Chris Re
Fred Recher
Jim Regan
Rich Renz
Ben Resnick
Tom Reynolds
Jim Rheaumi
Tom Riccio
Alan Rice
Ken Richards
Peggy Richling
Frank Rinaudo
Justin Ripley
Michael Ripley
Michael Robinson
James Edson Rooney
James Rooney
Dan Roper
Charles Ross
Jason Rubenstein
Joseph Russo
Dan Ryan
Joseph Sabbatino
George Sable
Stephon Sair
Kevin Sampson
Roy Samuelson
1/11/13
9:27 AM
Joe Sanfillipo
Bill Santoro
Matt Sanzone
Frank Saracino
Mike Savello
Reid Scalfani
Joe Scandura
John Schaefer
Anthony Schettino
Philip Schlitz
Spencer Schmerzler
Joe Schmidt
Paul Schmidt
Peter Schmitt
Robert Schoen
Fred Schult
Harvey Schumacher
Roy Scott
Frank Seckler
Jerry Seckler
Ron Serrano
Joe Settineri
Frank & Tom Sforza
Harvey & Sheilla Shane
Rob Shaver
Steve Shippos
Aviram Shmulely
Jim Shotter
Terrance Shourts
Matt Shwom
Barry Silverstein
John Slokovitz
Mike Smith
Fred Smith
Richard Smith
Lee Roy Smith
Chad Smith
Page 84
Rich Smith
Donald Snyder
Lawrence Spasojevich
Harry St. Leger
Fran Stanek
Arthur Stanton
William G. Starke
Dr. & Mrs. John Steele
Spencer Stelmach
Walter Stewart
Jim Stewart
Kevin Stimphi
Mrs. Muriel Stone
Jordan Strump
Steven Strunwasser
Bill Stuckin
Marty Strayer
Peter Succoso
Pat Sullivan
Shawn Swift
Bogdan Szurant
Noel Thompson
John Tito
Sean Tobin
Lou Tourto
Bruce D. Treiber
William Trichon
John Truscello
Paul Turano
Bernard Valentin
Dan Vallimont
Peter Venier
Nany Ventimiglia
Fran Ventimiglia
Linda Armyn Ventimiglia
Lauren Ventimiglia Weismann
Sal Verdoliva
Mr. & Mrs. Cliff Veron
Ryan Vinberg
Dr, Dion Visconti
Tom & Lance Wade
John Walter
Tony Walters
Jason Washington
Derek Wasiak
Jack Weber
Shane Weber
Charles Weidner
Robert Weinberg
Adam Welt
Danny Wetzel
Tim Whalen
Steven Whalen
Michael Whitcomb
Michael White
Robert Wigand
Al Williams
Joseph Williams
Bob Williams
Frank Williams III
Robin Winkel
George Wissman
Paul Wolfrom
Paul Wood
Jim Woodward
Jeff Yablon
Dick Young
Bill Young
Patrick Zagarino
William Zagarino
Rich Zboray
Stan Zeamer
Dean Zenie
Thank You All!
84
1/2/13
12:13 PM
Page 3
1/2/13
12:12 PM
Page 4
775 Wantagh Avenue
Wantagh, New York 11793
(516) 804-8676

2013 pages - Friends of Long Island Wrestling

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