| ROCKY GILMORE CLASSIC By Jim & Tony Nordland East Islip won the 19th annual Rocky Gilmore Classic and were led by champions, Jake Benedetto (17-1) at 96 and NYS placewinner, undefeated Dave Ingram (20-0) at 135 pounds. Coach Guy Leggio and his squad were impressive, as they tallied 306 points to finish ahead of runner-up Brentwood (265.5) and Hauppauge (203). The tournament featured thirteen top teams in both Suffolk and Nassau counties and has developed into one of the premier invitational tournaments on Long Island. The Redmen also had four runners-up; Bill Swezey (140), Cameron Gee (160), Kevin Vavricka (171) and tough Barry Gibson at 189 pounds.The Brentwood contingent has outstanding lightweights and potential county champion, Ricardo Gomez, edged Rocky Point's Anthony Volpe for the 103-pound title. The Indians also had another champion, Branden Toro-Segarra (140), along with runners-up, Jarrell Garcia (96), Warren Murphy (112) and tough Martin Irizarry at 119 pounds. Irizarry upset reigning state king John Oschmann (15-1), of Hauppauge, 6-5, in an exciting 119-pound semi-final bout, as he scored on a third period takedown and held off a charging Oschmann at the buzzer. Irizarry defeated all-county grappler, Joe Cusker (ITrees) in the quarterfinals and dropped a 3-0 decision to highly-touted, Charles Hoeg (Mt. Sinai) in the finals. Hoeg defeated Shawn Hainey (Brentwwod), 8-3, in the other semi-final clash, as the 119-pound weight class was certainly the toughest in the tournament. For his accomplishment's, Hoeg was voted the tournament's outstanding wrestler. Mt. Sinai, a Division II power, also crowned two other champions; state placewinner Jared Rueda (125) and Joe Snyder at 130. League V contender, Rocky Point, had two titlists, Jeff Piccolo (18-0) at 145 and Larry LoRusso (17-1) at 171 pounds, both are potential county champions. The Sewanhaka District had three winners, including the Daddino brothers, Dan (24-0) at 160 and Pat (23-1), a junior at 189, along with defending Nassau champion, Joe Goetz (20-0) at 275 pounds, who also received the Most Pins Award (three in 3:54). Other tournament champions included, eighth-grader, Steven Dutton (112) of Hauppauge, Devin Sassone-McHugh (152) of Miller Place and Central Islip's Peter Bruny at 215 pounds. |
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| EAST ISLIP WINS ROCKY GILMORE CLASSIC |
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| Martin Irizarry (Brentwood) works to control defending state champion, John Oschmann (Hauppauge) in their 119 pound semi-final match at the Rocky Gilmore Tournament. Irizarry won the match with a 6-5 upset and advanced to the finals. |
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| East Islip's Jake Benedetto led the Redmen to victory by winning the 96- pound title. Benedetto is shown here finishing a takedown in the semi-finals. |
| FINALS 96-Benedetto(EI) d. Garcia 11-7 103-R.Gomez(B) d. Volpe(RP) 4-3 112-Dutton(H) d. Murray(B) 16-4 119-Hoeg(MtS) d. M.Irizarry(B) 3-0 125-Reuda(MtS) tf. Ceccio(RP) 5:17 130-Snyder(MtS) p. Stimpfl(H) 5:56 135-Ingram(EI) d. D.Eberlein(IT) 7-2 140-Toro-Segura(B) d. Swezey(EI) 8-4 145-Piccolo(RP) d. Schneider(H) 6-1 152-Sassone-McHugh(MtS) d. Washington(EI) 3-2 160-D.Daddino(Sew) d. Gee(EI) 12-5 171-L.LoRusso(RP) d. Vavricka(EI) 4-3 189-P.Daddino(Sew) d. Gibson(EI) 11-4 215-Bruny(CI) wins by default 275-Goetz(Sew) d. Guerrero(MtS) 6-2 |
| TEAMS 1. East Islip 306 pts. 2. Brentwood 265.5 3. Hauppauge 203.5 4. Mount Sinai 194.5 5. Rocky Point 172 |