Panthers take on Long Island

The Panther?s went on the road this weekend as they traveled deep into Suffolk County for the Center Moriches Duals at Center Moriches High School. Edgemont made the trek to wrestle nine matches in two days on Saturday and Sunday, December 17^th and 18^th. While away the Panther?s had the opportunity to take on some of the toughest schools in Section 11, one of the toughest regions in New York State.

?This was an awesome opportunity for development and our guys performed as expected,? said Head Coach Pete Jacobson. ?Nine matches over two days, against the caliber of competition we faced tests you both physically and mentally, and that?s just the kind of tests we need at this point in the season.?

Despite a depleted line-up Edgemont?s grapplers did not back down from the challenge. Missing from the starting line-up this weekend, due to injury or illness were Tyler Aslanian (99 lbs); Sky Korek (106 lbs); Colin Hopkins (132 lbs); Oliver Oks (160 lbs); Jason Worobow (170 lbs) and Chris Kim (182 lbs). Substituting in were Kyle Aslanian (99 lbs); Hunter Moore/Jon Fleischmann (106 lbs); Marc Ficuciello (132 lbs) and Saumil Kothari (160 lbs).

?Injuries and illness are unfortunately part of athletics,? Jacobson said. It is frustrating to have so many starters unavailable, but at the same time it was awesome to be able to put some of our other guys in there and get them some great experience. Moore, Fleischmann and Kothari each had their first taste of Varsity Wrestling this weekend and each competed hard and fearlessly.?

Some key performances were turned in by senior Max Abramsky (120 lbs) who went 7-2 on the weekend, including an impressive come-from-behind overtime win over Vinny Forca of Smithtown East. Abramsky also took home the Edgemont Most Outstanding Wrestler honors as awarded by the tournament coaches.

Senior Danny Kornberg and junior Trey Aslanians, co-captains with Abramsky, each went 8-1 on the trip.

?I don?t know where to really give the most credit for this weekend,? Jacobson said. ?Every single athlete we had competing wrestled hard and physically every match ? whether a veteran or a first-year rookie. This was really a team effort and I think this was a tremendous milestone performance. The sky is the limit from here.?

Also competing for the Panthers were freshmen Sam Charnizon (132 lbs), Dylan Huff (132 lbs) and Alyson Kornberg (132 lbs), sophomores Will Graybeal (126 lbs) and Riki Mistry (113 lbs) and juniors Ross Kantor (152 lbs) and Jack McCormack (145 lbs).

Edgemont?s next challenge is Section 1 large-school powerhouse New Rochelle. The Panthers face off against the Huguenots at home on Wednesday, December 22^nd at 4:30 PM.