The 2019 Schoolboy Duals in Greco has come to a close. New York finished 2-6 overall, 4th in Pool B and 8th in the copper/bronze pool. A young squad put together formidable performances the past two days but ultimately ran into more experience squads.
Three wrestlers would finish undefeated for New York. New York State qualifiers Tyler Ferrara and Casper Stewart both went 5-0 while section 2 stud standout Connor Gregory finished 3-0. Both Ferrara and Gregory wrestled 102lbs, making them 8-0 combined for that weight.
Sulayman Bah compiled a 4-1 record with his only defeat coming against Maryland. Daniel Forbes's 6-2 performance gave New York some solid depth in the upper weights. Five of his six victories came via fall or tech fall. His sixth win came in stunning fashion, a 17-17 decision against Eli Prather of Idaho.
Full results, team and individual records and overall placement can be found on track wrestling.
Team NY closed out the Greco portion of the 2019 Schoolboy Duals Friday afternoon with a loss to Florida 56-26. Notching wins were Gregory, Bah, Forbes, Hanson and Insogna. New York finishes 8th overall in the copper/bronze pool.
The woes continue for Team NY. After dropping to 0-3 on the day, one final match remains. Idaho would claim 11 of the 18 bouts. Ballston Spa's Connor Gregory won a hard fought battle 12-7 to get New York on the board. One big bright spot was the six straight victories New York reeled off in the upper weights starting with Landen Smith @ 130lbs. Daniel Forbes won an exciting bout 17-17 at 149lbs.
Its been a rough day for Team NY thus far. The Empire state dropped their second straight dual meet this time to Georgia Blue 53-26. Matt Marlow remains on fire as he gathered his second straight tech fall of the day. His win gave NY an early 4-0 lead. The match looked promising as wins by Gianni Silvestri, Tyler Ferrara, Casper Stewart and Sulayman Bah put New York up 20-9. Georgia would storm back and capture 10 of the final 11 bouts and route New York to their second straight defeat on day 2.
Update on Max Gallagher: Gallagher would injury default against Georgia. The coaches determined that an injury to his elbow occurred during the match and thus decided to pull him. His return is questionable. The severity of the injury has yet to be determined.
A tough first match for Team NY as Wisconsin wins easily 53-27. New York would lose four of the first 5 bouts and could not recover. Matt Marlow got NY on the board at 83lbs with a tech fall 14-4. New York did win four straight in the middle with Ferrara, Stewart, Bah and Gallagher. That would conclude New York in the win column for this dual as Wisconsin would win the final 9 bouts.
Onto the consolation finals of Pool B and a lock into the copper/bronze pool on day 2, Team NY squared off against a solid Oklahoma Blue squad. The final dual meet of the day didn't go so well for our boys as they were defeated pretty handily 53-27. Garnishing wins for the Empire state were Groncki, Silverstri, Gregory, Gallagher, Forbes and Baronowski.
Team NY Coach Chris Adams said "the kids wrestled well today and competed at a high level against some top level competition." As day two looms, Wisconsin awaits as their first dual meet. Placed in the copper/bronze pool for day 2, New York will also square off against Georgia Blue and Idaho with a cross over dual meet to wrap up their Greco tournament for 2019.
A back and forth battle ensued between our New Yorkers and Colorado Red. The dual started to get out of hand when Colorado reeled off 6 straight victories putting NY into a 16 point hole. We would close the gap to 1 as Tyler Ferrara, Casper Stewart and Sulayman Bah won consecutive bouts. After Max Gallagher dropped a tough match against the highly touted Jacob Meyers, the trio of Donavan Smith, Dylan Petrie and Landen Smith got Team NY back on track reeling off 12 straight points. Daniel Forbes pin at 149 sealed at least a tie score in the end. After collaboration of criteria it was determined that New York was awarded the extra point and the dual meet victory.
