Ram wrestlers put in pre-season mat sweat equity they hope will pay off when regular season starts
August 9, 2023 at 10:10 p.m.
They call it sweat equity. It means the amount of effort that goes into training. And that sweat is never more apparent than now in the middle of one of the hottest summers on record. Because the better athletes know that off-season training will pay off once the season starts for real with the start of the school year. And perhaps no Port Chester team is putting more sweat equity into their summer training than head coach Joe Facciola's wrestling Rams.
Nine varsity grapplers of varying degrees of talent—from the team's MOW (most outstanding wrestler) to the Rookie of the Year (a senior wrestling for the first time last year who made All-League Honorable Mention to five wrestlers trying to improve on losing records—have spent the spring and summer polishing their moves two to three times per week at the GPS Wrestling Club in Armonk. And when they aren't working out at that elite training emporium, they are spending free time in weight training sessions in local gyms.
Measures desire
That kind of off-season training regimen reflects their desire to be ready for the grueling workouts and open mat sessions that are part of what makes Facciola's Rams a local wrestling power.
And that helps explain why nine Ram wrestlers—the equivalent of a starting baseball lineup—are working so hard to get ready starting now.
And like a baseball lineup, that number includes established heavy hitters as well as promising up-and-comers, sophomores, juniors and seniors alike.
Going to the mat
For example, the pre-season training contingent includes:
*Senior Erik Coyt, who came out for the team for the first time as a junior last year, received All-League Honorable Mention and was chosen as the Rams Rookie of the Year after finishing with a 20-14 record.
*Junior Eduar Polanco, who was the team's MOW, won All-League Honorable Mention and ended last season with a 25-14 record.
*Junior Daniel Martello finished the season 3-3.
*Junior Nicholas Pereira showed promise as a sophomore whose record was a deceptive 14-20 as was the losing varsity 3-7 record of sophomore Jake Vasquez who stepped in for injured Ram wrestlers in a variety of weight classes with little notice and acquitted himself well.
Room to improve
Other varsity aspirants working hard off-season to improve on their records last year include juniors Julian Estevez (7-13), Fabian Dragani (2-3), Logan Kuhn (1-6) and senior Christopher Gonzalez who came out for the team for the first time last year and showed promise despite finishing with a 1-14 varsity record.
Facciola, a former All-Section light heavyweight wrestling champion as a Ram back in the day and a current physical education instructor in the Port Chester School District, thinks that kind of pre-season training argues well for success once the high school sports season starts for real. And as a former All-League Coach-of-the-Year, he knows what he is talking about. And his record speaks for itself. He predicts that last year's records with all their ups and downs will be better, a lot better, for the Rams who have put in the training sweat equity during the sweltering summer months.
Comments:
You must login to comment.