Wrestling

Panthers ground young Ganders

Monticello prevails in non-league tune up for Minisink Valley Warriors

By RICHARD A. ROSS

MONTICELLO, NY — Monticello had little trouble with a young Rondout Valley Ganders team on January 23, after surviving the daunting competition the weekend before by placing third in the Edgemont Tournament in Section One.

As expected, Monticello dominated Rondout Valley in the non-league match up against a squad that featured a significant number of freshman and sophomores in the middle of its lineup.

For Monticello coach Ed Kaufmann, aside from the victories turned in by his top wrestlers—Alexis Bruno (189), Rodney Stickle (215), Vinny Brugaletta (140), Jesse Campanaro (152), Andre Diaz (119) and Andrew Moss (145)—the bright spots were in the performances of others who haven’t enjoyed much success.

Included in that group is Jerry Taggart, who was bumped up from 96 to 112. “He’s been teeter-tottering on winning and hasn’t been able to break in, but he had a nice win tonight,” said Kaufmann, referring to Taggart’s pin of George Newell in 1:00. Also appearing on Kaufmann’s radar was junior Aaron Levine, who has been filling in for an injured Jerry McLachlan. Levine (171) pinned Mike Bush in 4:38. Kaufmann was also impressed by the gritty effort of John Bowens (125), who gutted out a tough match to pin Eric Schmidt.

Kaufmann’s steadily improving team will test its mettle on February 1 when it hosts perennial powerhouse Mininsink Valley. A subsequent match up with Washingtonville will also be challenging, while a February 3 tournament in Nanuet will serve as Kaufmann’s final regular-season benchmark of his team’s progress before sectionals begin on February 16.

With wins against Rondout, Bruno, Stickle and Brugaletta pushed their victory totals to 22 apiece.

For Kaufmann, who has been coaching at this level for 26 years, the verdict is still out on how well this team will measure up against the standard of years gone by. By far his best team was the 1991 squad, which went 10-2 and ended up as league runner up to Minisink Valley. That team featured standout Marcus Hutchins, who later became successful at the University of Buffalo. Hutchins competed in three NCAA Division I wrestling championship tournaments (1991-92, 1993-94 and 1995-96) and is the only UB student-athlete to do so at that level as many times in any sport. As a senior at Monticello, he won his weight class in the 1993-94 New York State Championships, where he was also named the event’s most outstanding wrestler. Anthony Ng, who graduated from Monticello last year, broke Hutchins’ record for the most career wins at the school last season (135). Ng is now at UB and is red shirted. Hutchins is currently working at UB.

Despite the loss, Rondout coach Lou D’Nise said his kids “fought hard and succumbed to a team with far more experience.”

In particular, Eric Schmidt (125) waged a great battle before finally being pinned by Monticello’s John Bowens in 5:53. Other Rondout grapplers who had success included Nate Alongi (130), who defeated Anthony Aber 9-3 and Jordan Smith (135), who pinned Kyle Bennett.

Rondout Valley fell to 3-5. They had previously beaten Highland, Ellenville and Goshen and lost to Saugerties, Cornwall, Port Jervis and Middletown.

Monticello improved to 6-3 with prior victories over Eldred, Ellenville, Liberty, Goshen and Wallkill.

Complete results were as follows:

(96) Colin Dimler (RV) won by forfeit; (103) Bryan McLean (RV) pinned William Lattimer 3:21; (112) Jerry Taggert (M) pinned George Newell 1:00; (119) Andre Diaz (M) pinned Greg Soloberg :48; (125) John Bowens (M) pinned Eric Schmidt 5:53; (130) Nate Alongi (RV) defeated Anthony Aber 9-3; (135) Jordan Smith (RV) pinned Kyle Bennett 1:45; (140) Vinny Brugaletta (M) pinned Maxx Stratton 1:30; (145) Andrew Moss (M) pinned John Kelder 3:30; (152) Jesse Campanero (M) technical fall Andrew Tully 15-0; (160) Anthony D’Abbraccio (M) pinned Brad McLean 1:50; (171) Aaron Levine (M) pinned Mike Bush 4:38; (189) Alexis Bruno (M) pinned Mike O’Brien :58; (215) Rodney Stickle (M) pinned Steve Sorbello 5:49;( 275) Corey Waichman (M) won by forfeit.

Team records: Monticello 6-3; Rondout Valley 3-5.