Benderoth Leads Way as North Rockland Takes Rockland County Wrestling Team Championship

Once-beaten Blaise Benderoth got North Rockland off on the right foot Saturday evening with a 12-0 majority decision, sparking the Red Raiders in the Rockland County Wrestling Championships before a near-capacity crowd at Tappan Zee High School.

North Rockland, which also had junior Mike Caputo winning the 140-pound championship, posted 222½ points to outdistance runner-up Suffern with 193 points and third-place finisher Clarkstown South with 167.

Nanuet was fourth with 151 points, Clarkstown North fifth with 129, Tappan Zee sixth with 119, followed by Pearl River in seventh with 88, East Ramapo in eighth with 81 and Nyack in ninth with 60 on a day of competition that extended almost 12 hours.

Benderoth (37-1) outpointed Pearl River’s John Muldoon (21-5) in the 96-pound title bout on a card that showcased Nick Oliveto of Suffern in the 118-pound contest.

Oliveto defeated Tappan Zee’s Nick Altamore, who recently recorded his 100th career victory, by a 23-8 margin to become the first grappler to win five Rockland County titles. The Suffern star was awarded the evening’s Most Outstanding Wrestler award, and teammate Justin Artrip at 125 not only won his fourth county title but had the most pins in the least time – three falls in 4 minutes 24 seconds.

Clarkstown South’s Dan Pragdat successfully defended his county crown at 145 pounds; Nyack’s Joe Cummings won by fall in one-minute flat at 189 and Nanuet’s Anthony Paratore, at 215, upended Tappan Zee’s Tim Coyne, who won the county title last year at 171.

Steve Maldonado at 285 joined Nyack teammate Cummings as a county champion, while Nanuet’s Greg Caneparo at 152 and Anthony Paratore at 215 were also crowned.

Coyne, a Tappan Zee senior, won a county title at his natural weight of 171 pounds last year.

“He moved up to 215 to make room for a couple of 171 pounders,” said Coach Peter Dene, a county champion in 1998 at Pearl River who later competed at the University of Albany.

“He (Coyne) just won his 100th match recently,” Dene said. “He’s looking to win sections. I keep telling him, this is it. He’s a smart wrestler, really reaching his potential. He’s not a super athlete but he worked hard in the off-season. And he’s a very good captain for our team.”

Coyne, a semifinalist at the sectional tournament a year ago, has high expectations moving forward.

“I want to win states, not just go there,” said Coyne, who recently accepted an offer to attend Penn State, where amateur wrestling legend Cael “Superman” Sanderson is the head coach. “I want to win. I’m expecting to win sections.”

Coyne noted that the Nittany Lions are ranked No. 1 in the collegiate world, and though he doesn’t expect to join the team he might continue his career at the club level.

Probably standing in Coyne’s way at the Section 1 tournament is a familiar foe, Arlington’s Thor McHugh. They have split four encounters, but McHugh won the last two meetings. Coyne pointed that out and is determined to stop the streak.

In the evening’s most competitive bout—one that had fans, coaches and teammates literally on their feet throughout—Pearl River’s Kenta Umezaki took on Clarkstown North’s Christian Bouquet.

Umezaki picked up two points with a late takedown to open a 3-1 lead, but Bouquet forced overtime with a reversal at the buzzer. The match stayed deadlocked as double overtime wound down. Just before the buzzer sounded Bouquet lifted Umezaki, and when it sounded Bouquet opened his arms and Umezaki fell hard to the floor on his shoulder, in obvious pain.

Umezaki, who was awarded the match on a technical violation, may not be able to compete at the upcoming divisional tournament. The Section 1 small school tournament is scheduled Feb. 11-12 at Irvington; the large school tournament is set for Feb. 12-13 at Yonkers.

