Passionate Intensity
Tri-Valley Hosts Stellar Dual With Eldred-Fallsburg And Ellenville Blue Devils; Ellenville Gets A Pair Of Non-League Wins Over Second Year Sullivan County Teams; E-F Downs Tri-Valley To Stay Unbeaten In Division II-B
Ellenville 39, Eldred/Fallsburg 36
Eldred/Fallsburg 41, Tri-Valley 32
Ellenville 48, Tri-Valley 26
By RICHARD A. ROSS
Scenes from a great night of wrestling (clockwise) Ellenville's Kyle Conner (138) wins over Eldred' Fallsburg's Adam Hurwitz 8-4, Eldred-Fallsburg's Jesse Corcoran (285) pins Ellenville's Kyle Cox in 3:22, Tri-Valley's Kyle Rogers (113) pins E-F's Nick Perrello in 2;58, Tri-Valley's Jared Ratner (132) pins E-F's Shane Martin in 4:35. Tri-Valley's Hunter Kennedy (160) wins a tough 15-9 decision over E-F freshman Carl Peterson Langeland. E-F's Nick Perrello pins Ellenville's Joe Smith and E-F's Dominique Veles holds sway over Ellenville's Preston Gibson.
GRAHAMSVILLE, NY—Every sport has its unique aspects, allure, demands and set of skills, but few could argue that wrestling is one of the most rigorous.
Not for the feint of heart, the sport requires not only immense stamina, strength and agility, it also demands a passionate intensity and the capacity to learn the subtle skills that are a prerequisite towards vanquishing an equally determined opponent.
For small schools with their limited number of athletes, wrestling must compete with basketball, indoor track and skiing in winter in a fervent attempt to recruit a team large enough to fill out the spectrum of weight classes.
Ellenville Coach Merrill Conner once wrestled for the school. For the past seven years he's been coaching the sport in addition to the more than a dozen years of mentoring football and basketball as well. Conner coaches his son Kyle in both of those sports as well as wrestling which provides its own unique brand of intensity. On this night the younger Conner posted two wins which no doubt made his coach/dad happy. Ellenville has a bevy of non-league wins but has struggled in Division II-A. They have a nice mix of experienced and younger wrestlers in the fold.
Failing that, forfeits can quickly cause the opposing team’s score to mount. For Divison II-B host Tri-Valley, now in its second year under the savvy watch of coach Mike March, that issue is far less of a factor than it was in the Bears’ debut a year ago.
This night would feature a narrow 39-36 Ellenville win over Eldred-Fallsburg, a repeat of a nail biter from the Goshen Tournament as an appetizer for E-F’s 41-32 win over Tri-Valley and the nightcap of Ellenville’s 48-26 win over Tri-Valley.
Great wrestling, fervent fans and a number of down-to-the wire hard-fought matches were all proof positive of the sport’s increased traction locally. For both E-F and Tri-Valley, this is the second year of their programs and the progress from both programs is impressive.
Since last week’s story featured much about E-F, let’s start with host Tri-Valley.
The Bears’ strong suit begins with veterans like Hunter Kennedy (160), John Monforte (145) and Jared Ratner (132) ,Shawn Markle(171) and Alberto Hernandez (215) have a year of experience under their belt and you can see it in their overall deportment on the mat.
Aggressive from the get-go, T-V’s wrestlers show a fine range of skills and an inclination to be assertive rather than defensive.
The Bears did not have their full complement of wrestlers available on this night. Markle was out for this dual meet still nursing a broken finger but March has a couple of new wrestlers on board who are quickly blending in.
They include Kyle Rogers (113) who received the vocal accolades of the home crowd following his pin of E-F’s Nick Perrello in 2:58. Also new to the fold are Steven Graham (126), Michael Glinsky (138) and Kevin Palko (152). Palko recorded an impressive win over feisty Nick Brown of E-F by a technical fall, 15-0 decision.
