The RED and BLACK Wrestling: Latest News/Announcements #1

There a bit of interesting things that have happened over the course of the last couple of weeks within the CHSAA. In this article addressing the latest news and announcements I will be talking about a new partnership between Monsignor Farrell and a Live Streaming Service, what Ideas I have related to that partnership, and the wrestlers that will be competing at the Journeymen Tournament on April 2nd.

Starting off with the latest news, on February 15th Monsignor Farrell announced that they are partnering with LocalLive which is an online live streaming service. This is what the President of Monsignor Farrell Lou Tobacco had to say on his instagram page regarding the news, “Monsignor Farrell High School is excited to announce that we are the first school on Staten Island to partner with LocalLive, an internet live streaming service. A dedicated Monsignor Farrell HD video channel will host our games and special events that take place I our Gym or Stadium, keeping our parents, siblings, grandparents, alumni and community close.” So, this is very interesting news in regards to how sporting events can be handled. In my interview with Christian Schifano we had talked about the huge crowd the CHSAA State Tournament draws every year, and how as of right now that the tournament is not happening. But we had talked about the possibility of maybe being able to host it if there was a way to get the parents and other spectators to watch it without the filled gym crowd. This new partnership between the streaming service and Monsignor Farrell makes that idea very possible. Monsignor Farrell played host to the Catholic State Tournament in 2018 and this new partnership gives the athletes their well earned Catholic State Tournament and preventing a large gathering at the event being able to Live Stream the tournament in it’s entirety.

The next set of news is about the upcoming Journeymen Tournament taking place on April 2nd. Here is a list of all CHSAA wrestlers who will be competing that weekend.

Austin Zimmerman- 99lbs (St. Joe’s Collegiate) 6th Grade

Michael Adams- 113lbs (Monsignor Farrell) 11th Grade

Shane Meenaghan- 120lbs (Chaminade) 10th Grade

Michael Sanfilippo- 138lbs (Chaminade) 12th Grade

Frankie Theroux- 145lbs (St. Anthony’s) 11th Grade

Christian Schifano- 152lbs (Chaminade) 12th Grade

Trevor Sheehan- 152lbs (St. Mary’s) 11th Grade

Ronnie Jones- 182lbs (St. Joe’s Collegiate) 12th Grade

The CHSAA is sending a great group of wrestlers to this tournament and I can realistically see these athletes place. Starting off with Austin Zimmerman of St. Joe’s Collegiate, Zimmerman being the youngest of the group heading to this tournament. It will be very interesting to see how one of their middle school wrestlers will stack up against high school competition. We have seen many outstanding middle school wrestlers dominate on a high school level so it will be very interesting to see the damage Zimmerman will do on April 2nd.

Michael Adams had a standout year last year placing 6th at the Prestigious Eastern States Classic, winning his first Catholic State Crown, and capping his season off with a 5th Place finish at the NYS Tournament. Mike was a hammer last year and was one of Farrell’s studs last year. Mike challenged many of his opponents last year beating eventual 3rd in the state Mike Manta of Happauge, and even suffered an overtime loss to eventual state runner up Joseph Manfreddi of Herricks. So, Mike is no stranger to challenging the best in the state.

Shane Meenaghan is someone to keep an eye out for this year. Meenaghan was the first Freshman Catholic State Champ from Chaminade in 20 years! What makes this accomplishment all the more impressive was he went on to finish 7th in the State just a couple weeks later. Meenaghan always learns from his losses which makes him a dangerous opponent. After losing to Ryan Napadano of St. Anthony’s in the league finals 7-6, Meenaghan entered the tournament the #3 seed and rallied back in the Catholic State Semifinals to beat Napadano 5-2. He then went on to shock the gym in the finals pinning #1 seed Devon Diaco, sticking him with a cradle after forcing him to lose his balance while riding legs, Diaco dropped right in front of Meenghan for him to lock up the cradle and get the pin. He then avenged a loss at the state tournament against Sal Esposito of Tottenville. Meenaghan had lost to Esposito at the Eastern States Classic but they would again meet at the State Tournament where Meenaghan would emerge with the win with a 1-0 score! Meenaghan will be wrestling 120lbs and will be fun to watch him compete at the weight on April 2nd.

Mike Sanfilippo was a 3x CHSAA State Runner Up. He finished 2nd both in 2018 and 2019. But for those who don’t know his opponents he had lost to in both finals went on to win the NYS Tournament just 2 weeks later, which just goes to show the caliber of wrestling Sanfilippo can compete on. He won the crown in 2020 against Matt Ash of St. Mary’s with a 4-2 score. The recent NYU Commit is wrestling at 138lbs on April 2nd and Sanfilippo is looking to do some damage that weekend. Sanfilippo’s strength and gas tank will make him a threat to those at his weight. Frankie Theroux of St. Anthony’s is another wrestler to look out for. Theroux who finished 5th at 120lbs last year at the Catholic State Tournament will be trying to secure some wins at the Journeymen Tournament.

