John Jay Wrestling Team Better than Ever

John Jay coach Bill Swertfager called this year's wrestling team the best in school history. And he should know — he started the varsity program nine years ago.

While the Indians have been a strong dual-meet team, this year they're an even better tournament team, as wrestlers have been making the jump from placing in the top six to placing in the top three.

"The makeup of this team is a little different than in the past," Swertfager said. "We've been solid across all 15 weight classes (in the past) but never had really top-notch kids. We had a few here and there, but not the type we've had this year."

John Jay won its third straight Section 1 team championship, and then followed that up by winning the prestigious Shoreline tournament by the largest margin of victory in the event's 46-year history, defeating runner-up North Rockland by 74 points.

"There are a bunch of juniors and seniors committed to the sport," Swertfager said. "They wrestle year-round and they're now the elders of the team. They're the ones who are the driving force behind this."

John Jay brought 13 wrestlers to the Shoreline tournament and 11 placed, giving the Indians a program-best 241.5 points. John Jay had four champions — Billy Watterson (119 pounds), Mark Swertfager (135), Lucas Myers (215) and Timmy Gecaj (285) — while Henry Stauber (130) and Scott Genovesi (160) both finished second.

Four wrestlers reached the consolation finals — Dan Yablon (96), James Kelly (125) and Jay Smith (140) took third, while Donnie Gecaj had to injury default to his opponent and placed fourth. Wyatt Gilcrest wrestled five times to come back and finish fifth. Even Mike Kelly and Andrew D'aVanzo both won two matches and were just one match shy of getting to the medal round.

"It's very satisfying," said Swertfager, who started the youth program 13 years ago. "It's been a lot of work, seeing these kids come up through the ranks and make their mark."

Watterson was particularly impressive beating LaSalle's Brendon Goldup, who finished third in the state last year, 24-9, and Mark Swertfager defeated Joe Slane (fourth in the section in 2009) 3-1 in a gutsy performance. Timmy Gecaj rolled through the tournament until the finals, where he beat Marcus Allen of New Rochelle in the final seconds.

But the surprise was Myers, who only started wrestling last year but is now fully committed to the sport. He used smart, aggressive tactics to move through the tournament unseeded and beat Duke Alvora of Harrison 2-1 in overtime to win the title.

In December, John Jay won its third straight Section 1 team championship, defeating rival Fox Lane 41-27 in the semifinals after jumping out to a 33-3 lead, and then beating Arlington convincingly in the final by a score of 52-24. Despite battling an injured shoulder, Stauber clinched both matches with major decisions.

"His toughness and courage is a valuable lesson for all of the wrestlers in our program to emulate and feed off of," Swertfager said.