Brewster Wrestling Improves in 2009-10

Mike Parisi SKIP PEARLMAN BREWSTER—The Brewster High wrestling team enjoyed a solid season, going 14-8 and finishing in a tie for first place with Arlington in League 1-C.

The team also had nine of its wrestlers go to sectionals, where four of them managed to place. When you take all of those facts into consideration, it is easy to see why coach Tom Looby is pleased with how the Bears performed this season.

“We had an excellent year. We did something that had never been done before at Brewster,” he said of sophomore Mike Parise competing at the New York State Championships, where he finished in fifth place in the 96 pound weight class.

Brewster had eight wrestlers receive post-season honors. Parise, senior John Peragine, senior Ricardo Lopez and senior Dan Santiago were named to both the All-Section and All- League teams.

Eighth grader Liam Erickson, sophomore Jimmy Duncan, senior Kyle McAlpin and junior Nick Ghelarducci were named to the All-League team.

Dan Santiago SKIP PEARLmAN Parise, who went 39-8 this season and won a sectional title before advancing to the state championships, was praised by Looby for his hard work. While it might be hard to imagine, the coach thinks he will be even better next season.

“He had an outstanding year,” Looby said. “He was extremely dedicated and worked hard in the offseason. He is not the type to rest on his laurels.”

Peragine wrestled in the 125 pound weight class and finished the season 36-12, which brought his career record to 101-40. He also came in third at sectionals. Looby praised Peragine, a team captain, for showing strong leadership during the season. “He was a great leader in the room,” Looby said.

The coach pointed out that nobody predicted Peragine to do as well at sectionals as he did. “That says a lot about him,” Looby added.

Jon Peragine SKIP PEARLmAN Lopez competed at 135 pounds and finished third at the sectionals. He went 35-3 on the season and 73-14 during his career.

What makes his statistics even more impressive is the fact that he only started wrestling as a sophomore.

“He is a natural and to do what he did in such a short period of time is amazing,” Looby said.

Santiago competed at 189 pounds and went 38-9 this season and finished in fifth place at the sectionals. He finished his career with a record of 105- 35.

“He had the most pins on the team,” Looby pointed out.

Ghelarducci went 35-11 during the season and went on to the sectionals, where he did not place.

Looby said that Ghelarducci plays to do a lot of work in the off-season to improve his skills so that he can have an even better senior year.

Ricardo Lopez SKIP PEARLmAN “He is going to work in the off-season and we look forward to having him as a senior,” Looby commented.

Erickson went 27-6 this season and made it to the sectionals but did not place. Looby expects him to be a key contributor to Brewster’s success over the next few years.

“We are expecting big things from him in the future,” Looby said.

Duncan finished the season with a record of 30-14 while competing at 112 pounds and advanced to the sectionals but did not place. Looby said that he expects big things from Duncan down the road.

“He had a good year and he is going to work hard in the off-season,” the coach said. “We are looking for big things from him in the future.”

McAlpin wrestled at 130 pounds and went 21-18. He came along way from last season, when he had a losing record.

“He was one of the most improved wrestlers,” Looby said.

Junior Nick Grasso, senior Dan Friedlander did not receive any postseason honors but Looby praised them for their hard work and contributions to the team.

Grasso competed at 140 pounds and placed sixth at sectionals while Friedlander wrestled at 119 pounds.

“They are both dedicated to the sport,” Looby said. “They both put a lot of training and time in to improve each day.”

The team will be losing six seniors to graduation. However, Looby thinks that the younger wrestlers have enough talent to keep the team moving forward next season.

“It is going to be hard losing six seniors but we have a lot of young talent coming up through the program,” Looby said. “My expectation is always to do better than the year prior. I feel we are going to have another successful year next year.”