Mahopac Wrestling Takes Two

On Thursday December 14, Mahopac hosted a five way meet at the high school. Two close matches versus Carmel and Clarkstown South for the Indians, the first one came down to the wire and Conner Lowrey was the man on the spot. “My heart was really pounding,” said the 124 pounder, and aptly, it was a thud that decided the outcome versus South.

Lowrey got the pin in the third period, which definitely made the anxiety worth its weight. “It’s such a great feeling,” he said after the 34-30 win and was followed by a 42-36 victory over Carmel.

Starting in the middle, Pace Zeiler opened the day at 131. A pitcher’s duel of sorts, he rode Louis Esposito to a 2-0 shutout. “I was on top the whole time,” said Zeiler.

After neither wrestler scored a takedown in the first, the Indian got the reversal in the second. “I grabbed his leg, pulled it up high and turned into him,” said Zeiler

From there, the wrestler hung high for the rest of the way. “It was pretty hard,” he said.

No such drama in match two, Robert DeMauro took care of business. The 138 pounder got the takedown, threw in a couple of near falls and pinned Patrick Sweeney in the first period.

A 9-0 score, Michael Cuozzo put down the team’s John Hancock to help him register four more. “On the takedown, I did our signature move,” said the senior. “It’s called the Srednicki.”

A throw the team’s assistant coach did all the time in college, Cuozzo racked up points, and the 11-0 victory yielded a four point decision. But 13 straight did not foretell an easy victory.

John Belz pinned Dan Walsh to get South into the game, and then Jake Clark got a serious run for his money. At 160, Clark and Mason Ready traded reversals and takedowns until the score stood tied at 12.

Two periods complete, Clark knew the score that really counted. “It was just a matter of whoever lasted longer,” he said.

The third period choice for Clark, he had the advantage by starting down and got a reversal with 52 seconds left. The ride home made good on the wrestler’s words too. “I knew I tired him out,” said Clark, and the capitulation showed in the final seconds of the 14-12 win.

Still, Clarkstown was undeterred. James Benison got his team another pin and closed within four. So Nick Greco made sure the Vikings didn’t get too much wind in their sails. He came out with a single leg takedown and sent Luke Gilroy straight to his back.

The view not so good for the Viking, Greco got six, and Mahopac now led 22-12. But Clarkstown would not go away. Jason Ardizone pinned Preston Kirwan and John Brew pinned Joe Ramano to take a 24-22 lead.

Then back to the top of the order, Bryce Sini got the Vikings third straight pin against Justin Cabuhat, and now led by eight. That left it to Charles Przymylski to take charge. He found an opening, hit a throw, and the mat caught KIran Shanker’s back.

A Lateral Drop, the sophomore’s heroics weren’t what got him to rise to the occasion. “It was great to get a win for the seniors,” he said, and it probably wasn’t bad either to set up Lowrey for the walk off.

Onto the cross town rivals, Robert DeMauro suffered no let down after the close victory, and sent the Indians in the right direction. The 108 pounder hit the takedown and ran a bar at 1:11 of the first for a 6-0 lead.

The first of three straight pins, Cuozzo was next. He lifted Yaroslav Tymkiv off the mat for the first period takedown and did the same after escaping from the bottom to start the second. Only this time, Tymkivoff went straight to his back, and Cuozzo had the pin at 1:04.

Then Sean Coronel got in under the wire. The 152 pounder got the fall with five seconds left in the first and gave Mahopac an 18-0 lead.

Clark wasn’t able to follow up his win, though and Jack Robinson’s pin got Carmel on the board. So Greco stopped the bleeding again. He threw his Ram to the ground on the takedown and put him away at 1:22 of the first.

The pins didn’t stop coming either. Leo Venables pinned Hector Ramirez, Preston Kirwan dropped Edgar Ramos, and Robert Addonizio made the score 30-18 when Ramano was given another look at the ceiling.

The view didn’t get the novice wrestler down, though. At the sport for about a month, the 285 pounder joined up to get in shape and be part of the camaraderie. An eye opener for sure, he sees more upside than down. “It’s scary before you wrestle, but after you go out, it’s incredibly exciting,” said the sophomore.

His teammates no doubt showed the same in rooting on their rookie. But there was still a match to be won, and Kevin Bray’s pin made it a 30-24 affair.

In other words, Cabuhat got a chance for some redemption, and didn’t waste any time. He shot a single leg, got the takedown and Jose Jimenez Sola went to his back.

The pin followed, and Przymylski received a forfeit to make it 42-24. Unfortunately, neither Lowrey nor Zeiler were able to register sweeps. Even so, the back to back pins yielded the final 42-36 victory

Not a problem for Zieler because he knows how each Mahopac wrestler has the other’s back. “I won my first match, I helped the team out,” he concluded. “The second I lost, and they helped me out.”