Christian Schifano will be competing at 152lbs at the Journeymen Tournament. Schifano wrestled at 138lbs last year and finished runner up losing to Stephen Crisci in that insane finals match that had the whole gym invested into the match. Schifano announced what weight class he was going to be wrestling in the interview I did with him and I can’t wait to see how well he competes at this weight. Trevor Sheehan of St. Mary’s wrestled at 126lbs for St. Mary’s placed 3rd at the 2019 CHSAA State Championships the same weight Schifano placed 6th at. Sheehan transferred to Lancaster where he placed 3rd place in the Section 6 sectional Championships. He will be transferring back to St. Mary’s and representing them at 152lbs at the Journeymen Tournament. I am excited to see if this match happens on April 2nd and hopefully give us a preview of the amazing set of matches we can potentially see as the season goes on.

Ronnie Jones will be competing at 182lbs, the same weight class we he competed at at last year’s CHSAA State Championships. In both 2019 and 2020 Ronnie Jones finished runner up at the CHSAA State Championships at 145lbs in 2019 and then 182lbs in 2020. Ronnie Jones size and speed help create interesting and fun matches just as we saw in his 2020 finals match with James Watterson. Although he didn’t end up victorious he showed us to never doubt him nor keep his name out of a CHSAA Title picture. Ronnie Jones will be a wrestler to keep an eye out for on April 2nd to upset a couple of guys and even medal and take home Gold that weekend.

And those are your recent news and announcements within the CHSAA.

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Missed Out? Make sure to check out these videos by The RED And BLACK:

https://youtu.be/10wE4IGRwFQ

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The RED and BLACK Wrestling: A Look Back at CHSAA History

Total number of CHSAA State Champs by school from 1980-2020:

1. St. Anthony’s-158

2. Chaminade-107

3. Monsignor Farrell-69

4. Kellenberg Memorial-38

5. St. Francis-35

6. Fordham Prep-26

7. Holy Trinity-21

8. St. John the Baptist-20

9. St. Joseph’s Collegiate-19

10. Mount St. Michael-18

11. Xaverian-14

12. Canisius-13

13. Holy Family-11

14. Xavier-09

15. St. Peter’s Boys-08

16. Cardinal O’Hara-07

17. Iona Prep-05

17. Nazareth-05

19. St. Mary’s-03

20. Archbishop Stepinac-02

20. Nicholas-02

20. St. Joseph’s by the Sea-02

23. Archbishop Walsh-01

23. DeSales-01

23. Kennedy Catholic-01

23. Maria Regina-01

23. Salesian-01

23. Turner-Carroll-01

2020 CHSAA State Champ vs Champ Dual Meet

2020 was quite a year for CHSAA Finals matches. All matches were great matches and had the fans out of their seats. Out of our 15 CHSAA State Champs, 7 of them went on to be State Medalists and we even had a runner up and New York State Champ. But what would happen if these guys wrestled each other? I created a series of matches which sees our 2020 Champs collide in a dual meet setting. It features 7 matches that I think would be very entertaining. DISCLAIMER!: I will not be providing scores for each match. I also decided to prevent creating a teammate vs teammate match for 126 and 132 so I combined both wrestlers into the same team. And remember, these matches are Fantasy matches and were created as a "What if" scenario. So please enjoy and remember this is just for fun and not to be taken seriously.

Team Red: Team Black:

Mike Adams vs Shane Meenaghan

Daniel Adams vs Sean Flick

Mike Sanfilippo/Rocco Demartino vs Stephen Crisci

AJ Kovacs vs Ramon Perez

Ryan Siller vs Elias Emery

Matt Kelly vs James Watterson

Brian Holder vs Caleb Lesswing

Match #1: Mike Adams (Monsignor Farrell) vs Shane Meenaghan (Chaminade)

This match I can realistically see happen in an upcoming season. But if these two wrestlers see it each other, it will be one hell of a match. Both wrestlers took home their first Catholic State Title but both managed to end their season with impressive finishes. Mike Adams has a list of accomplishments under his belt as he placed 6th at the Prestigious Eastern States Classic and 5th at the State Tournament. Shane Meenaghan went on to place 7th at the State Tournament avenging some losses from the Eastern States Tournament. As both of these studs are State placers it would be interesting to see these two hammers go to war and it will be very entertaining to see it go the distance as both of these guys are pinning machines, both having won their CHSAA State Titles via pin (Adams 1st Period) and (Meenaghan 1:00 into the 2nd Period).

