Brauning crowned county champ; leads Fox Lane to second-place finish

Andrew Brauning of Fox Lane scores a takedown on his way to winning the 215-pound Westchester County Championship. Below, Flavio DiNicola squeezes for a pin on his way to a second-place finish. Jim MacLean photos

By JIM MACLEAN 

Everyone knew heading into the Westchester County wrestling championships Saturday, Jan. 24, at Sleepy Hollow High School that it would be tough to beat Iona Prep for the team title.

So for Fox Lane coach Anthony Rodrigues to see his team finish second overall in the team standings against a field of 28 teams, trailing only Iona Prep, he was pretty happy with the results turned in by the Foxes.

A total of nine wrestlers placed in the top six for Fox Lane, with junior Andrew Brauning leading the way as he was crowned as a champion, winning the 215-pound title. Flavio DiNicola and Luke Ryan both advanced to the finals and finished second, while Joe D’Alisa and Chris Bloom each placed third in their respective weight classes.

Iona Prep had four individual champions to claim the team title, but it was a team effort for the Foxes to finish second with so many wrestlers battling to win each match and earn points for the team.

“What’s my greatest joy as a coach, we all want to win, but it’s kids like Chris Bloom,” Rodrigues said. “He’s had a really good year. In ninth-grade he was terrible, if you told me he’d be a contender as a senior I wouldn’t believe it, but he’s a great kid, he works hard, I love that kid. It’s kids like Chris, or even Luke Ryan, or Piero DiNicola who was 3-17 as a sophomore, they all bought in and worked hard, and now look where they are. Successful wrestlers all faced struggles at one point, and they overcame them. The beauty of wrestling is that it teaches you to persevere.”

Brauning is a perfect example of perseverance. He couldn’t crack the varsity lineup last year with three veterans ahead of him on the roster in his weight classes, including state champion Alex Berisha. This year Brauning has gotten the opportunity to show what he can do at the varsity level on the mats and he has shined. He entered the tournament as the third-seed and won his first three matches to advance to the finals where he pulled out a 4-2 victory to claim his belt as a county champion.

Chris Bloom, left, scores an escape in the 190-pound semifinal match. David Corrales, right, of John Jay works for a takedown. Luke Ryan waits for the referee signal as he pins another opponent. Jim MacLean Photos

“Andrew has been great all season,” Rodrigues said of Brauning. “The problem for him is that he pins so many kids so fast that he hasn’t wrestled in many third periods. Saturday he wrestled really well, he was really great in some tough matches. I knew he was going to be good this year, but he’s been even better than I thought and he’s really easy to coach.”

Other finalists for the Foxes included Flavio DiNicola and Luke Ryan. DiNicola scored a victory in overtime in the semifinals before falling in the 110-pound title bout. Ryan advanced to the 165-pound title bout for one of the biggest matches of the tournament between sectional champion Ryan and state place finisher George Johnson of Iona Prep with Johnson prevailing for the crown.

Chris Bloom was third at 190 pounds and Joe D’Alisa was third at 103 pounds. Piero DiNicola was fourth at 126 pounds and Finn Guyder was fifth at 165 pounds. Sixth place finishers for the Foxes were Carmelo Cambereri and Stephen Morales-Palacios.

“I was pleased to take second, we had a good day,” said Rodrigues. “We didn’t have Maynor Argueta, he’s been really sick and he tried to come back, but he wasn’t himself. Everyone else had a good day. Flavio really struggled last year and I’m so happy with him, as a freshman he’s become one of our leaders. Carmelo and Steven both had to wrestle all the way back to place. Finn is having a really good year and he’s come a long way. Everyone wrestled well and we’re excited heading to sectionals.”

For John Jay, David Corrales led the way as he won three matches on the day and placed sixth at 118 pounds. John Aniello won a pair of matches at 126 pounds, while Emerson Flamm, Joe Ferrer, and Nick Candia each won a match for the Wolves.

Fox Lane was set to host John Jay in a dual-meet on Thursday, Jan. 29.