Huskers win Section 1 Dual Meet title

We want to face guys who are better than us because we feel like we can go up there and beat them.”

—Yorktown wrestler Rocco Lore

Lakeland/Panas make progress

Lakeland/Panas had a busy Saturday on Dec. 20, competing in three tournaments.

One of them was the Mal Darling Women’s Freestyle Open Tournament Hosted by Croton-Harmon, which saw Lei Guarin (114) take first place.

“I am very excited about Lei performing so well in the girls tournaments,” said Rebels’ coach Dave Bergen. “She is a hard worker and is super focused. She is our first ever girls tournament champion.”

The Rebels took sixth place at the Yorktown Holiday Duals, going 1-3 as a team and highlighted individually by the performances of Raul Aristy (190) and Dan Horowitz (138), who both went 3-1, and Matteo Monteleone (118), Enzo Maraglino (132), Mike Santoiemma (150), and Matt Clyman (157), who each went 2-2.

Mateo Santiago (132, second) and Owen McManus (126, fifth) stood out at the Putnam Valley Tiger Tournament.

“We had a lot of new guys stepping up from JV last year into the lineup yesterday and it was a good day to gain experience,” Bergen said.

Lakeland/Panas (2-6) began the week with a 42-37 loss against Carmel at Walter Panas High School on Dec. 17, with Monteleone (118, decision, 10-3), Nate Horowitz (126, major decision, 14-2), Daniel Horowitz (138, forfeit), Clyman (165, pin), Aristy (190, pin), Theodore Giagiakos (215, forfeit), and Aaron Oo (285, forfeit) winning for the Rebels.

For the second time in three years, Yorktown (13-0) hosted and won the Section 1 Division 1 Dual Meet Tournament on Dec. 18, clinching the crown with a 71-6 triumph against No. 15 Arlington in the finals.

The win was an emotional one for Yorktown senior captain Rocco Lore, who had to deal with the death of his father Frank Lore on Feb. 23, then was hospitalized a day later, when he was in intensive care with a respiratory condition.

“It wasn’t pretty where I was at,” Lore said. “I never knew if I was going to play sports again, didn’t know where I was going to be at this time. To be able to recover the way I did and be where I am right now, it really means the world to me. I’m so happy to be here with my guys, competing today, going out there dominating, winning 71-6 in the Section 1 finals, it’s an awesome feeling, it’s really surreal, it means everything to me.”

Yorktown fifth-year coach Dr. Jimmy Kaishian said it’s hard not to get emotional talking about Lore.

“He’s an amazing leader for us,” Kaishian said. “If he told me he would be done with wrestling, I would understand. He’s gone through enough but he decided to take this hard time, lean into his training, lean into being a good leader, and leaning into his team. I’m tremendously proud of him and Luca (Rocco’s younger brother). It’s not easy for a kid (Luca) in middle school to handle this kind of thing and he wrestled great for us today too.”

Lore said that the reason why the Huskers were so dominant against Arlington is the way the Huskers work in the wrestling room.

“When everyone gets there, we are ready to work, we go hard,” Lore said. “The culture we have on the team is unbelievable.”

Kaishian said that the team’s performance against Arlington was reflective of its training.

“These guys want it, and not to use that cliché, but wanting it starts in the summer, starts in the spring, day in and day out,” Kaishian said. “We trained harder. We are a better team today and we also brought the right mentality.”

Yorktown now advances to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) championships, which will be at the SRC Arena and Events Center in Syracuse, Saturday, Jan. 31.

“We are ready to go,” Lore said. “We want to go up to states, we want that hard competition. We want to face guys who are better than us because we feel like we can go up there and beat them. To win it (Section 1 Division 1 Dual Meet) two times in three years is awesome.”

Kaishian credited Yorktown’s wrestling community for its success.

“We started with nine kids, not a lot of veteran experience and we built something special here,” Kaishian said. “It takes a village. We have a community of people that are into raising strong kids and leaders. When you have leaders and kids that do the right thing and come to work every day, then you have good wrestling.”

Rocco Lore (285, pin), Frank Scalera II (132, decision, 11-4), Cooper Constantine (138, technical fall, 20-5), Julian Cuenca (144, pin), Pavel Lopez (150, pin), Rowan Larsen (157, technical fall, 18-0), Adam Yakout (165, pin), Tyler Caricati (175, technical fall, 16-0), Nick Duran (190, pin), Nick Hobson (103, pin), Jace McCormack (110, technical fall, 18-2), Lucca Lore (118, pin), and Gio Tornambe (118, pin) all recorded wins against Arlington.

On the same day, Yorktown defeated No. 12 Fox Lane 43-23 in the semifinals, led by victories from Hobson (103, forfeit), Luca Lore (118, pin), Tornambe (126, pin), Cuenca (144, technical fall, 23-5), Giancarlo Gentile (150, pin), Larsen (157, technical fall, 15-0), Yakout (165, decision, 8-3), and Rocco Lore (215, pin).

Yorktown advanced to the semifinals with a 50-24 triumph against visiting No. 9 seed Horace Greeley on Dec. 16, led by match-winners Luca Lore (118, pin), Tornambe (126, major decision, 11-2), Scalera II (132, pin), Constantine (138, pin), Cuenca (144, technical fall, 20-3), Gentile (150, technical fall, 20-5), Caricati (175, decision, 4-1), Rocco Lore (215, pin), Hobson (103, pin), and McCormack (110, decision, 10-7).

Yorktown Holiday Duals

Two days later, Yorktown hosted and won the Yorktown Holiday Duals, beating Clarkstown South 54-20 in the championship match. The Huskers also defeated Suffern 53-13, Scarsdale 75-4, and Nanuet, which won the Section 1 Division 2 Dual Meet title, 65-12.

Tornambe (126), Constantine (138), Yakout (165), Caricati (175), Rocco Lore (285), and Hobson (103) all went 4-0, with Gentile (150) and Larsen (157) going 3-0, and Cuenca (144), Duran (215), and Luca Lore (118) registering a 3-1 mark.

Nick Salerno (285, 2-1), Scalera II (132, 2-2), Pavel Lopez (150, 1-1), and McCormack (110, one victory) also produced for the Huskers.

Michael Tarulli Tournament

Yorktown’s varsity B team and JV team competed at the 7th Annual Michael Tarulli Tournament, a varsity tournament, at Irvington on Dec. 13, with Albertus Magnus first, Port Jefferson second, White Plains third, and Woodlands fourth.

The Huskers split their two matches, winning against Magnus 42-12 and Woodlands 42-36, while losing to Port Jefferson 58-18 and White Plains, 60-21.

Angel Juarez (103, forfeit), Leka Gashi (118, forfeit), Louis Curcio (126, pin), Lorik Vucetaj (132, pin) Max Ofner (138, pin), Cuenca (144, forfeit), and Jerry Premuto (150, forfeit) got into the win column for the Huskers against Magnus.

Registering wins versus Woodlands was Juarez (103, forfeit), Ben Ofner (118, forfeit), Jonathan Sindaco (126, forfeit), Vucetaj (132, pin), Max Ofner (138, pin), Cuenca (144, pin), and Premuto (150, pin).

Juarez (103, forfeit), Cuenca (144, pin), and Paul Bucello (285, forfeit) delivered wins against Port Jefferson while Vucetaj (132, pin), Max Ofner (138, decision, 9-5), Cuenca (144, pin), and Premuto (150, pin) won against White Plains.