Wrestling: Fox Lane headed back to Section 1 Dual Meet Tournament final four
CHAPPAQUA - Fox Lane coach Anthony Rodrigues wore a shirt with the words "new generation" printed on the back. As the Foxes have shown in the past, the faces and names may change each year, but the high expectations and standards don't.
They may have had their growing pains in earlier dual meets and previous tournaments, with some wrestlers missing weight and the team not getting the results they were used to, and that opened the door for up-and-comers Somers/North Salem, Horace Greeley and Ossining, who hoped to make a statement and knock off the Foxes in the Section 1 Division I round of 16 and quarterfinal quad-meet.
In the end, the four-time reigning champs sent a message. They weren't going anywhere but back to the Section 1 Division I Dual Meet Tournament final four, where they'll hope to extend their streak to five straight titles after emerging triumphant on Wednesday night.
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"Coming out of our first weekend, where we missing a lot of weights and we didn't wrestle too good, everybody was doubting us coming into this tournament," Fox Lane senior Justin Gierum said. "It just puts a smile on your face, just coming out on top.
"We've been here, and we've won it so many years in a row, so it was definitely a little nerve-wracking or whatever, but we put trust in our training. We know we work hard enough that when times get tough, we're gonna put everything out there."
That confidence paid dividends, because their opponents didn't make it easy.
Somers/North Salem, who's brimming with potential, as well as Horace Greeley, who returned all but one starter from last season, challenged the Foxes.
However, Fox Lane was able to fend them off. It defeated Somers/North Salem, 39-33, in the round of 16. Then, they followed up with a close 36-35 quarterfinal win over quad-meet host Horace Greeley to return to the final four.
"We wrestled really well today, we finally put the lineup out that we wanted to, which really helped," Rodrigues said. "We wrestled tough against two tough teams. I always talk to them about how every match is its own entity and every match counts. Even guys just making weight. So, every little point helps."
Every little point truly helped, especially in the quarterfinals. In a hard-fought meet with a trip to the final four on the line, no stretch was bigger Fox Lane's 110-pounder Brandon Lee getting a pin, followed by 118-pounder Jake Long Houdini-ing his way out of three near-falls in the penultimate match of the night.
Although Horace Greeley's Kai Lueckerath had to settle for a 21-6 technical fall victory, the one-point difference in Long avoiding getting pinned on his back proved to be big down the stretch. It also helped Fox Lane avoid any tiebreaking scenarios.
"He showed a lot of heart," Rodrigues said of Long. "He's been really sick and hasn't practiced with us. He knew the situation. Him and Brandon Lee sort of won the meet for us."
It was a tough break for Horace Greeley, but it was also a valuable early-season measuring stick for the Quakers.
"They're a good team, well-coached," Quakers coach Anthony Tortora said. "Big fan of A-Rod, but my motto has always been to be our best in February. If we're with a team that I consider to be one of the best in the section and we're within one point in December, you should look out for us in February."
Gierum and sophomore Alex Berisha are the only two returning all-section wrestlers on a Fox Lane team that has many wrestlers hoping to make a name for themselves this season. They don't shy away from the expectations or the pressure, and discuss that often. They plan on making it five straight titles in next week's Section 1 Dual Meet Tournament finale.
"It's night and day from the first day we walked in for practice," Gierum said. "It didn't even look like we had a team. Now, we're very confident. I feel like we have a great solid squad, and they all want to get better. ... You want everybody to be working with each other and just picking everybody up. Our big thing this year is cheer no matter what, win or lose, and just really have fun. We learned today, if you're having fun, you're gonna wrestle pretty good."
Quad-meet results
Round of 16
No. 4 Fox Lane 39, No. 13 Somers/North Salem 33
126: Wilmer Navarro (FL) over Alex Wissa (SOM) (Fall 0:47) 132: Justin Gierum (FL) over Liam Dwyer (SOM) (Fall 0:31) 138: Kevin Navarro (FL) over Matt Cascio (SOM) (Fall 2:20) 145: Mike Aquilino (SOM) over Daas McPhee Djan (FL) (Fall 2:20) 152: Francesco Ruggiero (FL) over Anthony Tucci (SOM) (9-6) 160: Luca D'Orazio (SOM) over Lawrence Flinn (FL) (Fall 0:33) 172: Justin Daniyan (SOM) over Barren Ransom (FL) (Fall 0:40) 189: Alex Berisha (FL) over Nate Traver (SOM) (Fall 0:36) 215: Tyler Stermassi (FL) over Chris Lux (SOM) (Fall 1:13) 285: Nate Brauning (FL) over J.P. Hurley (SOM) (Fall 1:13) 102: Ethan Steuber (SOM) over Antonio Camberari (FL) (Fall 1:03) 110: Ryan Ball (SOM) over Brandon Lee (FL) (Fall 1:02) 118: Dalton Baloy (SOM) over Jake Long (FL) (8-6)
No. 5 Horace Greeley 45, No. 12 Ossining 18
126: Corey Fitzsimmons (HG) over Matt Keneally (OSS) (Fall 0:58) 132: Ben Gottlieb (HG) over Zach Reyes (OSS) (10-5) 138: Matt Cascione (OSS) over Otto Mindenhall (HG) (Fall 1:16) 145: Josh Hametz (HG) over McKlaime Matos (OSS) (Fall 1:48) 152: Jon Kang (HG) over Jeremy Medina (OSS) (Fall 3:23) 160: Tristan Robinson-July (OSS) over Chris Nocca (HG) (Fall 1:52) 172: Tommy Antes (HG) over Edwin Guzman (OSS) (Fall 1:40) 189: Vinny Sasso (HG) over Devin Almodovar (OSS) (Fall 2:32) 215: Chris Morocho (OSS) over Andreas Gowdie (HG) (6-5) 285: Qamer Khan (HG) over Malikai Drysdale (OSS) (Fall 1:53) 102: Colin Liebertz (OSS) over Quinn Carpenbter (HG) (7-0) 110: Wildes Santiago (OSS) over Zach Haber (HG) (Fall 5:20) 118: Kai Luckerath (HG) over Brianna Torres (OSS) (Fall 0:33)
Quarterfinals
No. 4 Fox Lane 36, No. 5 Horace Greeley 35
132: Wilmer Navarro (FL) over Ben Gottlieb (HG) (Fall 5:36) 138: Justin Gierum (FL) over Otto Mindenhall (HG) (Fall 1:58) 145: Josh Hametz (HG) over Kevin Navarro (FL) (6-5) 152: Jon Kang (HG) over Daas McPhee-Djan (FL) (Inj. FFT) 160: Francesco Ruggiero (FL) over Chris Nocca (HG) (Fall 5:27) 172: Tommy Antes (HG) over Barron Ransom (FL) (Fall 0:38) 189: Alex Berisha (FL) over Andreas Gowdie (HG) (Inj. FFT) 215: Vinny Sasso (HG) over Nate Brauning (FL) (8-5) 285: Tyler Stermassi (FL) over Qamer Khan (HG) (Fall 0:50) 102: Quinn Carpenter (HG) won by forfeit 110: Brandon Lee (FL) over Zach Haber (HG) (Fall 0:44) 118: Kai Lueckerath (HG) over Jake Long (FL) (TF 21-6) 126: Corey Fitzsimmons (HG) over Charlie Webb (FL) (Fall 0:59)
Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at @erapay5 and on Instagram at @byeugenerapay.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Wrestling: Fox Lane back to Section 1 Dual Meet Tournament final four
