SOURCE: armdrag.com

December 23, 2022

Week 4 - Monroe County Wrestling
By Craig Kaper, Monroe County Wrestling Chairman

Dual Meets:

Things are getting very interesting in the 4 Divisions of Monroe County. In Division 4 Brighton is the clear favorite here and are currently 1-0 in that division with a win over Gates Chili. The other 3 Divisions are what decides the teams for the Section V Division I Duals later in January. The top 2 teams in each division qualify with the exception of HFL who is DII in Sec. V. In League DIII Attica/Batavia sits at the top with a 3-0 record having wins over HFL, Spencerport and Canandaigua. Meanwhile Brockport has wins over Spencerport and HFL. It looks like the Attica/Batavia v Brockport match will decide it. Unless something major happens to cause a tie, those 2 teams will represent League DIII at the Section V Duals. In League DII Hilton is the favorite to win out and with Churchville beating Thomas and Thomas having a win over Victor, Churchville is the odds on favorite to take the second spot. Although, as we have seen so far - match-ups are everything and anything can happen. The biggest story this year as far as league standings go is in League DI. Parity has run amuck here - Pittsford beat Fairport last week and this week we saw RH takedown Pittsford. RH also has wins over Penfield and Greece. The question on everyone's mind is; Can RH beat Fairport and seal the top spot? If they do that would put Pittsford in prime position to take the 2 spot. However, if Fairport gets it done vs RH then we could potentially be looking at a 3-Way tie. The Brockport vs Attica/Batavia match is scheduled for January 4th at Brockport while Fairport takes on RH at RH on January 10th.

This year the Section V D1 Duals will not be seeded. For this season a preseason bracket has already been drawn. In the top half League D1 1st place will face the City Schools first round and League D2 2nd place will face League D3 1st place. The winners of those 2 matches will meet in the Final 4 Semi Finals. In the lower half League D1 2nd Place will face League D3 2nd place while League D2 1st place meets the Catholic League. The winners of those 2 matches will be the other Semi Final of the Final 4. The winner at the Final 4 will represent Section V D1 at the State Dual Meet Tournament. Last year we were treated to an outstanding Final 4 when Spencerport, Fairport, Pittsford, and Brockport put on a show for the wrestling fans and families. It came down to Fairport v Pittsford and that match was decided by criteria in Fairport's favor. It will be interesting to see if those 2 squads can make it back to the final show!! Will RH, Hilton, Brockport, and Attica/Batavia play spoilers or will one of the teams on the bubble rise to the occasion? Like I said, it is getting interesting!!!

College Notes:

Some of our Monroe County Grads are making noise at the collegiate level. Anthony Noto (HFL) is putting together another strong season for Lock Haven. He is currently the #21 ranked wrestler at 125 lbs in Division 1 of the NCAA. The Deprez brothers continue to have success for Binghamton. The Hilton pair are both currently in the D1 NCAA Rankings as Sam Deprez is an Honorable Mention at 174 lbs while big brother Lou is ranked #21 at 197 lbs. Fresh off representing Team USA once again is Cornell's Yianni Diakomihalis. The former Cadet is currently ranked #1 in the NCAA Division 1 rankings at 149 lbs. True Freshman and former RH Royal Comet Jayden Scott is seeing mat time at 149/157 lbs. for North Carolina and his former teammate Eli Simms is ranked #8 in the NCAA D3 Poll for SUNY Brockport. We have multiple other former Monroe County standouts competing for many collegiate teams throughout the country.

How about a special shoutout? Victor's former grappling star TD Ierlan has also made a USA World Team!!! His speciality though is at the X in the sport of Lacrosse. It simply goes to show that multisport athletes benefit from the skills they learn on the mat. Congratulations TD!!!

It was a short week as we now look to settle in for the holidays. Weight classes get a growth allowance after the 25th and that means weight class shifting will come into effect. We will be looking forward to seeing who decides to go up, stay put, or move down. Until then we hope the wrestling community enjoys the holiday season!!!!