John Jay Achieves Wrestling Goal Quicker Than Expected

When Bill Swertfager started the John Jay varsity wrestling program in 2002, he set the goal of winning the sectional championship in 10 years.

The Indians only needed nine.

After finishing runner-up to rival Fox Lane each of the past two seasons, the Indians won the Section 1 Open Championship by a huge margin, recording 182.5 points and four individual title winners.

Fox Lane, behind champions Sam Speno and Steve Rodrigues, finished second with 136 points.

"I am so proud of each and every one... all 40," Swertfager said of his wrestlers. "We have been climbing the Section 1 mountain for nine years since we started this crazy journey and finally have made it to the peak."

In the end, John Jay had a Section 1-best five wrestlers advance to the state tournament next weekend in Albany — champions Billy Watterson (119 pounds), Henry Stauber (130), Scott Genovesi (160) and Lucas Myer (215) and wild card Timmy Gecaj (285), who captured third place at divisionals.

Another wrestler, Mark Swertfager (135), also made the divisional finals but lost by one point in a controversial decision after he was called for stalling with one second left.

"You never know how the kids are going to react to the pressure of the big stage, but we prepared them well and they were ready for battle," Bill Swertfager said.

Watterson, ranked sixth in the state, added to his program-record total with his 48th win of the season in 52 matches. Stauber advanced to states for the second straight year by defeating New Rochelle's Mike Figuero, who had beaten Stauber at Shoreline. The reversal completed a great comeback for Stauber, who had injured his shoulder midway through the season.

"We've had a really tough schedule but it paid off in sectionals and hopefully in states," the senior said.

More than half the No. 1 seeds were knocked out in the Division I tournament, but not Genovesi, a senior who continued his dominating season by finishing undefeated against Section 1 opponents.

"I've been training for this since eighth grade," Genovesi said. "I've been working really hard for this, and when it finally happened it was the best feeling I've ever had."

Unlike Genovesi, Myer just started wrestling last year. But after compiling a losing record early in the season, he has come out of nowhere to shock the wrestling community, overcoming a 5-1 deficit by pinning Dan Panken of Ossining in the final.

The fifth John Jay wrestler at states is Gecaj, who is 41-5 on the season and was one of two Section 1 athletes to grab an at-large berth despite finishing third at divisionals.

The Indians will be joined by two wresters from rival Fox Lane, Speno (96 pounds) and Rodrigues (125).

Speno placed fourth at states last season. The sophomore was ranked behind Suffern's Asher Kramer all year long, but won a 4-3 battle in the finals.

Meanwhile, Steve Rodrigues had lost to his finals opponent, Justin Flamio of Mahopac, three times this season before turning the tables in the final with a 3-2 decision.