By Kyle Adams
Valley Central senior Luke Satriano posted a dramatic victory over the weekend to earn the 131-pound championship at the Eastern States Classic, one of the most competitive regular season wrestling tournaments in the state.
Over the two-day event, last Friday and Saturday at Clifton Park’s Impact Athletic Center, Satriano won all six of his matches in the 131-pound bracket. But no match was as thrilling or competitive as the final bout against Honeoye Falls/Lima’s Chris Noto.
“It was pretty intense. There’s a lot of people around, people on different sides,” Satriano said. “There were some calls, some went my way and some went his way. The bottom line is that you just have to stay focused on what you’re trying to do.”
In the first period of the championship match, Noto scored first, tallying three points on a takedown. In the second period, Satriano was able to get on the board with an escape, but trailed 3-1 heading into the final period.
“He was doing a good job of defending what my strengths are in neutral,” Satriano said of Noto. “What’s funny is that a few days ago my coach showed me a video, that no matter how hard you train to face someone’s specialty, you’re never going to be the best at it, because it’s their specialty.”
With just over a minute left in regulation, Satriano was finally able to make his move, earning three points on a takedown, to take a 4-3 lead. However, with just two seconds on the clock, Noto escaped Satriano’s grasp to tie things up 4-4 and sent the match to overtime.
In the tiebreaker round of overtime, Satriano earned a pair of escapes, coming away with a 6-4 decision and the Eastern States Classic 131-pound championship.
“I was just trying to stay in my zone and do what I need to do,” Satriano said. “My goal was winning the whole thing.”
Earlier in the tournament, Satriano posted 16-0 and 19-2 technical fall victories in his first two matches, and won via a 3-0 decision in the third round. In the quarterfinals, Satriano won a 5-0 decision, before another 4-0 decision over Wyoming Seminary’s Marcus Heck in the semifinals.
Satriano wasn’t the only Viking to make it onto the podium at the Eastern States Classic.
EJ Vass, who competed in the 116-pound division, came away with third place following a long two days of wrestling.
In nine matches over the two days, Vass went 8-1. He won his first two matches with a 17-0 technical fall and a 6-0 decision, before dropping a 16-6 major decision to Smithtown East’s Dylan Reinard in the third round.
Vass proceeded to win six straight matches to secure the third place finish. In the consolation semifinals, he ran into Reinard once again, this time picking up a 4-0 decision. In the third place match, Vass won a 10-7 decision over St. Francis’ Cullen Edwards.
Valley Central’s Max Smith came within one victory of placing as a 138-pounder. He won his first three matches, including a pair of technical falls, advancing to the quarterfinals. Eventually, he suffered a 22-5 technical fall loss and dropped a 3-0 decision.
Michael Giannoni also represented the Vikings in the 152-pound division, but lost his two matches via a technical fall and a pin.
Pennell places 4th for Pine Bush
Pine Bush sent four wrestlers up to Clifton Park for the Eastern States Classic, with Logan Pennell the lone Bushmen to earn a spot on the podium.
The 170-pounder won his first match with an 18-3 technical fall, before dropping a 4-3 decision in the quarterfinals. He navigated through the consolation bracket, winning three straight decisions, 8-1, 5-2, 4-0, to earn a spot in the third place match.
Pennell dropped his final bout in a 8-0 major decision to Iona Prep’s Paolo Ciatto, coming away with fourth place.
Griffyn Alfalla (108 pounds) and Patrick Curran (285) both went 1-2 at the tournament, while Gabe McNally (124) went 0-2.
Curia takes 5th place for Wallkill
Wallkill’s Marco Futia made the most of his trip upstate, securing the fifth place spot in the highly competitive 116-pound bracket.
Futia was able to go on a run to the semifinal round, which required four straight victories. He won his first two matches with 17-2 and 17-0 technical falls, and then a 2-0 decision, before securing a pin in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinal round, Futia ran into a defending state champion, Newburgh’s Cooper Merli, which resulted in a first period pin favoring the Goldback.
Julian Aviles also represented the Panthers at Eastern States in the 285-pound bracket, and went 1-2 at the event.