A successful December for both local wrestling teams has their coaches looking for more as the season moves into high gear in January.

By Mitch Silver

A successful December for both local wrestling teams has their coaches looking for more as the season moves into high gear in January.

Coach Matt Beatty has nearly twice as many Garnet grapplers to call upon as last year. More wrestlers means fewer forfeits, as well as more athletes who can step in should a starter become injured. A month ago, Rye won three bouts out of five in their own Bernie Miller Tournament, and took head-to-head victories over John Jay-Cross River (by 60-12) and Nyack (33-31). Even the losses are impressive: Rye fell to perennial power Croton-Harmon by just three points (30-27).

A mile up Boston Post Road, Rye Country Day is having its best season in years. Coach Rich Knazik’s Wildcats are now 7-1 in dual meets. The team’s first win ever over Horace Mann, by 48-31, was a portent of thing to come. Coach Knazik said afterwards, “Arthur Nagashima and Richard Antoine both won big matches with pins.  And our eighth grader, Robbie Fox, lost a hard-fought 4-3 decision, which helped keep the team score close.”

A win over The Collegiate School started 2016 the right way. “William Shabecoff wrestled a good defensive match,” the coach noted. “He took advantage of his  opportunities and eventually got the pin.  Cameron Coleman was down 2-0 before escaping and getting a takedown of his own.  It took a little while, but Cam was able to turn his foe towards the end of the second period for another pin. The most exciting match was at 160 lbs., where Riley Faulk was holding on to an early 2-1 lead. In the second period, he finally hit a 5-point lateral drop for a 7-1 victory against a solid opponent.

The big match of the season so far was the cross-town matchup between Garnets and Wildcats that took place in Rye Country Day’s Nelson Athletic Center.

Coach Beatty got an early win when ninth grader Ben Kuster took his bout at 106 by a decision. The old forfeit bugaboo meant that each team got six points at 113 and 120, after which eighth grader Rob Fox pinned Mohamed Hassan at 126.

Another youngster, Rye’s star ninth grader Phillip Smith, beat Arthur Nagashima at 132 in a major decision, giving Rye a 13-12 lead. Here’s what the opposing coach had to say about Smith. “I was very impressed. He is very fast and smooth, tough to defend against.”   

Coach Knazik had to like what he saw at 138 and 145. His boys, Peter Sanchez and team captain Sean Chan, each got early pins — Sanchez over Dylan Webb and Chan against Rye’s experienced Franklin Goldszer. “Sean is a very good wrestler, but he has been having kind of an up and down year, so far.  So he really needed that win.”

The Garnets returned the favor at 152 and 160, winning both by falls. Junior Paul Devlin and sophomore Chase Bekkerus pinned Will Dunn and Ravtegh Aurora respectively. Rye’s Tyler Webb won a walkover victory at 170, upping the Garnets’ lead to 31-24. But the Garnets would be shut out the rest of the way.

Cam Coleman pinned Saba Surgaladze in the first period of their 182 lb. match and, at 195, Richard Antoine pinned Miles Giordano in the second. Forfeit wins by Charles Moysak and Hannes Boehning made the final score 48-31 in favor of the Wildcats.

After the match, Coach Beatty was upbeat. “Our youth and inexperience showed during our first two dual meets against very strong programs here in Section 1. Thirteen of our 20 wrestlers are freshmen or sophomores. The team was determined to turn things around and come on strong. They’re doing that and I couldn’t be prouder.”

His Wildcat counterpart was equally optimistic. “Obviously I am happy with the win,” Coach Knazik told me. “I think that Matt Beatty and his staff did a nice job of getting their numbers up from last year and they’re a solid team.  Our match with them has been quite the rivalry over the years.   

“The best win for us was at 195 pounds, where Richard Antoine pinned Miles Giordano. Miles has a lot of wins under his belt and he is very strong, so we knew that Richard, who’s won nine out of 11 bouts so far, had to wrestle smart. And he did.”

This week, Rye Country Day defeated the Martin Luther School of Maspeth, Queens, 60-24. Then they returned to win Martin Luther’s own tournament Saturday, January 16. Coach Knazik described the highlight of the day: “ If one Wildcat had a special day, it was Max Mandell.  Max entered the tournament as a non-seeded alternate at 140 pounds, along with teammate Sean Chan. Max battled through stiff competition early on to win both of his matches, fighting off his back to come from behind and make it to the final round.

“He had to square off against a familiar face in the finals, wrestling our team captain, Sean Chan. Although Max came up short against Sean, it was agreed he had the best day of anyone on the team.”

The Wildcats face national powers Blair Academy and Wyoming Seminary this weekend at the Storm King duals. The following Saturday, it’s the Westchester County Championships at Yonkers High School. The Garnets defeated league foe Eastchester 40-34 Tuesday, and faced Byram Hills post-press time. They’ll host Port Chester a week from today. The match starts at 4:30.