Grapplers take center stage at Section 1 championships

Fox Lane senior Piero DiNicola wrestled in the 126-pound title bout. David Corrales of John Jay works for a reversal. Wrestlers take center stage at County Center for the Section 1 championships. Fox Lane’s Luke Ryan makes his move for the pin to win the 165-pound title at the Section 1 wrestling championships. Andrew Brauning of Fox Lane grapples in the 215-pound championship. Jim MacLean Photos

By JIM MACLEAN 

It was Super Bowl Sunday, but all eyes were on the mats as wrestlers took center stage at the Westchester County Center in White Plains for the Section 1 championships, a three-day tournament finishing up on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 8, just in time for football fans to get home for the game.

Wrestlers from Fox Lane and John Jay took to the mats on Saturday and Sunday to compete in the Section 1 Division 1 tournament against a field of 32 teams overall.

Fox Lane senior Luke Ryan led the way, as he was a repeat champion, claiming his second Section 1 title by cruising through the 165-pound weight class. Ryan faced a familiar foe in the finals, wrestling against J. Gaylord from Rye for the fourth time this season. Ryan took care of business, opening up a 13-0 lead and finishing it off with a pin to secure the crown.

“My main goal when I started wrestling was to be a Section 1 champion, so to double that it feels great,” Ryan said of winning his second title. “It’s super hard to wrestle the same guy so many times. We both knew our strengths and weaknesses. That first period, still 0-0, I just had to keep wrestling smart, wrestling composed. It’s a good feeling to win again, but I have high expectations. I’m focused on states and just wrestling my best.”

Ryan wasn’t the only Fox Lane wrestler having a big day as the Foxes had three wrestlers advance to the finals and five wrestlers placed in the top six. The Foxes finished seventh overall of the 32 teams with 144.5 points. In addition to Ryan, senior Piero DiNicola advanced to the finals in the 126-pound weight class, and Andrew Brauning advanced to the finals in the 215-pound weight class.

DiNicola won his first four matches in impressive style to advance to the finals, where he faced three-time Section 1 champion Nick Fortugno of Byram Hills/Westlake/Valhalla. It was a close match into the second period when Fortugno took the lead and went on to a 7-2 victory as DiNicola finished second. He then had to bounce back in a true-second bout as DiNicola rallied from a 10-7 deficit to pull out a 13-10 win over Gio Tornambe of Yorktown to earn a trip to Albany for the state tournament.

“I wanted it really bad, it was all guts, I just had to win,” DiNicola said of the match to go to states. “Especially after being in the sectional finals and losing, it was tough to go back out there, but I just had to win and get to states and I’m excited, getting to the state tournament was a goal for my senior year.”

Brauning continued his impressive junior season as he came in as the sixth-seed and scored three impressive wins to advance to the finals at 215-pounds and finish second overall. Brauning then had to face defending champion Rocco Lore of Yorktown, who won by tech fall to claim his second-straight crown. Brauning then had to get right back on the mat for a true-second bout, where he suffered a tough loss by decision to miss out on a chance to advance to the state tournament.

Senior Chris Bloom finished third for the Foxes at 190 pounds, as he advanced to the semifinals and then wrestled back to win on a late takedown to secure an 11-8 victory for third.

“More than anything, I just couldn’t end my career on a loss, that was my motivation,” said Bloom after his third-place bout. “It felt great when I got that takedown. The hard work paid off, I went from 0-2 at this tournament last year to third place.”

Joe D’Alisa placed fifth at 103 pounds for the Foxes. D’Alisa was the 10th-seed, but the freshman beat the second-seed in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals, and he scored a 14-0 victory in his final bout to finish fifth.

“If you had told me going into the season this is what would happen as a team, I’d sign up for it,” explained Fox Lane coach Anthony Rodrigues. “There was certainly a lot of growth with the team all year. The young kids are really into it. We had the three senior captains and they all had nothing as freshmen and worked to get where they are. Those three had a combined six wins as freshmen. How much they grew is amazing, Bloom in season made a bigger jump than I’ve ever seen, he really turned it up. Luke has been great, not just about the wrestling, just as a role model, he’s been a great leader. Him and Piero both, they show you what hard work can do. I’m hoping this next group sees that and will do the same thing.”

John Jay had a pair of place finishers as sophomore David Corrales finished fifth at 118 pounds and sophomore John Aniello was sixth at 126 pounds.

Corrales won his first two matches before falling in the quarterfinals, and he then won three more matches, including a 10-1 victory in his final bout to take fifth.

Aniello won his first three matches, including a big win over the third-seed in the quarterfinals, before falling to DiNicola in the semifinals. Aniello had to injury default in his final bout to finish sixth overall.

“It’s something to build on, they’ll both be back and they have two more years,” John Jay coach Mark Swertfager said of Corrales and Aniello. “They all need a solid off season. It’s good to go into the off-season with a fire in your belly. We had a crew of young wrestlers here watching them and they all needed to get to work. It’s a 12-month process, the 2027 season starts right now.”

Ryan and DiNicola will now advance to the New York State Championships to be held Feb. 27 to 28, at the MVP Arena in Albany.