Area Wrestlers Find Going Tough at State

ALBANY—Wrestlers from all over New York State descended on the Times Union Center in Albany last weekend for the NY state wrestling championships, all dreaming of going home with a state title.

Mahopac’s Justis Flamio took second at the state championships. WRESTLING

Several Courier-area grapplers made the trip, though no titles were secured.

Mahopac High senior captain and three-time sectional champion Justis Flamio topped the list of area entrants, walking off with a second-place finish for the third consecutive year.

Flamio had his sights set on taking home a title, but lost a close decision in the finals, losing to Section 8’s Nick Arujau, 7-5.

Flamio beat Section 3’s Kyle Erisafulli, 8-2, to reach the 125-pound semifinals, where he avenged a loss in this year’s sectional final by beating Steven Rodrigues of Fox Lane, 7-2. Flamio had beaten Rodrigues three times during the regular season before losing to Rodrigues in the sectional final.

Mike Parisi became the first wrestler from Brewster to place at the state championships, taking a fifth. SkIP PEARLMAN Flamio, headed for the Naval Academy, closes a stellar career with a record of 189-24, trailing only Joe Mazzurco in the Mahopac High record books. He closes the season at 36-2, and gains All- State status for the fourth time.

Flamio, who had been focused on winning a state title since he took a second last year, took the results hard.

“Justis definitely was not happy,” Mahopac coach Juan Torres said. “He didn’t take it well, but not too many kids place at states four years in a row. It was hard for him. But I couldn’t be more proud of him. Now he’ll go and do well in college, where he can be an All-American and win a title.”

Putnam Valley’s Kris Castro battled his way to a sixth-place finish at the state championships. Mahopac junior Andy Scopino also earned a trip to the state tournament, but lost his first bout at 285, then lost his first match in wrestlebacks, ending his weekend.

“Andy was a little flat, but he could have won those matches,” Torres said. “They were both close. He will be very tough next year, and he can go back and possibly win. He was undersized for up there… they’re all 285. Andy is closer to 240, so that’s a lot of weight to give up.”

Brewster sophomore Mike Parisi came home with a fifth-place finish at 96 pounds, and closes the season at 39- 8, and earned All-State status. Parisi pinned Mitch Morgan of Section 5 in the first round, then beat Brandon Lapi of Section 2, 3-2, in his second bout.

Parisi then lost to Eric Lewandowsk of Section 6, 12-2, in the semis, sending Parisi to wrestlebacks. There, Parisi lost to Kyle Kelly of Section 5, 4-2, in OT, before beating Matt Caputo of North Rockland, 7-1, in the fifth-place match.

Parisi becomes the first Brewster High wrestler ever to place at the state tournament, and the first ever to earn All-State honors.

“Mike put a lot of hard work into getting better,” Bears coach Tom Looby said. “And he’s worked hard this season. He’s been dedicated to his diet and workouts, and those things really paid off for him. He was disappointed with the loss in the semifinals, and in the next round, but he was glad to win the fifthplace match. He did what he had to do.”

And of being the first Brewster wrestler to pace at a state tournament, Looby said “That’s outstanding. An outstanding accomplishment for Michael, and for the program. It says a lot about what we’ve been doing, and we hope to have many more follow him.”

Putnam Valley senior Kris Castro – the school’s first ever two-time sectional champion – came home with a sixth-place finish at 215 pounds, earning All-State honors, and ends his season at 41-7, and his career at 105-7.

Castro lost his first match of the tournament, getting pinned by Section 3’s Matt Rees in 2:53, putting him in wrestlebacks right away.

Castro defeated Troy Richardson of the PSAL via pin in 3:00 in his next match, and then beat Peter Behnke of Section 9, 3-1.

He then topped Sean Baylor of Section 5, 5-3, before losing his last two matches, including the fifth-place bout.

“I have nothing but praise for what he did,” Tigers coach Will Carano said. “In his first match he was doing well, but made one mistake, and got thrown to his back. So immediately he’s in the loser’s bracket (wrestlebacks) – which is incredibly tough. He fought back and won three in a row, but didn’t have enough left in the tank to win the last two. He wrestled well, but couldn’t get the points. But to fight back for a top-six finish was a pretty amazing accomplishment.”

Put Valley’s Dan O’Gorman, a senior team captain, lost his first two matches at 145 pounds, O’Gorman lost to Oscar Ramirez, 5-4, in the first round, then lost to Jake Oswald of Section 2, 5-4 in OT in his first round of wrestlebacks, ending his title quest.

O’Gorman closes the season at 36-6.

“He lost two close decisions,” Carano said of O’Gorman. “He didn’t have his offense… not enough to get past these two guys. Dan was disappointed, he wanted to see a top-six… so he fell short of his goals. But he’s a quality kid, and has a lot of good things to come in college.

“Both guys did great,” Carano concluded. “I couldn’t be more proud of both guys.”

Senior team captain Kevin Davidson of Carmel also competed at 140 pounds, and lost two of his first three matches, resulting in an early elimination.

Davidson lost to Steve Dutton – a three-time state champion from Section 11 – 10-0 in his first bout. Davidson then beat Payton Amato from Section 3, 6-3, before losing to Tori Cain of Section 5, 4-0.

Davidson closed the season at 35-2, and finishes his Carmel career at 151- 29, breaking the old school record for career wins set by Pat McCabe.

“Kevin was disappointed,” Rams coach Bill Twardy said. “We all felt he could place, and Kevin wrestled very well against Dutton… he wrestled his heart out, and he wrestled well in his second match. But in the third match the kids was aggressive right away, and was a very tough wrestler.”