Mahopac Holds on for 35-27 Victory over Arlington

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On Thursday, January 19, the Indians had built a 26-3 after Chris Morris took a 7-0 decision at 152 pounds. So the rest of the way seemed a breeze at the high school. But the Sailers refused to run up the white flag, and after receiving a forfeit at 285, the score stood at 29-27. Normally the end, the match put the lightweights in the cleanup spot this time, and 102 pounder Charles Pryzmylski had no problem being the deciding vote.

“I like the pressure so I was excited to go last,” said Pryzmylski, and he delivered with a second period pin to give Mahopac a 35-27 win.

So starting at 110, Pace Zieler didn’t miss a beat. He took down Eirnin Kellner and getting two more on a near fall, the 8th grader was right at home in the top position. “I like being up, just beating up on the guy, keeping the pressure on and getting them to their back,” he said.

Minus the tipping point in period two, the grappler remained in charge from above, and finished the match with an escape and takedown to give the home team a 3-0 lead. But the reshuffling was not over.

Henry Ramirez was wrestling up a weight class from his usual 110 spot, and the freshman felt the difference. “He was really strong,” the wrestler lamented.

Ramirez had the bigger brain, though. He took down Ari Guterman at the outset, and after jumping out to a 10-2 third quarter lead, the Indian’s arm bar led to a pin at 1:05.

Keeping it in the family, Joe Ramirez didn’t give anything away in his match. He piled up the points and increased Mahopac’s lead to 14-0 with a 20-3 victory.

The shutout continued unblemished under Mike Cuozzo, but an injury interruption did briefly put a pause on the string. “I heard my friend Nick Greco say something, and I knew I had to finish the match,” said Cuozzo

A 4-4 tie in the third, Cuozzo pushed through. “I just turned it up,” he said, and scoring a reversal led to an 8-4 win.

Up 17-0, Mahopac finally faltered at 138. Emmanuel Perez lost a 6-2 decision to Dom Bronzi, but Perez was soon picked up. Nico Greco went full tilt at 145 and used a half to dispatch Jason Hansen only 56 seconds into the first.

Unfortunately Kyle Grant returned the favor and his second period pin of Lucas Kilker inched Arlington closer at 26-9. So Justin Mucciolo kept the momentum to a minimum, and he didn’t wait long to throw up a roadblock.

With the whistle barely blown, the 172 pounder had Lucas Cardella’s ankle, and Mucciolo pointed to the crowd for the spark. “It’s the energy of the room,” he said.

Still, Mucciolo was stuck on two and down one when going out of bounds with three seconds left in the second. Refusing to let the clock run out from the bottom, he managed an escape and sent a message to his teammates in the same gasp. “I wanted to show my team whatever situation, you have to fight to get out,” the senior asserted.

A good thing, because trailing late, Mucciolo had work to do and working from underneath, got the game deciding reversal. “I felt a weight distribution and used it against him,” the wrestler said after his 9-5 victory.

Then things got tight. Ammar Jamal and Steven Schmitt registered pins and a forfeit to Bryce Rodrique threatened to tip the scales.

Exactly where he wanted Arlington, Pryzmylski’s confidence did not make the outcome a given, and he definitely left the crowd teetering on the edge of their seats. Both wrestlers rolling through their backs in the opening minutes, it was Pryzmylski who eventually put on the stops. “It was close at the beginning, but once I locked him up in the cradle, I finished it,” he assured.

Now 23-6 on the season, Pryzmylski was proud to take one for the team. “Winning for the team, it was a big match for us,” he concluded.