Wrestling: Pleasantville holds off Hen Hud, 42-36, in first wrestling meet in two years
PLEASANTVILLE — Everybody has first-day jitters, but it was far from being just another Tuesday for the Pleasantville wrestling team.
After being one of the many school districts that opted out of wrestling last season, Pleasantville was preparing for its first taste of competition in nearly two years. The Panthers were set to host Hen Hud in the Section 1 Division II Dual Meet Tournament quarterfinals.
"I couldn't wait for this," longtime Pleasantville coach Bob Bernarducci said. "All day, I was nervous about it, just to get back out there. It felt great, and I'm glad we're back."
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The top-seeded Panthers were able to hang on for a 42-36 victory over the eighth-seeded Sailors, despite having nine key wrestlers ineligible. The group of nine was unable to compete since they had just returned to wrestling after helping Pleasantville's football team on a run to the Carrier Dome for the Class B state finals.
While they'll try to make their mark later in the season, it opened an opportunity for some younger wrestlers to step into bigger roles.
"They've been working very hard and we've been pushing them really hard," returning section champ and Pleasantville junior Christian Perlleshi said. "They've been training tremendously. ... This is 100% going to help them. A couple of them lost today, not a big deal. A couple of them also won, also not a big deal. We're not sweating it either way, we know they're going to learn and develop. Win, loss, it doesn't matter."
Both teams had to get creative with their lineup. While Pleasantville dealt with absences from football, Hen Hud had some wrestlers miss weight, forcing some starters to wrestle out of their natural position.
"There was a one match here or there, a couple of my kids didn't make weight, which I had to bump around and it ended up working out," Hen Hud coach Shane Turrone said. "But it was a good match. Our kids are young and they're wrestling hard, which is nice."
After a strong start to the meet by Pleasantville, Hen Hud started to erase the gap between both teams in the heavier weights as the meet went on.
Ultimately, the Panthers managed to get the necessary forfeits and win just enough matches to hang on for the victory.
"We were all really nervous, especially because we didn't have our whole team," Pleasantville 160-pounder Asa Nunberg said. "But, we showed up and we were able to get the win."
For Pleasantville, Grant Kelly (118 pounds), Luke LaMagna (132), Perlleshi (138) and Nunberg (160) got pins.
As for Hen Hud, George Wright (126), Kevin Skelly (152), Kyle Peske (189), and Connor Harbolic (215) each recorded pins.
"Just keep working hard and make sure you're being a team player, and not just for yourself," Turrone said of his message to his wrestlers afterwards. "For me, it's pretty selfish for some kids to not make weight, but overall, we did very well as a team. If those kids made weight, I think it could have turned out the other way in our favor."
Momentous match
160 pounds: There weren't many closely-contested matches, with all 13 being decided by pinfall or forfeit — and plenty of first-period pins — but this bout ended up being a good battle between Pleasantville's Asa Nunberg and Hen Hud's Shane Merchant. It was even going into the second period, until Nunberg was able to free himself and pin Merchant. The win proved to be an important one, as it gave the Panthers the decisive points to hang on for the win.
"I was a little rusty, because I hadn't wrestled in a while so I kept messing up, but in the second round I was able to stick him," Nunberg said. "He put me in a cradle, and I felt like he put too much power into it, so I just rolled him and pinned him."
Wrestler of the meet
Asa Nunberg, Pleasantville: With plenty of experienced Pleasantville wrestlers ineligible for this first meet due to the Panthers' run to the Carrier Dome for the Class B football state finals, plenty of young grapplers were thrusted into bigger roles and the starting lineup. Nunberg, a freshman, picked up his first career win in a big spot and delivered at a crucial point of the meet for his team.
Results
102: Ciaran Egan (PSV) won by forfeit 110: Jesse Straus (PSV) won by forfeit 118: Grant Kelly (PSV) over Eric Selvaggi (HH) (Fall 1:26) 126: George Wright (HH) over Liam Keating (PSV) (Fall 1:39) 132: Luke LaMagna (PSV) over Giovanni Gioio (HH) (Fall 0:37) 138: Christian Perlleshi (PSV) over Shawn O'Mara Jr. (HH) (Fall 0:34) 145: Ismael Andrade (HH) over Sasha McGaffey (PSV) (Fall 0:39) 152: Kevin Skelly (HH) over Adriana Palumbo (PSV) (Fall 5:48) 160: Asa Nunberg (PSV) over Shane Merchant (HH) (Fall 3:03) 172: Eric Mogrovejo (HH) won by forfeit 189: Kyle Peske (HH) over Jonah Wein (PSV) (Fall 2:56) 215: Connor Harbolic (HH) over Tyler Aurvichitaroon (PSV) (Fall 1:04) 285: Michael Pio (HH) won by forfeit
Quotable
"I'm happy to get a win, considering how I had nine kids wrestling today, who had never wrestled a varsity match before," Bernarducci said. "We're missing the core of our team, but it was good to get a win under our belts. Saw some good things from some of the young kids."
Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at @erapay5 and on Instagram at @byeugenerapay.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Wrestling: Pleasantville holds off Hen Hud, 42-36, in quarterfinals
