Fox Lane senior wrestlers shine in senior night win over John Jay

Clockwise from top left, John Jay’s John Aniello and Piero DiNicola of Fox Lane battled to the final seconds. Fox Lane’s Andrew Brauning and John Jay’s Joe Ferrer square off in 215-pound bout. Fox Lane senior Finn Guyder wins his match by pin. Emerson Flamm of John Jay looks for an opening. Jim MacLean Photos

By JIM MACLEAN

For the seniors on the Fox Lane wrestling team it was a big night as the Foxes hosted rival John Jay for a dual-meet on Thursday, Jan. 29. After a ceremony with their families before the meet on senior night, the Foxes had to put their emotions behind them and get down to business.

Led by a trio of senior captains who all pulled out victories, the Foxes were able to pull out a 48-24 victory over the Wolves to complete the celebration in front of family and friends in their final home match on the mats at Fox Lane.

Both teams knew coming in that some matches would be tougher than others, especially senior captain Piero DiNicola as he knew he would be facing a tough match against John Aniello of John Jay at 126 pounds. It was a match that lived up to its billing as both wrestlers left it all on the mat. Aniello held a 9-7 lead late in the third period, but DiNicola was able to score the takedown in the final seconds to pull out a 10-9 victory.

“This means a lot, really special to see all my friends and family out to support me. I’m wrestling against a real good kid who was All-Section last year, so it was great to get that last second take down and win,” admitted DiNicola. “It was all guts, I just couldn’t lose that match in front of everyone on senior night.”

Fellow senior captains Luke Ryan and Chris Bloom also came through on senior night, along with senior Finn Guyder to lead the Foxes to the victory.

Ryan is a defending Section 1 champion looking to finish his Fox Lane career strong, and he won his match by tech fall at 175 pounds.

“It was awesome to be here, last time out on the mat at home, wrestling in front of the home crowd,” explained Ryan. “Fox Lane wrestling, this program has really changed me as a person, I don’t know where I’d be without it. All the hard work pays off and I’m feeling great going into sectionals and just want to focus and get to states and get it done.”

Bloom took the lead in his 190-pound bout and won by injury default as he continues to turn in a strong season in his senior year looking for a big finish at the Section 1 tournament.

“This is my last time ever wrestling in this gym, so it means a lot and I had to perform,” said Bloom. “Fox Lane wrestling means everything to me, I dedicated the last five years of my life to it and I’ve enjoyed every minute. I put in a lot of hard work and it’s paying off and I feel good going into sectionals. Last year I did pretty poorly at sectionals and this year I had to get back and I have a lot to prove.”

In addition to the three captains, senior Finn Guyder also won his match by pin for the Foxes at 165-pounds. The Foxes started off the meet with a pair of pins from Joe D’Alesa and Flavio DiNicola to take a quick 12-0 lead. Other Foxes who won their matches by pin were Colin Hirschel and Andrew Brauning, while Steven Morales Palacios won by major decision.

“Senior Night comes up on you so fast, it’s sort of bittersweet because some of these kids I’ve had for four or five years and they’ve all been great,” Fox Lane coach Anthony Rodrigues said of his seniors. “They’ve all made unbelievable jumps since they started and it’s a credit to them and the work they put in. The match that actually made me the happiest was Christian Lopez-Ramirez. He was losing 8-1 and he came back and almost won. He’s only a freshman and he’s taking a beating, but he kept wrestling.”

There were plenty of highlights on the mat for John Jay as well, despite a young roster as the Wolves continue to get better and better. In addition to the match between Aniello and DiNicola, another exciting bout featured David Corrales of John Jay against Maynor Argueta., two of the top wrestlers in the section in the 118-pound weight class. Argueta took the lead with a takedown in the first period, but Corrales was able to rally back and score the decisive takedown in the third period to pull out a 5-3 win.

Emerson Flamm won his match by pin for the Wolves, and Spencer Chan won by pin at 145 pounds to pull John Jay to within six at 21-15, but the Foxes won five of the next six bouts to pull away. Nick Candia closed out the meet with a win by pin for the Wolves, and Hunter Carini won his match by decision.

“A couple of great, tight matches, a couple went our way and a couple didn’t, but it was a nice rivalry match,” said John Jay coach Mark Swertfager. “David, that was a good match between two good wrestlers and I think David was a little tentative, but it was a good win and he got the job done. Emerson had a good win, and Spencer is an up and coming wrestler for us. We just have to keep building, our last dual-meet going into sectionals and we’re working hard and excited and ready to go.”

Both teams will move on to the Section 1 Division 1 championship tournament this weekend at the Westchester County Center starting Saturday, Feb. 7, and finishing Sunday, Feb. 8.