Sports Recap: Rodrigues Takes Home State Title As Foxes Finish Second Overall; Ursuline Ends Greeley Girls Hoops Season

Foxes Excel in States

For the Fox Lane wrestling squad, it was a great finish to a great season as it placed second in the large schools division at the 49th annual New York State Public High School Athletic Association Wrestling Championships at the Times Union Center in Albany on Feb. 25 and 26.

The Foxes were led by 130-pound Rutgers bound senior Steven Rodrigues, who won a state championship.

“It just shows how the program continues to grow,” Fox Lane coach Joe Amuso said. “I have always felt success breeds more success. We’ve got more kids involved in our program and when they see what the older kids have achieved, it makes them want to work harder in the offseason program, hitting the weights, doing the conditioning and the little things that it takes to be a better wrestler.”

Fox Lane’s performance was part of an outstanding showing for Section 1, which placed second as a section.

“Overall, in our section we are just getting better,” Amuso said. “We are getting more exposure to other teams outside the section. A lot of our teams in the section are going out of the area to wrestle, get better competition and seek out the type of wrestlers that they are going to meet when they do get to the state level, so when they get up there, they know what they are going against. I think that has helped a lot.”

What has helped Rodrigues become a state champion is his work ethic.

“He works in the offseason,” Amuso said. “He seeks out competition throughout the nation. He has wrestled in Fargo, North Dakota, wrestling in tournaments during the summer and in North Carolina. He wrestles all-year round.”

Fox Lane’s two other wrestlers who also participated in the states and had outstanding efforts were juniors, 112-pound Sam Speno and 119-pound Danny Ventura, who each finished second.

Greeley Girls Fall to Ursuline

No. 4 Horace Greeley enjoyed an outstanding season but its great run came to an end when it lost 54-42 to visiting No. 5 Ursuline in the quarterfinals of the Section 1 Class AA girls basketball tournament on Feb. 22.

Leading the way for the Quakers was Jackie Brett with 21 points.

“In the first half we were able to get out on the run a lot, that is where she excels,” Greeley coach John Alkalay said. “Then in the second half, they were doing a good job shutting down our half-court offense so we ran a lot of pick and roll for Jackie and she was getting wide open off that play, getting some shots, getting some drives.”

Brett’s play helped the Quakers jump out to a 26-22 halftime lead.

“We played excellent defense in the first half,” Alkalay said. “They were having trouble adjusting to our matchup zone. We were getting them to turn the ball over and throw up bad shots, which allowed us to get on the break, that’s where we are best. We were able to get the lead with great defense and pushing the ball up court when they missed.”

However, in the second half Ursuline changed the way it attacked Greeley’s zone and it worked.

“They got more open looks and they hit a few shots,” Alkalay said. “They got confidence when they started making their outside shots. The more shots they were making, the more they forced us to play a half-court offense. They played terrific man defense and didn’t give us any easy shots. Once it got to a half-court game, that was to their advantage. We really couldn’t get any of our other players going in our half-court offense besides Jackie.”