DO YOU HAVE WHAT TAKES TO BECOME A CHAMPION

PSAL Wrestling Championships – Division 1 Recap

by Ken Bigley, PSAL Wrestling Supervisor

Posted On 02/15/2013

There were few upsets at the PSAL City Championship Tournament on Sunday at Truman High School - in all but two weights, the top seed emerged victorious. Weight-by-weight recaps after the jump.
99 – Malik Grant, A sophomore from Curtis High School, won with a 13-7 decision over Jacob Delgado from Cardozo.  Malik is now 33-4 on the season.  He placed 4th at the Mayor’s Cup and was a third place finisher in the PSAL last year.
106 – Benjamin Cardozo sophomore, Adam Gomez, breezed through the PSAL tournament with a pin, a tech, and two major decisions.  He is now 29-2 on the season.  Last season, he advanced to the PSAL semi-finals, but this will be his first trip to the State Tournament.
113 – Stuyvesant’s Senior Captain Matthew Moy defeated Bohang Liu of Townsend Harris by fall.  The tournament’s second seed, Matthew advanced to the finals of the strength of a pin and two decisions.  Matthew took 2nd place at the Mayor’s Cup and was a 4th place finisher in the PSAL last year.
120 – Santo Curatolo of Tottenville became the 3rd ever 4x PSAL D1 Champion by defeating MLK’s Daniel Amancio 4-3.  Santo has also won the Mayor’s Cup each of the last two years.  Santo is now 31-3 on the season with all his losses coming at the Eastern States.  Santo has beaten two former state finalists this year and hopes to become one himself two weeks from now in Albany.
126 – Grand Street Senior ,Keanu Thompson, won his second PSAL Title and his first Outstanding Wrestler Award.  In the tournament he had three technical falls and a pin.  In addition to his PSAL titles, he is a 2x Mayor’s Cup Champ.  He is now 34-3 on the season.  Last season he was one win shy of reaching the podium in Albany and hopes to be atop the award stand in his final HS competition in two weeks.
132 – New Utrecht’s Star Junior, Saidyokub Kahramonov, will be making his second trip to Albany after dominating the PSAL tournament with three pins and a tech.  He is 28-4 this season and was a Mayor’s Cup Finalist.
138 – New Utrecht Senior, Julian Alsbrooks, is now 34-4 this season after defeating Wingate’s Bertin Saimbeau, 7-3 in the PSAL Finals.  Julian took third at the Mayor’s Cup and will be making his first trip to the state tournament.
145 – Nigel Williams, a Junior from Eagle Academy, righted the ship after a rough outing last weekend.  Nigel, wrestling from the second seed, had two pins and a technical fall before earning a major decision again his finals opponent, Mark D’Chiutiis of James Madison.  Nigel is now 41-5 on the season. He was a Mayor’s Cup Champion and will compete in his second state tournament, having won the 152 pound title two years ago when Eagle was Division 2.
152 – Konstantin Parfiryev, a Junior from James Madison, continued his strong season by taking home the PSAL title with a 9-2 decision over Abdoulaye Bassirou of Dewitt Clinton.  He is now 37-4 on the season. He was a Mayor’s Cup Champion after he avenged an earlier defeat by beating Horace Mann’s Matt Russo in the finals. He will be competing in his first state tournament.
160 – Brooklyn Tech Junior, Camilo Gaitan, saw an opportunity and he pounced on it.  After competing for most of the season at 152, Gaitan bumped up to 160 for the postseason and took home the city title.  He had close calls in both, the quarterfinals and semifinals, each time winning 6-5 before defeating his finals opponent, Thomas Jones of LIC 18-9.  Gaitan is now 31-7 this year. He placed third down at 152 in the Mayor’s Cup and will be competing in his first state tournament.
170 – In a highly anticipated finals match, Wingate Senior, Cedrick Stephens, defeated Grand Street’s Anatoliy Anchakov, 10-4.  It was Cedrick’s third victory this season over the 2x defending city champion. Cedrick now stands at 31-6 on the season. He was a Mayor’s Cup Finalist.  Last Year he placed 3rd in the PSAL after falling to Anchakov in the semis.  He will be competing in his first state tournament.
182 – Eagle Academy Sophomore Nathanael Rose will be competing in his second state tournament after a dominant run through the PSAL.  Nate won the D2 City Title last year and proved just as dominant in the D1 tournament, winning two matches by fall and one by default.  Nate is now 34-5 on the season. He was a Mayor’s Cup Finalist.
195 – Brooklyn’s Kevin Tynes continued his dominant Senior season with three falls and an 11-4 decision on his way to his first city title.  Earlier this season, Kevin was a Mayor’s Cup Champion.  His record now stands at 36-3 going into his first state tournament.
220 – Like Brooklyn Tech’s Camilo Gaitan, Curtis Senior Shawn Brown decided to bump up to pursue a city title.  After competing at 182 for the majority of the season, Shawn bumped up two weights for the Mayor’s Cup and finished third.  This weekend, he placed 1st at the higher weight and was dominant in doing so.  He recorded two pins and a tech fall in the tournament and now stands at 28-3 heading into his first state tournament.
285 – Brooklyn Tech Senior Shaquille Williams defeated FDR’s defending City Champ Leon Gonzalez 7-2 in a highly anticipated finals bout.  Shaquille advanced to the finals on the strength of three pins.  He is also a 2x Mayor’s Cup Champion and is 35-4 heading to his first state tournament.