Wrestling Rams finish fifth in 'The Carlucci' Tournament like no other in the Port Chester-sponsored meet's history
December 20, 2023 at 11:34 p.m.
It was a Port Chester-sponsored Carlucci/Miller Dual Meet Wrestling Tournament like no other last Saturday (12/16).
The signs that this was going to be a different kind of event showed up early and late.
On Thursday (12/14), Rams head coach and "Carlucci" guiding spirit Joe Facciola learned that Monroe-Woodbury, one of the area's leading teams, had to bail out of the tournament at the last minute due to medical problems.
On Friday (12/15), Facciola learned that one of his best wrestlers, eighth-grade female lightweight Laila Builes, an international age-group jiu jitsu champion, had suffered a medical setback and would be out for a few weeks.
Ups, downs continue
On Saturday (12/16) Facciola, better known in wrestling circles as Joe Fatch, watched as junior Logan Kuhn, one of his captains and best wrestlers as the Rams’ starter in the 138-pound-weight class, went down with a knee injury in the fifth bout of the Rams’ first tourney match against Tappan Zee and will be lost for the season.
And on Sunday (12/17), Facciola, a Port Chester physical education instructor who had been nursing a cold all week, woke up so hoarse he couldn't speak and was even worse Monday (12/18), so much that he had to take the day off from school.
But obviously a lot else happened in between because the show must go on—and "The Carlucci" did because the mat matters to the 12 competing teams with Hendrick Hudson beating Pleasantville for third place and, in a tournament first, Rye and a combined team called BBHVW (Briarcliff/Byram Hills/Valhalla/Westlake) were handed the first and second place trophies with the order up for grabs because both teams were scheduled to meet later in the week for the quarterfinals of the Section One Dual Meet Championships.
Win, place situation
So "Carlucci" officials decided whatever team won that Section One matchup would get the first place trophy while the loser would get the runner-up award.
Port Chester’s Fabian Avalos (on top) lost his match to Rye’s Ewan Jones by pin but won his contests against Irvington and Peekskill wrestlers during the Carlucci/Miller Wrestling Tournament at Port Chester High School on Dec. 16.By Chloe Trieff
In yet another "Carlucci" first, new rule changes now allow a wrestler to participate in six matches in a day, up from the usual five, and meet officials (including tournament director Robert Stacker) decided that "The Carlucci" would be the first tourney to give it a go because the Port Chester program wants to give competitors as much experience as possible.
When the dust had settled and the final match ended in what seemed like a continuous stream of grappling from the 101-pound lightweight class all the way up to the 285-pound heavyweights, Port Chester edged Edgemont 45-30 in the crossover round for fifth place, going 4-2 on the day, all that action resulting in Rams junior Eduar Polanco (124 pounds) being named the team's most outstanding wrestler (after going 5-1 on the day, his only loss coming against Tappan Zee's All-Section wrestler Justin Reiss, with Polanco's season record now 16-3). Eric Coyt was 6-0 on the day wrestling at 108 pounds with two pins and four forfeits. And Christopher Ochoa (152) and Justin Barbour (215) both went 4-2 overall with two pins.
Tournament action for the Rams
The Rams had a busy day with wins over Irvington, Peekskill (twice) and Edgemont and losses to Rye and Hen Hud.
It was as though Port Chester was looking to make up for lost time after being the school's only team to have their regular season canceled during the COVID pandemic due to the close contact nature of the sport.
So, for example, numerous Rams racked up wins in varying weight classes in a 66-12 romp over Irvington with scorers going up the weight class ladder from 101 (Anthony Flores) to 285 (Alber Poroj). Other Ram winners included Coyt, Fabian Avalos (116), Polanco, David Escobar (138). Nicholas Pereira (145), Ochoa, Christopher Gonzalez (160), Alejandro Velasquez (190) and Barbour.
And so it went from the Rams’ 54-20 win over Peekskill (winners included Flores, Coyt, Avalos, Polanco, Escobar, Joao Silva Santos (138), Pereira, Ochoa and Jonathan Tenesaca (170) to the locals’ 45-30 defeat of Edgemont with the Ram winners including Flores, Coyt, Tabata Sanchez (116), Polanco, Pereira, Ochoa, Barbour and Poroj. And the Rams learned something new in every match, even in the 60-16 loss to Rye and the 45-30 misstep against Hen Hud.
Regular mat dustups
In between the wins and losses, the wrestling mats were dusted off every 15 minutes between matches as a sanitary safety health precaution.
"We had some ups and downs throughout the weekend, but overall the tournament was great, very competitive with a great turnout," Facciola said when he finally regained his voice. "We had to roll with the punches, but we got through everything all right, including our Junior Varsity Carlucci Tournament the day before the varsity matches.
The Rams’ next match will take place after the holiday break Thursday, Jan. 4 away against White Plains at 5 p.m. For the junior varsity team, a Southern Westchester JV Championship Tournament was added at the end of the season (1/27/2) at Port Chester High School “because the idea is to give up-and-coming Westchester area wrestlers as much competition as possible on their way up to the varsity, said Facciola.
And he knows what he is talking about as a former Ram Section One light heavyweight champion back in the day. At least when he can talk because it was no fun waking up without a voice after all the stress and strain that went into staging a "Carlucci" like no other.
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