Though the Bears would lose both to Eldred-Fallsburg and Ellenville, there were many positives. The large home crowd attests to the fact that the sport is building in its allure. Tri-Valley fans are known for their robust support of their teams and wrestling is building a powerful base of zealots.
Head to head, the Bears look impressive led by their big three veterans Ratner, Monforte and Kennedy, all extremely tough, skilled and determined.
Father and son: Tri-Valley's Jared Ratner enjoys a post-match moment with his dad. after pinning Eldred-Fallsburg's Shane Martin. Parent support is vital to this sport which often does not get the kind of attention rendered to basketball. Many parents were on hand for this match as the sport gains traction. A number of them came armed with video cameras, ipads and digital cameras to record the night's events.
Eldred-Fallsburg remained atop of Division II-B with a 3-0 mark following its win over Tri-Valley. The Ellenville match was a non-league affair. E-F got some impressive wins on the night including a Domique Veles (195) pin of Ellenville’s Preston Gibson.
But Coach Tim Bult shook his head following his team’s one match loss to the Blue Devils, a repeat of the result from the Goshen Tournament. “We made a little progress but we still have to go back to the room and fix some mistakes. There are some simple things we still need to work on. Kids are still reaching back and putting themselves in difficult positions at the half. Some of our kids have a tendency to work really hard when they’re in trouble. We’re trying to get them to work as hard offensively as they do defensively,” he observed.
“We’ll go back and look at the film of all of tonight’s matches so we’ll be prepared for tomorrow’s practice.” Bult had props for Carl Peterson Langeland a freshman who shows the kind of intensity and refusal to quit you love to see in a tough competitor. Peterson-Langeland had to contend with Hunter Kennedy, one of T-V’s top two wrestlers. Kennedy won the gritty match by a 15-9 decision after losing his opening match 7-1 decision against Ellenville’s Ken Krieger in an equally compelling performance.
Ellenville’s Coach Merrill Conner was pleased with his team’s pair of wins. “They’re a good group. It’s a nice mix of young and old. I coach my son Kyle (138) so it’s a little different situation. I get a little crazy when he’s on the mat.” Asked how the pair handle that father-son relationship, Conner smiled and said, “There’s good days and bad days. I coach him in football and baseball as well but in wrestling it’s so intense and I’m an intense person. We butt heads now and then but he’s having a pretty good year.”
Things will no doubt be rather peaceful in the Conner household after Kyle’s 8-4 decision over E-F’s Adam Hurwitz, a tough and stalwart competitor, as well as a pin of T-V’s Michael Glinksy.
Conner was extremely complimentary of the coaches from E-F and Tri-Valley. They’re doing an outstanding job. It’s so hard. We were there. John Burns started our program way back and I was on the last team in ’84 and then we didn’t have any more wrestling. We didn’t have it for quite a while until John got it back.
Eldred-Fallsburg's Adam Hurwitz (138) pins Tri-Valley's Michael Glinski in 1:05.
It starts with a youth program and a lot of work. It takes time to get the community involved to back the sport. Conner is in his seventh year of coaching wrestling, while he has 12 or 13 years in the coaching in general.
Referencing the difficulties in starting new programs, Conner noted, “You get a junior coming out and you’ve only got him for two years. If you had that kid as a seventh, eighth or ninth grader they’d get to learn a little bit more about the sport.”
Mike March spoke about the success. “We have quite a few guys back. We have a few less forfeits than we had last year. We had a couple of injuries tonight and we had an academically ineligible wrestler. Usually we have about three more in the line up than we did in this match. As with any Division II school we may have some issues with team scores but head to head I think we’re doing really well,” he averred.
Head to head Tri-Valley actually defeated E-F 26-18 and came close to Ellenville 24-14.
“We’re solid. I’m getting kids from wherever I can take them. When basketball is announcing their cuts we’re right outside the door. I’m promoting it in Phys Ed. Class.” March talked about conditioning. “We’ve got our relatively new cardio-weight room and we get in there three days a week. We try to work at least a half hour in there getting in the major core of lifting.
