On Saturday, Jan. 21, some of the top wrestlers in the area hit the mat at Yonkers High School to compete in the annual Westchester County Championships. Perennial powerhouse John Jay won handily, outpointing second-place Horace Greeley by 117 points; but a number of local teams, including New Rochelle and Harrison, fared well, as the Huguenots and Huskies both secured top-10 finishes on the day.
New Rochelle tallied 93.5 points, good enough for seventh place on the day, and was led by another terrific outing from senior standout Jordan Wallace. Wallace stormed through the 170-pound bracket, pinning Ossining’s Charles Rios in the semifinals before topping Jacob Ferriera from Horace Greeley with a 9-3 decision in the finals.
Wallace’s win in the finals was his 155th career victory, moving him into first-place all-time for the Huguenots.
The Huguenots also had two other wrestlers reach the semifinals, as Jhavon Canto lost a 6-3 decision to eventual 113-pound champ Brandon DiDomenico from Lakeland/Panas, and Eddie Maffia, wrestling at 152 pounds, lost to John Jay’s Connor Melbourne.
Harrison also fared well, as the team ended up with 73 points and a ninth-place finish. The showing was especially encouraging for head coach Vin Nicita, as the Huskies have been beset by injuries and illness and headed into the tournament missing three of their top upperclassmen. Both Daniel Choe and Andrew Hollander are currently battling mononucleosis, while Fujita was hurt during the team’s winter trip to Disney World.
“To face the loss of those three guys and still come in ninth place out of 28 teams, that’s not bad,” Nicita said. “I think we had a pretty good showing.”
Rob Donohue, wrestling at 195 pounds, reached the finals, where he was pinned by Mount Vernon’s Jasmir Black after nearly scoring a pinfall of his own in the bout’s opening minute.
“He had him on his back, he was just a little high on him,” Nicita said. “I know he was disappointed, but I think this was probably the best tournament [Donohue] has wrestled all year.”
Donohue’s teammates, Jay Martins and Tyler Joseph, both bowed out in the semifinals at 175 and 103 pounds, respectively.
Other local schools were in action as well, as Mamaroneck, led by a semifinal appearance from Crew Fullerton at 132 pounds, came in 13th place with 43 points. Eastchester, which scored 28 points, came in 24th, narrowly edging Rye, which finished just behind them with 24 points. Eastchester’s Steven Bilali advanced to the semifinals of the 152-pound bracket, where he was defeated by eventual champ Aaron Wolk from Horace Greeley.
Teams will now shift their focus to the upcoming divisional meets, which will be held on Feb. 4 at various locations.
“Our regular season schedule is over and I kind of like it,” Nicita said. “Because now we get a chance to get our bodies healed up and really focus on some individual stuff during our practices.”
