Yorktown Makes Statement, Huskers Crowned Section 1 Dual Meet Champs

By Tony Pinciaro

Once the 2023 Section 1 Division I Dual-Meet Championship brackets were released, top-seeded YORKTOWN focused on the opening two matches.

A Yorktown and Mahopac victories in the first two rounds would set up a quarterfinal-round match. This is what the Cornhuskers were aiming for because the Wolf Pac eliminated them in the 2022 Section 1 Division I Dual-Meet Championship.

“After that loss last year this has been in the back of our minds,” said Yorktown senior and captain Joe Tornambe. “This group has been through a lot. We all stayed the course and never gave up on each other.”

Yorktown exacted revenge on Mahopac with a 32-25 victory. As a result, Yorktown advanced to the final four where it defeated No. 12 Byram Hills/Valhalla/Westlake (48-23) in a semi then outwrestled No.2 Ossining (39-24) to win its first Dual-Meet Championship.

“One of our goals was to beat Mahopac along with winning the title,” said Tornambe, twice a Section 1 Division I champion. “We didn’t wrestle our best against Mahopac, but we got the job done.”

The win over Mahopac also gave Joe and younger brother Gio family bragging rights over Wolf Pac coach and uncle, Steve Tornambe.

Mahopac seized control of each match early and was never in danger. The Wolf Pac wrestled at a high level when the title was within reach of a shot attempt.

“We felt we were dominant yesterday because we believed we could do it and we wanted it the most,” Tornambe said. “Dominating the way we did just makes it feel that much better.”

Winning the title is just another emphatic step forward for Yorktown under third-year coach and Cornhusker wrestling alum Jimmy Kaishian.

Kaishian is quite familiar with wrestling success. He was a senior on Yorktown’s 2012-2013 league-title team under coach John Tornambe, Joe and Gio’s dad. That senior-laden team went on to finish second in the Section 1 Division I Championships that March with Kaishian placing third in the section. It also featured sectional champions Steven Sabella, Thomas Murray, Joe Mastro and David Varian.

Sabella, Murray and Mastro all placed in the top-six at the 2013 New York State Wrestling Championships.

Kaishian went on to become a Division III All-American at Ithaca College. Last year, he guided Yorktown to a league championship for the first time since he and his teammates won it.

“Winning the title means the world for this team,” Tornambe said. “As I said before, we’ve been through so much from injuries to tough losses and we never gave up. We know we have something special this year as a team and we were hungry for the title.”

OSSINING had its finest showing in program history in the Section 1 Division I Dual-Meet Championships.

The second-seeded Pride reached its first final four and made its initial appearance in the title match. It accomplished  this following a victory, by criteria (more pins), over No. 3 Arlington. Even though Yorktown prevailed, Ossining Coach Tom Larm was impressed with his team.

“The coaching staff and I are very proud of the wrestlers and their performance over the past two weeks,” Larm said. “They wrestled tough each round and fixed mistakes. They were able to avenge losses and worked hard to not give up pinfalls. Unfortunately, we had a few starters out going into the semi-final round and needed to spread our lineup out. Everyone had a team-first mentality and wrestled wherever the team needed them.

“Many had to wrestle up a weight class and we even called on eighth-grader Jonathan Abzun to step into the lineup. He took full advantage of the opportunity, winning both of his matches.”

The victory over Arlington avenged a loss earlier this month against the Admirals.

“Yorktown is very tough this year throughout their lineup and they were the better team, hats off to them,” said Larm, an all-section wrestler at Brewster. “We were able to keep it close for a while, but eventually they pulled away. Despite having to move our lineup around I think we had strong performances throughout the tournament from Colin Liebertz, Kayvon Ray, Matty Cascione, Gio Jean-Pierre, Anthony Lofaro, Sal DiSenso, and Marlon Wheatley. We’re excited to build on this and keep getting better throughout the second half of the season.”

Ossining will wrestle in the prestigious two-day Mid-Hudson Tournament (at Arlington), 12/27-12/28.

BYRAM HILLS/VALHALLA/WESTLAKE has been a building program under coach Joey Grippi and assistant coach/brother Peter Grippi.

The team has been consistently placing wrestlers in the top six and has boasted Section 1 Division I champions.

The Grippi brothers and their wrestlers took another giant, progressive leap by reaching the final four of the Section 1 Division I Dual-Meet Championship.

Byram Hills/Valhalla/Westlake was seeded 12th when the tournament started, but it upset No. 5 Somers/North Salem in a second-round match (30-28). It followed with a victory over No. 20 Rye (36-27) to earn its first trip to the final four.

Top-seeded Yorktown dashed the hopes of Byram Hills/Valhalla/Westlake with a 48-23 win in a semifinal, then No. 2 Arlington decisioned the 12th seed, 39-30, in the third-place match.

“We had a great run,” Joey Grippi said. “Ever since the first tournament of the season we have continued to get better every week and the guys have bought in.

“They want to work hard and get better and it’s paying off. We obviously wish it went differently, but I’m proud of the team and excited for the rest of the season!”

SOMERS has had a start worthy of mention, including taking home the Nanuet Duals title, going 5-0 behind five undefeated champs: 108 Ethan Steuber 5-0; 116 Ryan Ball 5-0; 124 Cal Ehrmann 5-0; 131 Liam Dwyer 5-0; 170 TJ Mauro 5-0.