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This week featured a lot of duals within the CHSAA. A total of 6 teams competed this weekend and we had some close and dominating duals. I will be taking a look at each of these duals as well as assigning a “Match of the Dual”. This takes a look at the best or most exciting match that took place in the dual. So, let’s discuss the events and get right into the news!

Let’s start off with the Kellenberg Firebirds. On May, 5th the Firebirds opened their season with a dominating victory over St. John the Baptist as the dual ended in a 62-9 victory for the Firebirds. The Firebirds are the returning CHSAA State Dual Champs so it is without surprise that they are starting their season of spectacularly and in dominating and convincing fashion. Kellenberg has been on the come up for quite some time now with what some may say last year as a “Surprise” victory at the Dual championships. But Kellenberg is looking to prove that last year was no mere fluke by taking out another team we saw last year challenge many teams, St. John the Baptist. Kellenberg was a top contender in the team title at last year’s CHSAA State Tournament falling short with a 233.5 team score behind team champs Chaminade’s 259.5. Kellenberg will be looking to capture that crown this year and I think they have the firepower to do so.

Match of the Dual: Darius Abdulhaqq (St. John the Baptist) vs Omar Reyes (Kellenberg): 13-9 Decision


Monsignor Farrell had a string of bad luck this week with 2 cancelled dual meets due to the rain. But there is a light at the end of every tunnel as the Lions were able to end their week on a good note. Monsignor Farrell faced Fordham Prep on May 6th, and dominated the dual. The Lions took out Fordham Prep in a dominating 60-9 final score. The Lions have been contenders for team titles in both the CHSAA State Duals as well as the CHSAA State Tournament. The Lions finished amongst a three-way tie for second after falling to the Kellenberg Firebirds in a close dual and ended their season with a fourth place team finish in the CHSAA State Tournament. Even though they finished fourth they finished with four CHSAA State Champs, most of any team in the tournament. Monsignor Farrell is looking to be a dangerous threat this year for team titles in both the CHSAA State Duals and CHSAA State Tournament.

Match of the Dual: Mike Mulkerrins (Monsignor Farrell) vs Vaughn Johnson (Fordham Prep): Pin 5:00


Last but not least Xavier battled Holy Trinity this week in a very close bout. The Knights took on the Titans in a very close dual resulting in a 33-30 final score with the Knights taking the win. The whole dual was back and forth and many guys stepped up to the plate and challenged Xavier. Xavier is a team that can’t be overlooked this year as they still have some heavy hitters on their lineup. Between returning CHSAA State Finalist Devon Diaco, returning CHSAA State Champ Elias Emery, and a returning Jack Geyer who unfortunately suffered injuries sidelining him at the CHSAA State Tournament, the Knights are looking to do some damage this season, and I think they can be top contenders. Do not sleep on Xavier as on Friday May, 14th The Knights and the Farrell Lions will dual and there will be some very interesting matchups. The Knights are the underdogs in this season and I think that they will be challenging or even taking home some wins against some of these teams. With a studded returning lineup, the Knights without a doubt will be putting their guys back on the podium.

Match of the Dual: Elias Emery (Xavier) vs John Escobar (Holy Trinity): 5-1 Decision



 
 
 

With the season practically upon us I have decided to take a look at a couple of different team schedules. With that I have found some very interesting things in which I will be addressing in this article. So, without further ado let’s get right into it!

First and foremost, I will address that there is not a lot of competition for the Varsity wrestlers. I looked at 2 different wrestling team schedules and one schedule had 8 events while the other had 13 with Varsity and Junior Varsity events combined altogether. Due to the shortened season, it seems like there will be multiple events a week. It makes me wonder for those wrestlers cutting weight if these events will interfere with their weight cut. Before COVID most events took place on weekends (with the exceptions of some duals that took place during the week) giving wrestlers ample amount of time to drop the weight, but with multiple events a week it may result in many wrestlers bouncing around in weight classes due to the lack of time to drop the weight. But only time will tell if this will be a legitimate issue/concern or not.

Now there is some unfortunate news in regards to CHSAA Wrestling. Buffalo teams will not be competing in the 2021 season. Teams such St. Joe’s Collegiate, St. Mary’s, and St. Francis (just to name a few teams) will be affected by this and it is seriously unfortunate as all three teams have had multiple CHSAA State Champs, finalists, as well as placers in both the Catholic State and New York State Tournament. We are hoping that this gets overruled and Buffalo schools will be able to compete this season as COVID numbers are going down.

Let the Duals begin! Remember all of the exciting matchups and duals that took place last year? Rival Teams such as St. Anthony’s and Chaminade? Let’s not forget that amazing Monsignor Farrell and St. Anthony’s Dual that came down to the last bout. Well we can add more amazing duals into the 2021 season as the CHSAA State Dual Tournament is confirmed for the season. Now although Buffalo teams will not be competing in the duals we can at least see Long Island and NYC Catholic schools face off. I for one am very excited to see these duals and see some amazing matchups. More importantly it gives Kellenberg Firebirds a chance to repeat as CHSAA State Dual Champs.

And lastly, and probably the most exciting news. There will be a “CHSAA” Tournament! Now note that it is not technically a CHSAA State Tournament, but it is very close enough to be called one. Due to the fact that Buffalo teams will not be competing the tournament cannot be called the CHSAA State Wrestling Tournament. But it is still a sectional tournament just made up of NYC and Long Island Catholic Schools. It is a bit confusing as to what the tournament is considered as, but it can be narrowed down to our Annual Catholic State Tournament.