Match #2: Daniel Adams (Monsignor Farrell) vs Sean Flick (St. Anthony's)

What isn't there to say about these two guys? Both wrestlers had incredible careers and had multiple CHSAA State Titles repeating as Champs as this year Adams a 2x and Flick a 3x. Adams was a finalist in 2018 but fell short of the Gold as Flick took home his first that year. Flick Went on to be a 3x CHSAA State Champ as Adams went on win 2 CHSAA State Titles with an insane finals match with Rocco Demartino (132lb Champ in 2020). Daniel, like Mike ended his season as an All State Medalist. But if these two guys ever met it would be an absolute barn burner. Flick's technique and speed vs Adams flexibility and scrambling would make for a crazy and entertaining match like they continue to put on as we have seen from their 2020 CHSAA State Finals performances.

Match #3: Mike Sanfilippo/Rocco Demartino (Chaminade) vs Stephen Crisci (St. John's the Baptist)

Mike Sanfilippo and Rocco Demartino had quite the year. After both wrestlers fell short of titles last year they rallied back this year to take home the Gold. Both wrestlers were returning finalists and had entertaining finals matches. Speaking of entertaining finals matches 138lbs Champ Stephen Crisci had a crazy finals math with Christian Schifano. But if either of these guys met we would be looking at another amazing match. All 3 of these wrestlers have impressive technique as well as Sanfilippo's strength and Demartino's explosiveness vs Crisci's size and length would make for an interesting match. I can see this match going the distance as all wrestlers have good gas tanks and don't let up.

Match #4: AJ Kovas (Iona Prep) vs Ramon Perez (Monsignor Farrell)

AJ Kovacs was a state champ in 2019 and runner up in 2020. AJ has a lot of accomplishments and continues to add to them. AJ's relentless chain of attacks makes him a hard wrestler to counter against. But don't overlook Ramon Perez. Perez the 2020 CHSAA State Champ at 145 this year has gave some of the best and toughest wrestlers in the state a hard time with his unorthodox style of wrestling. Even 2020 NYS Champ Willie McDougald had a tough time putting Perez away at the Eastern States Classic. If these 2 wrestlers met each other you can expect to see some funky and unorthodox wrestling.

Match #5: Ryan Siller (Monsignor Farrell) vs Elias Emery (Xavier)

These 2 hammers earned their first CHSAA State Crowns this year. Siller has showed he can compete with the best of them ending his career as a State Medalist. Emery the CHSAA State Champ at 170 shows he's not just strength, showcasing his speed and agility. Siller's technique and aggression makes him a tough opponent, and he never shies away from tough competition usually chasing the tougher matches. So if these 2 studs met each other expect some tough hand fighting and a lot of scoring as both of them are constantly looking to score points in their matches.

Match #6: Matt Kelly (Iona Prep) vs James Watterson (Kellenberg)

This would be a highly entertaining match! Matt Kelly was your NYS Champ in 2020 at 195lbs and pretty much dominated his way throughout the whole tournament. With his tough leg riding Kelly is one wrestler who will make it impossible for you to get out of bottom. Now let's talk about James Watterson. Watterson showed up and showed out at this year's CHSAA State Tournament when he surprisingly dominated returning CHSAA State Finalist Ronnie Jones (St. Joe's Collegiate). Watterson's explosiveness makes him a dangerous neutral wrestler. Watterson only continued to add on to his resume as he ended his career as an All State Medalist. If these 2 stepped on the mat against each other expect to see some fireworks as these 2 guys just do not let up. Whether it's constantly looking to score or finding creative offense, these 2 hammers will go toe to toe until the final whistle and it will be awesome!

Match #7: Brian Holder (Holy Trinity) vs Caleb Lesswing (St. Joe's Collegiate)

Brian Holder had an impressive run at the 2020 CHSAA State Tournament. What was even more impressive was his overtime win over Branden Cohen of Xavier. Although Holder was giving up some weight he showed that weight made no difference as he showed off his speed and strength with consecutive mat returns and explosive shots. Caleb Lesswing showed how dominate he is when he pinned his finals opponent in the first period. Lesswing's athleticism makes him a hard opponent to score on and with his heavy hands his hand fighting will open up most wrestlers he faces. Lesswing also never lets up on his attacks and if he gets on your legs, you can expect to see him score or even lock up some back points. So, if these 2 guys ever faced each other expect to see another thrilling match!