Tri-Valley has only one win to date, a victory over Liberty. Tri-Valley is currently 1-2 in Division II-B. For his part, John Monforte continues to be on the upswing with a 11-6 overall record including some wins against Division I opponents.
Ellenville 39, Eldred/Fallsburg 36
99 pounds: no contest; 106: John Candelaria (E) by forfeit; 113: Nick Perrello (E/F) pin. Joe Smith 5:07; 120: Miguel Candelaria (E) pin. Allenson Flores :54; 126: Willie Bruce (E) by forfeit; 132: Dylan Bonitz (E) pin. Shane Martin 3:02; 138: Kyle Conner (E) dec. Adam Hurwitz 8-4; 145: Rafael Olan (E/F) by forfeit; 152: Ethan Lonstein (E) pin. Nick Brown 3:25; 160: Ken Krygier (E) dec. Carl Peterson-Langeland 7-1; 170: Tony Moriggia (E/F) by forfeit; 182: Javier Cortez (E) dec. Tadeusz Loarca 5-1; 195: Dominique Veles (E/F) pin. Preston Gibson 3:42; 220: John Mejia (E/F) by forfeit; 285: Jesse Corcoran (E/F) pin. Kyle Cox 3:22.
Eldred/Fallsburg 41, Tri-Valley 32
99 pounds: no contest; 106: no contest; 113: Kyle Rogers (T) pin. Nick Perrello 2:58; 120: Allenson Flores (E/F) by forfeit; 126: Steven Graham (T) by forfeit; 132: Jared Ratner (T) pin. Shane Martin 4:35; 138: Adam Hurwitz (E/F) pin. Michael Glinski 1:05; 145: John Monforte (T) pin. Rafael Olan 1:04; 152: Kevin Palko (T) tech. fall Nick Brown 15-0; 160: Hunter Kennedy (T) dec. Carl Paterson-Langeland 15-9; 170: Tony Moriggia (E/F) by forfeit; 182: Tadeusz Loarca (E/F) by forfeit; 195: Dominique Veles (E/F) pin. Albert Hernandez 2:31; 220: Jesse Corcoran (E/F) pin. Jesse Harris 1:47; 285: John Mejia (E/F) by forfeit.
Team records: Eldred/Fallsburg 6-5 (3-0); Tri-Valley 1-15 (1-2)
Ellenville 48, Tri-Valley 26
99 pounds no contest; 106: Jon Candelaria (E) by Forfeit; 113: Kyle Rogers (T) dec Joe Smith 1:01; 120: Miguel Candelaria (E) by forfeit; 126: Greg Avery (E) dec. Steven Graham 2:40; 132: Jared Ratner (T) tech fall David Lonstein 4:57 19-3; 138: Kyle Conner (D) WBF Michael Glinsky 0.39; John Monforte (T) by forfeit; 152: Kevin Palko (T) dec Luis Arrango 5-2; 160: Ken Krygier (E) WBF Hunter Kennedy 2:30; 170: Javier Cortes by forfeit; 182: no contest; 195: Preston Gibson (E) WBF) Alberto Hernandez 1:39; 220: Jesse Harris (T) by forfeit; 285 Kyle Cox (E) by forfeit.
Team Records: Ellenville 9-4; Tri-Valley 1-16
All three teams exited this match with a bevy of positives and a list of things to still work on assiduously if they plan to make any noise in the Division II Sectionals slated for Rondout Valley High School on February 12.
