Happy New Year! Hope you?re all doing great!
We?re off into 2018, which means the second half of our competitive season and a firm focus on preparation for our post-season which begins a month from today!
Cancer Sucks
Before I launch into some updates for you guys, I wanted to make you aware of this important event coming up.
So last January, we wrestled Irvington at home in a rare Friday evening dual meet. Our two programs agreed to make this event a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, by way of a suggested donation at the door. In one way or another, all of our lives have been touched by cancer, which is pretty terrible as it is. This cause is even more dear to our program, though, as last year?s senior Mike Schwartz, lost his father to this terrible disease shortly before our 2016-2017 season started.
Our program – wrestlers, coaches, parents and alumni – did what they always do: stepped up to support Mike and his family. One small way we did this was by our wrestlers asking to have a fundraiser and make a donation to the American Cancer Society in honor of Robert Schwartz. Irvington?s wrestling program was happy to co-sponsor this event with us and we raised over $1,600.
Both our programs thought this was such a great event for such a great cause, that we decided to make it happen once again.
Next Friday 1/19 at 6 PM we?ll be taking on the Irvington Bulldogs in San Marco Gymnasium and it would mean a lot to us if you could join us!
We will have a suggested donation at the door and expect this to be a very exciting and competitive dual meet – we match up well with them.
Finally, immediately after the match, we?ll be hosting an adults-only reception with cash bar for alumni and parents at The Garth Road Inn.?We?d love to see you there to catch up with old friends, meet the coaching staff, share stories and enjoy the evening together! Hope you can make it!
Now on to our updates…
Winter Break
Our winter break training cycle is now complete and what a week of practices we had. You?ve all been a part of our program, so you know the drill. This is always one of the most important practice weeks of the season for us and our guys came in focused and ready to work hard everyday. We really pushed them and got a ton of technical development in, along with our strength and conditioning work and plenty of time to scrap.
As important as this training cycle is for the development of our team each year, it?s the effort and attitude that our kids bring that really makes the difference. With such a young group, you?re never really sure what to expect as a coach when you push them into progressively more difficult challenges. These guys really rose to the occasion. I can tell you, while there is still a ton of growth to be had, we?re very happy with the progress these guys made over the week!
Thank for your help!
A big part of that progress is because of the help we constantly receive from recently alumni, giving up their time and coming to help out at our practice. Particular thanks to: Colin Hopkins ?14, Danny Kornberg ?12, Chance Moore ?15,?Hunter Moore ?16, ?Mikey Schwartz ?17 and?Andy Williams ?17!
Oh the weather outside is frightful?
And it definitely created a bump in the road for us last week. Due to the weather and school cancellations the Bronx River Cup vs. Scarsdale, originally scheduled for last Thursday has to be cancelled. We?re working to reschedule but have only a very limited number of dates available. We reached out to Scarsdale with those dates and haven?t heard back yet?
We?ll keep you posted, as we?d like nothing more than to defend last year?s Bronx River Cup victory? although Scarsdale?has still not replaced the cup which they lost!
Shoreline/Scarsdale
While we didn?t wrestle our dual meet last week, we did return to competition this past Saturday, sending squads to both the Shoreline Tournament at New Rochelle and the Scarsdale Tournament.
As most of you know, Shoreline is hands-down Westchester County?s toughest wrestling tournament with 25 teams from around NYS, CT, NJ and MA. We sent senior?Georgie Guarnieri (132 lbs), junior Nick Meglino (170 lbs) and senior Maunil Kothari (195 lbs). They were awesome!
Georgie finished in the Top 8 of his weight class – they don?t contest the 7th place match, so he would have finished either 7th or 8th – and wrestled the best tournament of his career. The two matches he lost, he was very much in and had one or two positions gone differently Georgie would have been on the podium. It?s great to see Georgie put in so much effort and reap the benefits. He?s really starting to turn the corner with his wrestling into a championship-caliber contender and he was solid in every position based on the hard work he?s put in.
Nicky was great too, earning his 1st prestigious Shoreline title at 170 lbs. On his way to the title Nicky racked up 3 falls and a 3-0 decision, including a 2nd period fall in the finals! Nick has improved a ton in all positions as well, but most noticeably in his mental approach. His preparation for each match has become more and more consistent and his ability to stay poised throughout his bouts has become a huge asset. Nicky is unflappable (SAT word!).
Maunil showed us a ton of development as well. What Maunil lacks in technical ability, he makes up for in intensity. Maunil didn?t place at Shoreline, but the great news here is that not only is he channeling that energy more and more effectively in his matches, but he?s is absolutely getting more and more technically sound as well. Really looking forward to seeing the continuing improvement!
At the Scarsdale Tournament, we had another solid performance from our seven wrestlers competing. Every single guy in this tournament looked better than they did last month. ?(I LOVE being able to say that!).
Our two placefinishers here were sophomore?Miles Teperman (120 lbs)?taking 5th and freshman?Matty McCormack (145 lbs)?taking 6th. We also got some really tough wrestling from sophomore?Jason Older (113 lbs)and freshmen?Mitch Kronk (113 lbs), Nico Wisnivesky (126 lbs), Zach Frain (145 lbs) and Dexter Seeley (170 lbs). These guys are just starting the scratch the surface of their potential!
Important dates for you
Finally before I leave, I wanted to drop some important upcoming dates on you. Please mark you calendars! We really need your support!
- Fri 1/19 6 PM – EHS San Marco Gym – Edgemont Panthers vs. Irvington Bulldogs
We?re hosting Irvington in a Friday night match to make it easier for many of our alumni to attend. We?re also teaming up with Irvington Wrestling to use this match as a joint fundraiser to support the American Cancer Society. We?ll be asking for a suggested donation at the door. Immediately after the match, we?ll be hosting a reception with cash bar for alumni and parents at The Garth Road Inn. - Sat 1/27 9 AM – 6 PM EHS – 36th Annual Edgemont Invitational Wrestling Tournament
Come watch your Panthers battle grapplers from 20 teams on four mats. Action kicks off at 9 AM with the finals slated for 5 PM. - Fri 2/9 and Sat 2/10 – Hastings HS – Section 1 Championships
This is where our guys work so hard to get to! Wrestling is tentatively scheduled to start at 4:30 PM on Friday and resume at 10:00 AM on Saturday. - Fri 2/23 and?Sat 2/24 – Times Union Arena – Albany, NY – NY State Championships
Get more info on the State Championships here:?http://www.nysphsaa.org/Sports/Wrestling/Individual- Championship-Central
Talk to you soon!
Feed the Panther!
Pete
Peter Jacobson
Head Coach
Edgemont Wrestling