A large crowd turned out on Friday night at John Jay High School to watch the Indians take on Fox Lane. These two teams are long-time rivals, as well as the two top-ranked teams in Section 1. The crowd was estimated to be around 500, and after 15 battles, the Indians went home with a win of 48-21.
In the first match, John Jay's Dan Yablon in the 96 lb class outmatched Fox Lane's Ben Ettlinger. Yablon was stronger but Ettinger put up a great fight and the match ended in decision. Fox Lane came back in the second match when 103-pound Sam Speno pinned Jared Egler in less than three minutes. This match was actually stopped several times before Speno's pin due to blood on the mat.
The Foxes came away with another pin in the 112 lb class when Tom Grippi took down John Jay's Charles Bocklet in 2:15. The Foxes looked like they might be able to topple the Indians, even though they were missing several of their key players due to illness.
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But Fox Lane's glory was short lived, for they only won three of the remaining 12 matches. One of the best match ups of the night was in the 125 lb class, when Dan Ventura of the Foxes won by decision over the Indians' James Kelly. This match was also stopped on several occasions due to blood on the mat. It was a close, tense match, and Ventura won 7-6.
At 130 lbs, John Jay's Henry Stauber won by decision over Fox Lane's Pat Fay 6-1. After this, the Indians went on to win 9 out of the ten remaining matches. At 135 lbs, Mark Swertfager, son of Indian Head Coach Bill Swertfager, pinned John Albanese in just over two minutes.
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After the seventh match there was a brief half time show in which the John Jay Dance Squad put on a well-choreographed performance. Jay Smith of the Indians opened up the second half of matches in the 140 lb class with a 5-3 win by decision over Fox Lane's Matt Pasqualini. "That win set the tone for the second half," Smith later remarked.
Another great match up for the night was in the 171 lbs class, with Wyatt Gilchrist of John Jay wrestling Julian Faust of Fox Lane. The battle was intense, going into overtime, and Gilchrist won 3-1 by decision.
As for the heavy weights, 189-pound Donnie Gecaj pinned Fox Lane's Zack Patierno in 2:12. At 215 lbs, Indian Lucas Myer won by decision over Daniel Clune, 8-0. In the 285 lb class, the Foxes had to forfeit against Timmy Gecaj because Julian Mastro was ill.
Fox Lane's coach noted the situation his team was in.
"This was a big upset for us and we're missing several key players," said Foxes Head Coach Joe Amuso.
In contrast, John Jay's coach noted his team's continuing success.
"This is our fourth straight league title," Indians Head Coach Bill Swertfager noted.