For an album of photos from this night’s matches visit:
www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
Double Barrel Firepower
Eldred-Fallsburg Records Wins Against Tuxedo and Burke, Two Division II Rivals They Lost To A Year Ago; In Its Second Year, Program Advances Dramatically As Combined Team Is Now A Division II B Contender
Tuxedo 45, John S. Burke Catholic 14
Eldred-Fallsburg 36, John S. Burke Catholic 22
Eldred-Fallsburg 48, Tuxedo 36
By RICHARD A. ROSS
Scenes from an uplifting senior night for the Eldred-Fallsburg wrestling team which defeated both Tuxedo and Burke in a league dual meet. (clockwise): Co-head coaches Tim Bult and Jim Corcoran, Eldred's Jesse Corcoran (220) pins Tuxedo's Eddie Anderson in 3;03. Seniors: John Mejia, Marie Countryman, Roosevelt Payton, Dominique Veles, Fallsburg's Carl Peterson-Langdon wins a 7-6 decision over Burke's John Langdo. Eldred senior Tony Moriggia and Fallsburg Superintendent Dr. Ivan Katz, a former great collegiate, Olympic and world wrestler who is an ardent supporter of the program.
FALLSBURG, NY—The old adage maintains that two heads are better than one and the question surrounding the combined wrestling effort of Eldred and Fallsburg a year ago was whether two schools would be better than one.
Given the fact that Eldred had only a few wrestlers and Fallsburg lacked the experience of the Eldred grapplers who would add their skills and leadership to a combined venture, the answer was a resounding yes.
Now, in the second year of the merged squad, dividends are starting to pay off under the savvy watch of coaches Tim Bult of Fallsburg and Jim Corcoran of Eldred. What better proof of that fact could there be than wins over Tuxedo and Burke, two teams that bested them a year ago.
And it was just such victories posted by ECS-FHS that has coaches and wrestlers dreaming of vying for a Division II-B title, while fully understanding that the season is yet young and that teams such as Red Hook, Onteora, Rondout Vallley, which dropped down to II-B, Chester and Tri-Valley have something to say about the matter, not to mention Burke and Tuxedo.
Eldred-Fallsburg's Adam Hurwitz (138) pins Tuxedo's A.J. Chimento in 5;41.
But on this January 11 senior night, it was all about Eldred-Fallsburg.
Five seniors were honored from the combined squad including Eldred six-year veteran Tony Moriggia, Fallsburg first year wrestler John Mejia, second year veteran Marie Countryman who is recovering from appendicitis surgery and is still accruing the required practices to compete.Countryman won an upstate tournament last season.
Roosevelt Payton is in his second year and recovering from a broken ankle. Finally, Dominique Veles was honored. He is now in his third year.
Veles was disappointed that he did not get to wrestle in these matches as he had no competition in his 195 weight class and won by forfeits.
Tuxedo wrestled against Burke first and improved its dual meet record to 2-1 (1-0 Division II-B) with the win. The results were as follows:
Tuxedo 45, John S. Burke Catholic 14
99 pounds: Dean Stanton (T) win by forfeit; 106: no contest; 113: Danny Martin (BC) dec. Dylan Lynn 8-2; 120: Julian Gonzalez (T) pin Martin Nowak 0:46; 126: Eli Villapiano (T) pin Bert Cohen 1:01; 132: A.J. Chimento (BC) inj. dec. Kurt Hefner; 138: Brian Leahey (BC) tech. fall Justin Martinez 19-2; 145: Austin Bermudez (T) dec. Jack Etner 7-6; 152: John Longo (BC) pin Peter Anderson 5:06; 160: Christian Maldonado (T) win by forfeit; 170: Zach Williams (T) win by forfeit; 182: no contest; 195: no contest; 220: Eddie Anderson (T) win by forfeit; 285: no contest.
Next up was Eldred-Fallsburg against Tuxedo. E-F wrestlers Adam Hurwitz (138), Shane Martin (132), Carl Peterson-Langdon (160), Anthony Moriggia (170) and Jesse Corcoran (220) all won by pins. Eldred’s Corcoran, son of co-head coach Jim Corcoran lost to New Paltz’s Kyle Roberts in last year’s Section Nine Division II tournament in a very close match. Roberts went on to win the state championship. Corcoran and Moriggia looked dominant in their matches. Peterson-Langdon is in his first year of varsity competiton as is Nick Brown (145) who lost a tough match to Tuxedo senior Austin Bermudez before coming back to defeat Burke’s Jack Etner in a 10-7 decision.