The New Yorkers start their backside journey with a bang by downing Indiana Blue 47-36. New York would win 6 of the first 7 matches with their lone loss ccming via forfeit at 71lbs. Cameron Groncki and Nathaniel Santiago both won via tech fall to get the ball rolling for the Empire grapplers. After 2 straight losses at 90 and 97 New York got back on track as hammers Tyler Ferrara and Casper Stewart ended their opponent via tech fall.
Donavan Smith, Landon Smith and Daniel Forbes all won on the backend of the dual to wrap up the dual meet victory. Indiana would win 4 of the final 7 to close the gap but it wasn't enough as New York moves on into the consi-semis against Colorado Red.
Tidbit: On the frontside, Maryland, who defeated NY 43-42 on criteria in the quarterfinals, upended Kansas Gold to make the finals in Pool B.
Team NY drops a heartbreaker to Team Maryland 43-42 on criteria. Heading into the final two bouts, NY was down 10. After consecutive pins by Dylan Petrie and Landon Smith the team score was knotted at 42. Unfortunately, Maryland would win more bouts thus awarding them an extra team point and the dual meet victory.
Notching wins for Team NY were Daniel Forbes (TF @ 149), Jack Hanson and Hank Baronowski received forfeits, Tyler Ferrara and Casper Stewart both had quick pins and Max Gallagher netted a 10-2 victory.
The 2019 Schoolboy Duals are underway at Warren HS in Indianapolis. The Greco portion is Thursday and Friday followed by Freestyle on Saturday and Sunday. Team Illinois is the returning champions in both styles.
The Empire state is well represented as wrestlers from eight different sections will compete. Below is a breakdown of Team NY's squad.
| Weight | Wrestler | School-Section |
|---|---|---|
| 77 | Nathaniel Santiago | Copiague-11 |
| 83 | Matt Marlow | Northport-11 |
| 87 | Sean Campbell | Copiague-11 |
| 90 | Ason Richards | Copiague-11 |
| 97 | Gianni Silvestri | Tioga-4 |
| 97 | Ashton Seymour | Peru-7 |
| 102 | Tyler Ferrara | Chenango Forks-4 |
| 102 | Connor Gregory | Ballston Spa-2 |
| 106 | Casper Stewart | Attica-Batavia-5 |
| 106 | Cal Russo | Spencerport-5 |
| 110 | Sulayman Bah | MS129-P |
| 110 | Donavan Smith | Tioga-4 |
| 114 | Max Gallagher | Bayport-Blue Point-11 |
| 114 | Mason Rappold | Longwood-11 |
| 119 | Andrew Caudill | Gilead-5 |
| 125 | Sebastian Jean-Pierre | Bay Shore-11 |
| 125 | Dylan Petrie | Copenhagen-3 |
| 130 | Landen Smith | Saranac-7 |
| 136 | Jordan Koenig | Holland Patent-3 |
| 149 | Daniel Forbes | Catskill-2 |
| 165 | Jack Hanson | Peru-7 |
| 187 | Hank Baronowski | Plainview JFK-8 |
| 187 | Darrien Insogna | Ballston Spa-2 |
| 250 | Cameron Groncki | Mohonasen-2 |
At 114, Max Gallagher is the most accomplished one of the group. He finished 3rd place at states in 2019. Max was also a Section 11 Champion in 2019 and just recently took the bronze medal at the 2019 NHSCA Middle School Nationals. Casper Stewart and Tyler Ferrara also bring some state tournament experience to the lineup and solidify Team NY's power in the middleweights.
Power house Suffolk County bolster this squad right out of the gate with 4 straight wrestlers, three of which hail from Copiague. At 97lbs, New York has two wrestlers who finished as sectional runner-up in 2019 in Gianni Silvestri of Tioga and Aston Seymour of Peru.
Saranac's Landen Smith anchors the upperweights. The 2019 Section 7 Champion picked up one win this year in Albany. Smith's performance could easily dictate the momentum in the latter part of each dual. A trio of heavyweights in Daniel Forbes, Jack Hanson and Darrien Insogna all bring sectional experience to a pretty deep Team NY roster.
Best of luck this weekend in both styles.
