The Tyrone wrestling team traveled to New York last Friday to join in with a total of 28 schools for the Inaugural Eastern States Tournament featuring schools from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York. That makes this tournament along the same lines as the popular “Beast of the East Tournament which is held over the holidays at the University of Delaware and just completed its 10th year and is considered by many as the premier high school tournament in the United States.
The Golden Eagles finished in a tie for 12th place in the tournament with Monroe Woodbury Central, with 101.5 points. The tournament was won by McArthur, the pre-season top-ranked New York wrestling power, with 208 points followed by highly rated Manalapan of New Jersey with 189 and Valley Central, undefeated in New York, third with 172 points.
Sophomore Terry Tate won his third straight tournament title climbing to the top at 275 pounds with five straight wins. Tate opened with a 6-1 win over Jon Perreira of Ludlow, then pinned Doug Cairnes of Washingtonville Central, in 1:06 and Jon Geodes of Colonie Central, in 5:16 and then won a pair of one-point decisions for the championship. Terry decisioned Reggie Blackwwll of Ossining Central, 7-6, then in the finals, squeezed by Andrew Hayes of Middletown, 5-4. Tate (21-3) finished second at the Penn Manor Comet Classic, then won championships in the King of the Mountain, Blair/Huntingdon County Tournament in addition to the Eastern States Tournament last weekend.
Two other Eagle wrestlers made it to the consolation finals. Thad Westley won his consifinal at 125 to finish third, while David Miller (135) dropped his consolation final to finish fourth.
Westley (23-5) started off on a bad note, losing his first match to Matt Stuart of Colonie Central by an 8-2 score, then won six straight times coming up through the consolation brackets to claim third place. The Tyrone junior started the long climb by decking Jamal Collins of Middletown, in 5:13 and Andrew Mundo of Massapequa, in 1:47. Thad majored Kyle Bub of Greene, 12-3, decisioned Adan Provost of Ludlow, 5-1 and then got an easy win by forfeit over Mike Colagiovanni of Mahopac, in the consi-semis. In the consifinal at 125, Westley won a 5-2 decision over T. J. Lazarus of McArthur.
At 135, David Miller (20-7) pinned Derick Jenks of Greene in 2:33 and majored Rob Shuck of Valley Central 16-4 before getting knocked into the consi rounds by Joshua Eagan of Niagara Falls who defeated Miller by a 22-5 technical fall in 4:58. In the consis, the Tyrone sophomore pinned Matt Chacko of Upper Darby, in 1:45 before dropping a 10-7 verdict in the battle for third place.
Brett Harris went 4-2 in the tournament, but finished one victory short of wresting in the consifinals for 5th/6th place. Harris (18-8) pinned Monroe Woodbury’s T. J. Flood in 1:58 before losing a 7-4 decision to Marc Marainelli of Marapac, in the second round. Harris pinned Ryan Wittig of New Paultz, in 2:39, decisioned Jon Ryan of Ossining Central, 10-3 and decked Leroy Holcomb of Green, at the 2:56 mark. Mike Mowbray of Upper Darby pushed the Golden Eagle senior to the sidelines with a 6-1 decision.
Dane McCloskey (16-7) won three of five matches in the tournament winning all three by fall, getting Tony Kurian of East Remap, in 1:09, Anthony Larocca of Chaminade, in 2:12 and John O’Malley of Niagara Falls in 2:45. Losses were to Monroe Woodbury Central’s Tim Schofield, who finished fourth 13-2, and Rob Pagan of Middletown, who finished sixth, 3-1.
Robert Waite (103) and Brice Mertiff each won a pair of matches to finish 2-2 in New York
Waite (10-11) pinned Middletown’s Justin Naboa in just :30 and decisioned Matt Lewis of Upper Darby 9-2 before dropping two straight and exiting the tournament. Mertiff (14-8) won two by fall and lost two by major decision. The Tyrone sophomore pinned Sean Greenblatt of Washingtonville Central in 0:53 in the opening round and came back in the consis to deck Ludlow’s Cole Alves in 2:36.
Adam Swayne (140), J. D. Shaw (152), Chris Tremmel (160), Blake Cowfer (171), and Justin Clark (189) went 0-2. Tyrone had no entry at 96, 112, and 215.
Editor’s note: The records given for the Tyrone wrestlers include the Huntingdon match on Tuesday night.
