Edgemont Wrestlers Maturing into Roles

SCARSDALE ? Mike Rothstein experienced a demanding and sometimes painful first wrestling season on the Edgemont varsity team.

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Rothstein was not alone though. He and many of his fellow underclassmen were at the mercy of the veterans last year.

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?Coach talked about it a lot,? said Rothstein of Edgemont coach George DiChiara. ?He said that every wrestler goes through it. They get their butts kicked in their first year in the room by the more experienced wrestlers.?

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Even though this happened on a daily basis, it helped prepare Rothstein and his teammates for the current season. Many of the underclassmen have moved into the starting lineup and are making an impression.

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Rothstein made a huge impression on Tuesday, leading Edgemont to a 57-27 victory over Irvington in a league match.

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The sophomore 145-pounder was one of six Panthers to register pins. Jack McCormack (140 pounds), Trey Aslanian (112) and Max Abramsky (119) all had first-period finishes in less than a minute. Jason Worobow (160) and Will Graybeal (135) also pinned in the first period.

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Rothstein?s pin, of Felix Abrahamyan at 3:26 increased Edgemont?s lead to 21-6, sending the Panthers on a roll. Rothstein sunk a tight arm bar and ran it on Abrahamyan to finish the match. It was a move Rothstein had executed on him by former teammates.

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?Whenever a move was done on me, they would show me how to do it and how I could counter it in a match,? Rothstein said. ?We knew coming into the season with the starters we lost we would have to step it up.?

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Rothstein, along with classmates Russ Kantor (152 pounds), Skylar Korek (103) and McCormack (140) are first-year starters, as is junior Peter Berman (135). The new starters have made an impression on Abramsky, a junior, and veteran.

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?I felt we had potential,? Abramsky said. ?Even though we have young guys, I felt we had a really good team.?

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After the first couple of practices, Abramsky?s intuition was on the mark.

?They were working really hard,? said Abramsky of his young teammates. ?They were working with the older guys and they were staying late to work on moves. They showed that they have a lot of determination and dedication.

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?The young guys knew what the program was about and about winning. It comes down to the younger guys and it will all pay off when the younger guys, especially the freshmen, are upperclassmen.?

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Edgemont opened the match with a pin from Will Graybeal (125) and decision by Tommy Jachenczyk (130) for a 9-0 lead. Brad Pastore (135) answered with a pin for Irvington, but McCormack, younger brother of sectional place-finisher and graduate, Mark McCormack, pinned his opponent in 45 seconds.

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Rothstein followed and the match with Abrahamyan was scoreless after the first period. Abrahamyan chose bottom to start the second period. Rothstein went to work, keeping Abrahamyan on the mat. Forty-five seconds into the period, Rothstein ran an arm bar, flipped his opponent and received two back points.

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Rothstein reset the bar, sunk it tighter and this time, did not allow Abrahamyan to get out.

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?I got it up to my wrist, but it wasn?t tight enough,? Rothstein said. ?I was able to get it deeper, to my elbow. It felt really good to get the pin. It gave us that extra edge and got us three more points.?

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Irvington coach Steve Aufiero also has a young team with 10 of his starters either sophomores, freshmen or eighth-graders. Following the match, he told his team they improved from the pervious match.

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?We?re a young team so we?re taking little steps,? said Aufiero, who wrestled at Westlake. ?We just need to get a little more experience.

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?I had eighth-grader Mitchell Toolan bump up a weight class and I felt he wrestled well. Last year, we had 10 wrestlers and this year our numbers have doubled. We are building for the future.?

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Christian Malota (152) pinned and Nat Tamura (171) registered a decision for Irvington. Kevin Degnan (189) and Chris DiNardo (285) received forfeits.

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125 — Will Graybeal (Ed) pin. Andrew Wassman, 1:21; 130 — Tommy Jachenczyk (Ed) dec. Mitchell Toolan, 8-6; 135 — Brad Pastore (I) pin. Peter Berman, 4:29; 140 — Jack McCormack (Ed) pin. Gus McCann, :45; 145 — Mike Rothstein (Ed) pin. Felix Abrahamyan, 3:26; 152?– Christian Malota (I) pin. Ross Kantor, 5:08; 160 — Jason Worobow (Ed) pin. Dillon Grabel, 1:50; 171 ? Nate Tamura (I) dec. Oliver Oks, 3-0; 189 — Kevin Degnan (I) won by forfeit; 215 — Danny Kornberg (Ed) won by forfeit; 285 — Chris DiNardo (I) won by forfeit; 96 — Tyler Aslanian (Ed) won by forfeit; 103 — Skylar Korek (Ed) won by forfeit; 112 — Trey Aslanian (Ed) pin. Tyler Wexler, :36; 119 — Max Abramsky (Ed) pin. Coleman Deanda, :28.