Ryan wins wrestling title to lead Fox Lane to sixth-place finish

Luke Ryan of Fox Lane was a champion at the Shoreline tournament. Jim MacLean Photo

By Jim MacLean

It is one of the top tournaments of the season for local wrestlers, and once again it didn’t disappoint as Fox Lane and John Jay wrestlers both made the trip to New Rochelle High School on Saturday, January 17, for the 60th annual Murphy-Guccione Shoreline Classic tournament.

Despite the snow, wrestlers came from all over Section 1 and Long Island to compete in the tournament as 14 teams were represented on the mats. The combined team from Section 1 high schools Briarcliff/Byram Hills/Valhalla/Westlake won the team title, followed by Garden City and Commack from Long Island, and Catholic school Iona Prep in fourth. Fox Lane finished sixth overall with a team score of 126.5.

“It’s such a great tournament, without a doubt one of the top, and it might be the best Section 1 tournament,” Fox Lane coach Anthony Rodrigues said of the Shoreline Tournament. “Really good competition from Long Island and Section 1 and 9, so well run from the tables to the timers, just a great tournament, and to me it’s like the beginning of the post season run.”

It certainly helps to make it a good tournament when your wrestlers perform well on the mats, and Fox Lane came away with six different place finishers led by senior Luke Ryan as he cruised to the 165 pound weight class title.

Ryan won four matches and dominated in the finals to win by tech fall to claim the title as he continued to roll through Section 1 opponents. A defending Section 1 champion, Ryan has come a long way in just two years as he was eliminated in the second round of the Shoreline Tournament as a sophomore.

Andrew Brauning of Fox Lane also advanced to the championship round at 215-pounds, and he was leading his match in the finals in the third period before he was pinned to finish second overall.

“Luke made as big a jump from sophomore to junior season as I’ve ever seen, against Section 1 he’s dominating,” Rodrigues said of Ryan. “Andrew Brauning has wrestled great all season. He’s been dominating, winning his matches so fast that he hasn’t wrestled many matches into the third period.”

In addition to the two finalists in Ryan and Brauning, Fox Lane had four other wrestlers place at the tournament. Fin Guyder finished third at 165 pounds after falling to teammate Ryan in the semifinals. Piero DiNicola was fourth at 126 pounds, while his brother Flavio DiNicola was fifth at 110 pounds. Chris Bloom was fifth at 190 pounds, and Steven Morales was fifth at 150 pounds for the Foxes.

“I felt we wrestled pretty well as a team, and we didn’t have a couple of starters in the lineup that could have placed,” Rodrigues said of his Foxes. “Piero pinned a kid who was a sectional finalist and wrestled tough against the kid from Commack in the semis. Bloom lost a tough match and wrestled back to place. Finn is wrestling better and better, and having Steven down at 150 pounds instead of 157 made a big difference for him.”

For John Jay, Joe Ferrer led the way as he finished third in the 215-pound weight class. Ferrer won a pair of matches by pin before falling in the semifinals to the eventual champion. He then scored a 5-3 victory in the third-place bout.

Joe Arefieg was also a place finisher for John Jay as he finished fourth at 175 pounds. Arefieg won a pair of matches by pin before falling in the semifinals to the eventual champion. John Aniello also had a big day for the Wolves in the 126-pound weight class as he won his first two matches before falling to the eventual champion. Aniello bounced back with a third win before falling in his final match.

Fox Lane and John Jay wrestlers face another big week ahead as both teams will compete in the Westchester County Championships on Saturday, Jan. 24, at Sleepy Hollow High School.