 Off the mat

• Suffern’s Billy Wilson received the Julie D’Agostino Lifetime Service Award for his contributions to the sport. D’Agostino, a venerable Pearl River coach, died in 1993. “He was a great guy,” Wilson said. “Me, him and Gibby Sweet went round and round.” Sweet was a state champ in 1969, and was an NCAA Division I all-American at Indiana.
• Asher Kramer of  Suffern, a senior, won his third county title. In the 112-pound final, Kramer had a tough assignment in Nanuet sophomore Anthony Calvano, a two-time sectional champ.
• In one of the evening’s most thrilling bouts, Scott Murphy of Clarkstown North earned two points with a takedown in the final 30 seconds to eke out a 2-1 win over Suffern’s Andrew Artrip, who had a one-point escape to start the third period.
• North Rockland’s Mike Caputo, at 140, repeated as county champ with a first-period pin of Nanuet’s Jesse Rahimzadeh, who had earned his 100th career win in the semifinals.
• In another exciting encounter, two-time sectional champ and defending county champ Caneparo had a tough go of it before subduing Suffern’s Nick Giella, whose bloody nose forced him to take 4½ minutes in blood time.
• Tappan Zee’s Coyne reacted to his loss with the poise of a pro; instead of looking back, the Dutchmen standout said he was already looking ahead to divisionals, sectionals and then the state tournament in Albany.
• Former TZ athletic director Chuck Scarpulla, now into his fifth year as the AD at Sleepy Hollow, served as tournament director. He received able assistance from such veterans as John Laurenzi and Rich Conklin, not to mention his daughter Laurie Mayernick of Pearl River. Scarpulla’s grandson Joe, an eighth-grader, is already competing at the modified level and sports a 12-2 record, noted his proud mom.
• Suffern coach Chris Mattioti, a four-time all-American and a NCAA Division III champion on Ithaca’s national championship team, was a teammate of Clarkstown North assistant coach Vinny DiGiaccomo.
• John Laurenzi, who competed at North, was a longtime coach at Clarkstown South and still serves as a volunteer assistant. “I’m the low guy on the totem pole,” said Laurenzi, downplaying his vast experience. A font of knowledge on Rockland wrestling, Laurenzi provided a partial list of Rockland’s greatest all-time matmen. Besides Mattioti, and in no particular order, they are: Former Suffern sensation Griff Powell; Tappan Zee grad Emilio Collins, who starred at Michigan State (“He was a horse, he was tough,” noted Rich Conklin, another legend with a long memory); Dave Hirsch, who wrestled for Laurenzi at South his senior year and went on to become a two-time NCAA Division I all-American and champion; and one-time Nanuet state champ Paul Pietropolo, who works with Carmine Serra at Nanuet.

Editor's Note: This report was updated with further information and quotes.

