By Mike Zummo
One phase of the season ended for the Valley Central wrestling team, and another is about to begin.
The Vikings finished the dual meet season on Wednesday with a 48-21 loss to the Warwick Wildcats on Wednesday at Warwick Valley High School.
“We got off to a good start,” Valley Central coach Robert Leonard said. “We pinned through the lighter weights, but we struggled at the higher weights.”
The Vikings also were only able to fill 9 of the 13 weight classes, giving up four forfeits adding up to 24 points.
“A lot of my guys are young so hopefully we’ll be able to fill those spots in the future,” Leonard said.
The match started at one of the highest weight classes – 215 – when Valley Central’s Brayden Davies scored a pinfall victory over Warwick’s Jake Rooney. After a forfeit tied the meet at 6-6, Luke Satriano – the section’s top-ranked wrestler by sectionixwrestling.com, made quick work of Brady Judd.
Vincent Vidacovich similarly dispatched Ronan Bradley at 110 pounds. After another Valley Central forfeit, Sebastian Vidacovich beat Alex Greco, 6-2 at 162 pounds.
Vidacovich is ranked second in the section behind Minisink Valley’s Anthony Tresch.
“That was a nice match for Sebastian,” Leonard said. “He had a couple of tough matches in the Minisink tournament. That was a big match for him because that’s a great wrestler.”
Valley Central’s Richie Degon fell behind Warwick’s Griffin Petzold at 132 pounds but tied the match late in the third period with a two reversal and three back points. However, Petzold scored an escape with 11 seconds remaining to take the victory.
Vidachovich’s win was Valley Central’s last of the night as Warwick won the last seven matches to take the victory.
“You’ve got to wrestle to get better, and some of the kids are starting to do that now, and they’re progressing and winning some matches here and there,” Leonard said. “They just work hard in the room. Wrestling’s a nasty sport. You’ve got to go hard every time.”
The previous night, the Vikings posted a 62-12 win over the FDR Presidents in Hyde Park.
Satriano, Nicholas Weeden (118), Sebastian Vidacovich (126), Degon (132) and Hugh Sonner (285) won by forfeit.
Now, with the dual meet season behind them, the Vikings will turn toward the postseason and the upcoming Section 9 Division 1 tournament, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Monroe-Woodbury High School.
Satriano has already beaten second-ranked wrestler, Newburgh’s Cooper Merli twice.
Sebastian Vidacovich (126) is ranked second and Degon (132) is ranked third.
“Hopefully, some of my lighter guys will get some good seeds, and we can progress through the tournament,” Leonard said.
Warwick 48, Valley Central 21
215: Brayden Davies (VC) pinned Jake Rooney, 1:53
285: Zach Freedman (W) won by forfeit
102: Luke Satriano (VC) pinned Brady Judd, 1:10
110: Vincent Vidacovich (VC) pinned Ronan Bradley, 1:20
118: Chase Porter (W) won by forfeit.
126: Sebastian Vidacovich (VC) def. Alex Greco, 6-2
132: Griffin Petzold (W) def. Richie Degon, 8-7
138: Michael Accardo (W) pinned Eric Conero, 0:56
145: Luke Posta (W) pinned Shawn Patterson, 5:25
152: Erik Nilson (W) def. Aundre Rick, 8-2
160: Jack Mazzella (W) pinned Ryan Calfe, 0:36
172: Johnny Accardo (W) won by forfeit
189: Joe Bacenet (W) won by forfeit.
Valley Central 62, FDR 12
102: Luke Satriano (VC) pinned Luke Dakin, 5:04
110: Vincent Vidacovich (VC) won by forfeit.
118: Nicholas Weeden (VC) pinned Samuel Goldstein, 0:48
126: Sebastian Vidacovich (VC) pinned Maxwell Goldstein, 0:45
132: Richie Degon (VC) pinned Alicia Smith, 1:12
138: Eric Conero (VC) def. Denilson Sanchez, 8-0
145: Shawn Patterson (VC) def. Liam Dakin, 16-2
152: Aundre Rick (VCSH) pinned Tray Bilyou, 3:52
160: Ryan Calfe (VC) won by forfeit
172: Hector Sanchez (FDR) pinned Bryson Antal, 5:53
189: Colton Palmatier (FDRH) won by forfeit
215: Brayden Davies (VC) won by forfeit.
285: Hugh Sonner (VC) pinned Max Shock, 1:03