Northeast easily advances to Public final

Northeast wrestler Andre Butts looked overpowered from the beginning and, in the first period, was adequately handled by Frankford's Leonard Williams.

Four times in the opening period, Williams drove Butts to the mat with body slams - one of which knocked the wind out of Butts, forcing an injury timeout - and nearly pinned him once.

"He got drilled down pretty good there," Northeast coach Mike Siravo said later.

But down by 12-6 early in the second period of the 112-pound bout, seemingly out of nowhere, Butts swept the stouter, stronger Williams to the mat for a swift and unexpected pin. The fall erased the deficit, and, by and large, was the last remnant of anything competitive during the afternoon.

With two forfeits in its pocket, Northeast dominated the visiting Pioneers on Tuesday, winning 11 of the 12 matches wrestled en route to a 68-3 romp in the Public League semifinals.

The Vikings improved to 9-0 in the league, and will host the Public League team championship at 7 p.m. Thursday against Edison.

The semifinals originally were scheduled for last Wednesday, then postponed to Friday, then again to Tuesday because of the poor weather. That meant that the Vikings hadn't seen competition since a Jan. 21 match against Central. They showed a bit of rust, but they were hardly challenged.

"We've been off for almost two weeks," Siravo said. "We wanted to come out today and be aggressive and wrestle hard the whole way through. . . . Obviously, some sloppiness, but that's going to happen."

In addition to Butts, Northeast received pins from Edward Partikevich (140 pounds), Anthony DiPietro (160), Dwayne Cooley (171), Adham Albarouki (215), and heavyweight Luis Ortiz. Neil Mustafa, wrestling at 130, won by technical fall.

The win gave the Vikings their second triumph over the Pioneers this season, after beating Frankford on Jan. 14, 58-12, in a regular-season dual meet.

Despite the lopsided loss, Frankford coach Joe Farina, was not at all disillusioned and surprisingly upbeat.

"I'm not disappointed at all," said Farina, who is 24 and in his first season heading the program. " . . . I couldn't be happier with the way the season went. Obviously, you know, crushing blow today, but we're keeping our heads up."

The Pioneers' roster includes 14 freshmen and sophomores, but still managed a berth in the final four and a 5-3 league record. "To get to this point was a big plus," Farina added.

And what Farina considers an accomplishment doesn't appear lost to the team as a whole.

Trailing by 56-0 with three matches remaining and the result long since decided, senior cocaptain Ricardo Calcano, wrestling up a weight class at 189, weathered a bevy of early takedowns and near falls to overcome Northeast's Dan Sindoni, 19-16.

With Calcano's win, which offered at least a whiff of redemption for the Pioneers, Frankford's bench erupted.

"His performance is something I haven't seen in a while from the Public League," Farina said. ". . . We lost, but team morale was up. . . . A performance like that inspires my young guys."

Northeast enters Thursday's final as the favorite, having defeated Edison in the schools' last two meetings, including a narrow four-point victory in early January.

Northeast 68, Frankford 3

103: Joseph Bruno, N, win by forfeit. 112: Andre Butts, N, pin Leonard Williams, 2:33. 119: My Dang, N, win by forfeit. 125: Marius Kola, N, major dec. Damon Blackshear, 13-2. 130: Neil Mustafa, N, tech fall Bernard Lipscomb, 18-3. 135: Alan Huang, N, major dec. Calvin Oquendo, 11-1. 140: Edward Partikevich, N, pin Steven Gutierrez, 1:16. 145: Davon Clark, N, dec. Kenyatta Lloyd, 11-5. 152: Zach Feinstein, N, major dec. Nasim Banks, 16-3. 160: Anthony DiPietro, N, pin Toffet Bullock, 0:15. 171: Dwayne Cooley, N, pin Orlando Miller, 3:33. 189: Ricardo Calcano, F, dec. Dan Sindoni, 19-16. 215: Adham Albarouki, N, pin Tyrese Wilson, 1:51. Hwt.: Luis Ortiz, N, pin Unique Davis, 4:40.

Edison won eight bouts via pin and downed Washington, 48-24, to earn a spot in the Public League finals.

Dominick Boesman clinched the victory when he decked Mike Wayne at 215 pounds in 3:46, giving Edison a 30-12 lead. Jeff Ebens recorded the fastest pin of the day at 160 pounds, using just 48 seconds to win his bout.

Edison 48, Washington 24

135: Albert Hellmig, W, pin Kevin Reyes, 2:48; 140: Sean Hagen, W, dec. Felipe Montalvo, 13-8; 145: Carlos Collabgo, E, pin Cody Schweiker, 3:16; 152: Freddi Ortiz, E, pin Arslam Radjabov, 1:13; 160: Jeff Ebens, E, pin Sadulla Abbalov, :48; 171: Ibrahim Ibragimor, W, dec. Joel Rutledge, 8-6; 189: Chariel Rivera, E, pin Pablo Santiago, 1:31. 215: Dominick Boesman, E, pin Mike Wayne, 3:46; Hwt.: Mike McGlashen, W, dec Steve Soto, 2-1; 103: Jan Carlos Melendez, E, pin, Kevin Freeman, 4:56; 112: Darrell Bailey, W, pin Jesus Garcia, 3:42; 119: Ricardo Robles, E, pin James Lux, 1:31; 125: Lender Vega, E, pin Ryan Galen, 1:32; 130: Giuseppe Marrero, W, dec. Enrique Hernandez, 13-8.