Rockland County Championships
At Tappan Zee
Team key and scores: 1. North Rockland (NRk) 222.5; 2. Suffern (Sf) 193; 3.
Clarkstown South (CS) 167; 4. Nanuet (N) 151; 5. Clarkstown North (CN) 129; 6.
Tappan Zee (TZ) 119; 7. Pearl River (PR) 88; 8. East Ramapo (ER) 81; 9. Nyack
(Ny) 64.
Semifinals
96 — Blaise Benderoth (NRk) tech fall Alex Notaro (CS) 15-0; John Muldoon (PR)
maj. dec. Joe Dillon (N) 14-0; 103 — Brian McLiverty (CS) dec. Alex Oliveto (Sf)
6-3; Lucien Severe (ER) dec. Troy Finger (NRk) 6-4, OT; 112 — Asher Kramer (Sf)
maj. dec. Matt Caputo (NRk) 15-6; Anthony Calvano (N) dec. Prashant Thakur (Ny)
8-2; 118 — Nick Oliveto (Sf) tech fall Matt Dillon (N) 21-6; Nick Altomare (TZ)
pin. Jake DiMarsico (NRk) 1:09; 125 — Justin Artrip (Sf) pin. Kevin Vecchiarelli
(CS) 1:51; Anthony Simini (NRk) dec. Paul Fields (CN) 5-4; 130 — Dan DeStefano
(Sf) dec. Jesse Gedeiko (CS) 8-4; James Georges (ER) maj. dec. Peter Uce (NRk)
10-0; 135 — Scott Murphy (CN) tech fall Liam Gallagher (CS) 17-2; Andrew Artrip
(Sf) dec. Steve Moreno (PR) 3-0; 140 — Mike Caputo (NRk) pin. James DeSimone
(Sf) :58; Jesse Rahimzadeh (N) dec. Ryan Becker (CN) 10-4; 145 — Dan Pragdat
(CS) dec. Dan Seligson (CN) 15-9; Cameron Bruzzi (PR) dec. Mike DeRosa (NRk)
7-1; 152 — Greg Caneparo (N) dec. Bruce Rubin (CN) 6-0; Nick Giella (Sf) dec.
Mike Calabria (NRk) 9-5; 160 — Kenta Umezaki (PR) pin. Nick Kantor (Sf) :22;
Christian Bouquet (CN) dec. Rich Berkery (N) 4-3; 171 — Ryan Boyle (NRk) dec.
Charlie Regalbuto (CN) 5-4; Gabe Guardarramas (TZ) pin. Tome Marku (CS) 2:32;
189 — Joe Cummings (Ny) tech fall Paul Okeke (CS) 17-0; Dan Breit (N) pin. Sean
Galette (ER) 3:39; 215 — Tim Coyne (TZ) dec. Rich Santana (NRk) 8-1; Anthony
Paratore (N) maj. dec. Nick Ohrynowicz (CS) 16-3; 285 — Steve Maldonado (Ny)
pin. Mike Manni (TZ) 3:34; Adalberto Fijor (CS) pin. Frank Lezamiz (NRk) :48.
Consolation finals
96 — Joe Dillon (N) dec. Notaro (CS) 4-3; 103 — Feniger (N) pin. Alex Oliveto
(Sf) 4:47; 112— Matt Caputo (NRk) dec. Colby Kash (CN) 5-1; 119 — Jake DiMarsico
(NRk) maj. dec. Matt Dillon (N) 8-0; 125 — Fields (CN) pin. Vecchiarelli (CS)
4:20; 130 — Uce (NR) dec. Gedeiko (CS) 13-6; 135 — Nick Didio (NRk) dec. Moreno
(PR) 3-1; 140 — Becker (CN) pin. DeSimone (Sf) 2:08; 145 — Desmond Djekovic (TZ)
dec. Seligson (CN) 10-5; 152 — Mike Calabria (NRk) pin. Josh Brown (ER) 4:48;
160 — Kantor (Sf) dec. Berkery (N) 10-7; 171 — Tyler Edwards (ER) dec. Valdon
Djekovic (TZ) 11-4; 189 — Kyle Hartigan (PR) dec. Galette (ER) 7-1; 215 —
Ohrynowicz (CS) dec. Santana (NRk) 3-1; 285 — Manni (TZ) dec. Lezamiz (NRk) 3-2.
Finals
96 — Benderoth (NRk) maj. dec. Muldoon (PR) 12-0; 103 — Severe (ER) dec.
McLiverty (CS) 12-5; 112 — Kramer (Sf) dec. Calvano (N) 10-4; 118 — Nick Oliveto
(Sf) tech fall Altomare (TZ) 23-8; 125 — Justin Artrip (Sf) pin. Simini (NRk)
1:34; 130 — Georges (ER) dec. DeStefano (Sf) 6-1; 135 — Murphy (CN) dec. Andrew
Artrip (Sf) 2-1; 140 — Matt Caputo (NRk) pin. Rahimzadeh (N) 2:47; 145 — Pragdat
(CS) maj. dec. Bruzzi (PR) 17-5; 152 — Caneparo (N) dec. Giella (Sf) 7-4; 160 —
Umezaki (PR) dec. Bouquet (CN) 4-3 2OT; 171 — Guardarramas (TZ) dec. Umezaki
(PR) 3-0; 189 — Cummings (Ny) pin. Breit (N) 1:00; 215 — Paratore (N) dec. Coyne
(TZ) 12-7; 285 — Maldonado (Ny) dec. Fijor (CS) 3-0.