This is shaping up to be a very interesting season. Between the multiple events a week to CHSAA State Duals to the CHSAA Sectional Tournament at the end of the season, this season is looking to be a promising one. These are just some of the things to look forward to as we get closer to competition. Unfortunately Buffalo will not be included and I am hoping that they get that overruled so that they can compete. But between Long Island and NYC we are bound to see some very interesting matchups between the two leagues. The first competition for J.V starts on May 1st and Varsity starts on May 5th. Let the season begin!


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The 2021 NYS Journeymen Championships featured a lot of great matches across all weight classes with an even more entertaining set of finals matches. The CHSAA sent a total of 9 guys to the tournament who all competed great and to the best of their ability. Although they didn’t get the result that they had desired these tough athletes are looking to have a standout season. Below is a recap of how our athletes did over the weekend, afterwards I’ll provide an analysis/review of the weekend.


Day 1:

We had a couple of guys who dropped their first bouts of the tournament. Brendan Martin 113lbs (Kellenberg) dropped his first match of the tournament in the first round. Liam Edwards 145lbs (St. Francis) who dropped his match in the round of 32 as well as Sean Degl 138lbs (Iona Prep), Michael Sanfilippo 138lbs (Chaminade), Trevor Sheehan 152lbs (St. Mary’s) and Shane Meenaghan 113lbs (Chaminade). Michael Adams 99lbs (Monsignor Farrell), Frankie Theroux 145lbs (St. Anthony’s), Christian Schifano 152lbs (Chaminade) and Jack Geyer (Xavier), all won their first bouts in their respective weight classes. Frankie Theroux lost in the round of 16 in a very close match to Ascend’s Eric Shindel 2-1 as well as Christian Schifano who lost to Superior Wrestling Academy’s Kaleb Burgess by fall in 2:27 and Jack Geyer who lost to Jack Forte of WT Clarke via 10-0 major decision. Mike Adams beat Michael Giugliano of Miller Place 6-0 to punch his ticket to the semifinals.

In consolation rounds the CHSAA Brendan Martin lost to Joseph Clem from Wantagh by fall in 2:00. Shane Meenaghan bounced back from his loss to beat Clayton O’Connor of Journeymen by a 5-1 decision. Shane got himself rolling with another victory over Rian Kirker of Red Hook by a 6-3 score. Shane ran into a roadblock against Michael Giugliano of Miller Place losing the match via pin in 1:33. Both Sanfilippo and Degl dropped their consolation bouts by pin in the first period. Liam Edwards got a win back in his first consolation bout against Kaiden Laluna of Journeymen by a 1-0 decision. Edwards lost his following match to Vandavian Way of Gouverneur by a close 3-1 score. Trevor Sheehan also got a win back by picking up a fall against Robert Flaherty of Razor via pin in just 1:04. Sheehan then lost in the consi of 16 #2 against Ryan Caudill of Avon by a 9-2 decision. Jack Geyer landed himself in the consi round of 16 #2 against Holt Reed of Phoenix where he was upended by a 9-2 score. Christian Schifano went on to pick up a 10-6 decision against Andrew Maslyn of South Shore before dropping his following bout to Holt Reed as well by 8-0 major decision.


Day 2:

Mike Adams started off his day on a rough note after a 14-3 loss in the semifinals against Tyler Ferrara of Chenango Forks. Adams then lost in the consi-semifinals to Gavin Ciarfella of Royhart 8-3 landing him in the 5th place match. Adams wrestled a familiar opponent in Michael Giugliano of Miller Place. Adams made sure that the results didn’t change beating his opponent via 8-0 major decision ending his tournament with a 5th place finish.

All Athlete’s results can be found below:

Brendan Martin- 0-2

Michael Adams- 3-2

Shane Meenaghan- 2-2

Sean Degl- 0-2

Michael Sanfilippo- 0-2

Frankie Theroux- 2-2

Liam Edwards- 0-2

Jack Geyer- 1-2

Christian Schifano- 2-2

Trevor Sheehan- 1-2


Review:

All in all, the guys looked great out there this past weekend. Christian Schifano looked really good in his opening bout as well as Jack Geyer. A couple of guys suffered heartbreaking losses and ran into some roadblocks in some opponents. Frankie Theroux really impressed this weekend losing a close match in the round of 16 but managed to wrestle back tough and nab a win in the consolation rounds. Shane Meenaghan had a nice set of wins in the consolation rounds and I would’ve loved to see what would’ve happened if Shane and Adams wrestled this past weekend. Speaking of, Adams had a heck of a weekend making the semifinals. He had a tough loss against the returning D-1 NYS runner up Tyler Ferrara but managed to come back with a top 5 finish just like last year. We almost got a glimpse of a couple of CHSAA vs CHSAA matches this weekend between Mike Adams and Shane Meenaghan, and Christian Schifano and Trevor Sheehan but this just adds anticipation and excitement to the bouts for this upcoming season. With Jack Geyer competing at 152lbs this past weekend I would love to see him wrestle Schifano and Sheehan at some point this season as that match would be very entertaining. These wrestlers have great momentum heading into the season on April 17th and will be looking to keep it rolling as this tournament provided a nice warm up and edge to get the mat rust off.



Like the content? Make sure to subscribe to the RED And BLACK Wrestling’s Website, Instagram, Podcast, and Youtube Channel to stay updated on all videos and articles released.

The RED And BLACK Wrestling Website:

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