Two years ago, a notable Rye High School athlete anchored the line of a state championship football team in the fall, wrestled at 215 pounds in the winter, then went on to star on the Garnets’ celebrated rugby squad in the spring, earning Athlete of the Month honors.
His name? Tommy Anderson.
Now, another standout Garnet athlete is in the process of repeating the trifecta, anchoring Rye’s offensive line and completing a successful wrestling season at 215 pounds before preparing for the upcoming rugby season.
His name? Jack Anderson.
“I love it. I mean, it feels good doing as well or better than Tommy,” said Jack, who was named January Athlete of the Month by the school’s athletic department and the Rye Lions Club. “This year, he helped me train for sectionals, and I beat him a lot in our practices.”
The brothers aren’t the only Andersons to play sports for Rye. Their dad was a 1992 graduate who played for legendary football coach Dino Garr. And their younger sister, Olivia, is a mainstay on the Garnets’ field hockey team.
“Jack is one of the nicest, kindest people I’ve ever met,” said Rye wrestling coach Brian Scher. “He makes friends with everyone. All the adults and students know him and love him. He’s really a very special kid.
“When he steps on the mat, he is a different person. Very intense, very physical. Opponents, win or lose, leave feeling like they’ve been through a battle. He is 39-4 this year, placing third in the Section 1 championships and earning a bid to the New York state wrestling championships.”
Off the mat and the field, Jack is equally engaged in his classes.
“One of my favorites was rhetoric, a course taught by Mr. (James) Goldman that I took last semester,” he said. “His course includes how to win a debate — totally cool.”
Another course he mentioned was one of Tommy’s favorites as well: Jennifer Giaquinto’s forensics class.
“We learn how detectives assemble the evidence that decides cases,” Jack said.
Finally, in an admission that surprised even Jack, he named studio art.
“I never drew anything much growing up, and I took it just because I needed the credit, but Mr. (Bendis) Mani got me very involved. He asked us to do a beach at sunset in an abstract way. I liked it so much I signed up for art again this spring.”
In the summers, Jack works on the docks at American Yacht Club.
“I will be attaining my launch operators license this spring,” he said. “So, I will be able to take people from the dock out to where their boats are moored and back.”
The senior likes being on the water so much he’s considering enrolling at SUNY Maritime College in the fall, the same school Tommy attends.
“Our father taught us to fish,” he said, “and I really love saltwater fishing, especially when the stripers are running in the spring.”
Asked to name those he’d thank for winning the Lions Club award, he first mentioned Scher.
“I was really thinking of quitting wrestling freshman year,” Jack said. “I wasn’t doing well, then Coach said, ‘Give it till Christmas before you decide. I think you’re going to be a good one.’ I’m glad I did.”
Jack also thanked his family and the teachers he chats with every day.
As with the other monthly winners, Jack is now eligible to be named Rye’s Athlete of the Year at the Lions Club’s annual awards luncheon this spring.
