John Jay Overwhelms Eastchester by a Score of 45-19

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When a wrestling match is still undecided by the time the heavyweight or super heavyweight takes to the mat, the finality faced is an awful lot of pressure. So the first kid out there must be pretty relieved to be a lightweight. But that’s not entirely true, and John Jay’s 101 pounder revealed the pressure point after Thursday’s match against Eastchester on January 23. “The team depends on whoever goes first to get the energy going,” said David Corrales, and the 8th grader delivered.

Corrales pinned Dylan Hendrie at 1:06 of the second, and the Wolves sailed to an easy 45-19 victory.

The middle schooler began by getting the opening takedown. “I hit a slide by,” said Corrales. “When he tied up with me, I pushed his elbow around my head and circled behind.”

Riding the top in the second, Corrales ran a bar for a 6-0 lead, and the pin following, Emmerson Flamm wasted even less time. No break in the circuit, the 108 pounder had John Jay up 12-0 after dispatching Luka Rados at 1:37 of the first.

The 116 pound affair was a lot less certain for John Jay, though. A match that began with Gavin Orrill landing on top. “I shot a single leg takedown, got around and pulled him down,” said Orrill.

But Chris Rodriguez did more than turn the tables in the second. The Eagle escaped, got the takedown and sent Orrill to his back.

Or Orrill had his opponent just where he wanted him. “He was a little too far up,” said the sophomore, and Orrill took advantage.

The sophomore rolled through, and diced what was left of Rodriguez. “I hit a butcher, I had both of his arms together and got the pin,” said Orrill, who evened his season record to 5-5.

A forfeit next to John Aniello, Joe Gabriele continued the kinetics right from the outset “I took him down, cradled him up and got a quick five,” said the 131 pounder.

The final score eventually tallying to 15-0, Gabriele has his eyes on the divisionals and getting in the right headspace. “I’m working on my mental game,” said the senior.

Always nervous before matches, his game plan going forward is just to settle in. “It’s like do what you can do, work your hardest and you’re good,” said Gabriele.

Now 29-0, Eastchester finally got on the board but not by much. After trailing 5-0 to Eugene Egbivwie, Wyatt Gierer hit two takedowns and closed to 5-4 in the third period. The wrestlers again ended up on their feet in a 7-5 match, but Gierer could not get the tying takedown.

Three points to Eastchester, a run was not in the Eagles’ itinerary, and Deven Comstock stood firm. A 0-0 first period gave way to a reversal and a little stiff arm. “I ran a bar,” said the 138 pounder.

Up 5-0, he want back to grind. Another bar, Comstock explained, “I could feel it, I had him tight.”

The pin came with 28 seconds left in the third and has Comstock looking for some payback in the divisionals. He lost to Corey Fitzsimmons in the sectionals last year and the first match this season. “I’m looking to get that win,” said Comstock.

Not to be for Jon Alia, he lost a tough 6-2 match to Luke Leshaj, but Austin Omin picked his teammate up nonetheless. A 13-4 victory, the lopsided score didn’t have him diminishing his effort or that of Sam Cavanna. “No match is easy,” the 152 pounder assured.

Still, he made no apology for going to his bread and butter to get and keep the lead. Two ankle picks for two takedowns, he said, “I try to get the guy off balance first, create an angle, and I wait for his foot to come down. Then when he presses the weight on it, I go for the leg.”

The divisionals on his mind too, Omin just wants to get his body right and make sure all the bumps and bruises are on the mend. That left it to Jake Llanos to complete the scoring for John Jay.

After the 170 pounder took a 7-0 second period lead, Erik Brynnel battled back with a couple of reversals. But Llanos wasn’t worried. “If I get reversed, it’s not the end of the world,” he said.

Definitely not because the next thing Brynnel knew, he was on his back and Llanos had his hand raised with 49 seconds left in the second. “I just keep wrestling,” Llanos said.

As for the postseason, he’s going with the status quo. No new moves or wrinkles on the way,” Llanos concluded, “I’m just working on my conditioning."