Tuxedo Coach John Landrau talked about his young team. “We’re doing pretty well (now 2-2 after this loss and 1-1 in Division II-B). This was our first dual league meet and we’re looking forward to a good season. We have three seniors in Peter Anderson (152), Eli Villapiano (126) and Austin Bermudez (145).”
Landrau has been coaching for the past 15 years. He started the modified program at Greenwood Lake and then the junior varsity program at Tuxedo. They became a varsity squad when Division II was formed. Here are the results from the match.
Eldred-Fallsburg 48, Tuxedo 36
99 pounds: Dean Stanton (T) win by forfeit; 106: no contest; 113: Dylan Lynn (T) pin Nick Perrello 3:12; 120: Julian Gonzalez (T) pin Allenson Flores 3:02; 126: Chris Bermudez (T) win by forfeit; 132: Shane Martin (E-F) pin Eli Villapiano 1:50; 138: Adam Hurwitz (E-F) pin A.J. Chimento 5:41; 145: Justin Martinez (T) pin Rafael Olan 3:10; 152: Austin Bermudez (T) pin Nick Brown 2:20; 160: Carl Peterson-Landgon (E-F) pin Peter Anderson 1:06; 170: Anthony Moriggia (E-F) pin Zach Williams 2:28; 182: Tadeusz Loarca (E-F) win by forfeit; 195: Dominique Vales (E-F) win by forfeit; 220: Jesse Corcoran (E-F) pin Eddie Anderson 3:03; 285: John Mejia (E-F) win by forfeit.
The final match of the night featured E-F taking on short-handed Burke. Burke wrestled well considering the large number of forfeits, something coach Dave Predmore had referenced earlier in the evening in a pre-match interview. “Our numbers are down this year. We usually have at least 14 but this year I’ve only got seven. We have three seniors in Brian Leahy (138), Kurt Hefner (132) and Danny Martin (113). In dual meets we only beat Millbrook. But head to head we do really well. We lost to Division I Goshen 54-24 but beat them 24-12 head to head.
I think we wrestled pretty well overall tonight,” said Predmore following his team’s loss to E-F. I was a bit disappointed with my 152 result. I think we’re doing the best we can with what we have. I have a few experienced guys along with some who lack that experience. Hopefully we can build our numbers and do better in dual meet situations in years to come.”
Here are the results of the final match:
Eldred-Fallsburg 36, John S. Burke Catholic 22
99 pounds: no contest; 106: no contest; 113: Danny Martin (BC) dec. Nick Peirello 8-4; 120: Martin Nowak (BC) pin Allenson Flores 2:57; 126: no contest; 132: Curt Hefner (BC) pin Shane Martin 1:43; 138: Brian Leahey (BC) pin Adam Hurwitz 2:49; 145: Nick Brown (E-F) dec. Jack Etner 10-7; 152: no contest; 160: Carl Peterson-Landgon (E-F) dec. John Lango 7-6; 170: Anthony Moriggia (E-F) win by forfeit; 182: Tadeusz Loarca (E-F) win by forfeit; 195: Dominique Vales (E-F) win by forfeit; 220: Jesse Corcoran (E-F) win by forfeit; 285: John Mejia (E-F) win by forfeit.
Bult had the following comments after the momentous wins: “These were both league wins against two teams that beat us last year. He gave props to the matches fought by first year wrestlers Peterson-Langdon and Brown. Our program is on an upward swing. I think we’re in the mix. We have at least four more league matches including next week at Tri-Valley which will also feature Chester. Our kids have come a long way since last year.
Bult gave great praise to the assistant coaches, scorers and to the great support offered by Fallsburg superintendent Dr. Ivan Katz, a former standout wrestler who parlayed an outstanding collegiate career to go on to Olympic and world competition.
Corcoran added his take on things. “That was the best match Carl wrestled all year. We have the ability. I think we just have to put it together in time for sectionals. We have some good competition,” he observed.
For an album of photos from the night’s matches, visit www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com
