Wrestling Rams drop tiebreaker to Rye in prestigious Bernie Miller Invitational
December 19, 2024 at 1:53 a.m.
In sports, every point counts, and Rams head wrestling coach Joe “Fatch” Facciola keeps drilling that point home to his team, urging his grapplers to never give an inch, control what they can control, and then accept the result. What happened in the Bernie Miller Invitational in Rye last Saturday (12/14) illustrates that point perfectly.
The Rams finished in a tie for third place with an identical point score as host Rye (33-33) but got bumped down to fourth place by a tiebreaking 7-6 score because Rye won one more individual match during the tournament.
That, too, could have been different because with a winnable point or two that eluded them when it was within their grasp, the Rams could have finished even higher than third. But that never happened.
What did happen
In their first tourney test, the Rams were leading North Rockland 30-6 after the first six matches. That means with seven matches left, the Rams needed just one win by pin or two wins by decision to seal the deal. That didn't happen. They lost seven straight matches and wound up on the wrong end of a 44-30 score. That hurt. And set the tone for what came next.
In their second match, this one against Beacon, the Rams were down 30-33, but the final two matches played to their strength. All they needed was a pin from freshman lightweight phenom Laila Builes which they got and a heavyweight win or a loss by less than eight points (which they didn't get). The Rams heavyweight got pinned instead and Port Chester lost a winnable match 39-36.
But the Rams never quit and rallied to beat Ardsley 52-24 and Hastings 66-9.
Tiebreaker criteria
Those two wins helped the Rams win the tiebreaker criteria that enabled them to finish second in their tourney pool.
"All the teams in our pool, except North Rockland, finished 2-2," Facciola explained. "Since we had the highest point differential in matches and scored the most team points, we won the tiebreaker and had to wrestle Rye for the third place match."
Senior David Escobar works for a pin in Rye’s Bernie Miller Invitational last Saturday (12/14).By Joseph DeCarlo
To make that happen, the Rams had to have some exceptional performances:
Rams senior captain Eduar Polanco was selected as the Rams MOW (Most Outstanding Wrestler) after going 5-0 with five pins. "He is 10-1 on the season and has a career record of 68-22," according to Facciola. "We are hopeful that Eduar gets close to 100 wins and achieves All-Section this year."
Builes, who has won international weight and age group judo championships, also was 5-0 (albeit with a couple of forfeits), remains undefeated and could be on her way to winning Port Chester's first state title in any sport.
And overall, good things happened match by match in the various weight classes.
Tourney ups, downs
AGAINST NORTH ROCKLAND: Builes got the Rams off on the right foot winning by a fall in 1:34 in the 101-pound weight class; Alexander Alvarez (108) won by a fall in 1:18; Fabian Avalos (131) won by fall in 1:43; Polanco (138) won by fall in 1:18 as did Daniel Martello (145) in 3:17. But North Rockland took over from there.
AGAINST BEACON: The falls kept coming with Builes winning in 0:36; Avalos in 29; Polanco in 1:13, Jonathan Tenesaca (190) in 1:40 and Jacob Lopez (215) in 3:58. So the Rams made it close, but not close enough.
AGAINST ARDSLEY: The Rams’ dual meet winning streak started with a forfeit win for Builes; wins by fall for Alvarez in 1:44; Polanco in 57; Tenesaca in 1:22; Lopez in 1:30; and Gabriel Corona (285) in 2:50. David Escobar (152) and Nicholas Pereira (170) both won by technical falls (which means they had at least a 10-point lead) and Carlos Palma (235) won by default. The Rams were on their way.
With the referee watching closely, freshman Laila Builes tries to get a pin on the perimeter in last Saturday’s (12/14) Bernie Miller Invitational in Rye.By Joseph DeCarlo
AGAINST HASTINGS: The Ram winners came fast and furious Builes, Alvarez, William Sanaan (124), Avalos, Escobar, Polanco, Martello, Andres Sanchez (160), Pereira, Tenesaca and Ever Yanez (285).
Pivotal Rye match
All those matches led up to the pivotal Rye match which went down to the wire with the Ram winners including Builes, Lopez, Sanaan, Avalos, Alvarez and Polanco. It didn't help any that Rams heavyweight Carlos Palma, a football lineman wrestling for the first time while building up for the football season, had to forfeit after being injured in the four previous matches he had to wrestle that day. So, despite finishing in a tie with Rye for third place, the Rams dropped down to fourth because Rye had that one more individual win in the tournament.
But while Facciola hates it when the points go against the Rams as does his team, he nonetheless felt it was what he called a great weekend for development overall. "We learned from a lot of wrestling mistakes, but we at least know that we haven't had a solid full lineup yet," he said.
The Rams will put those lessons to work Saturday (12/21) at 9 a.m. when they host a multi-team tournament at the high school.
As for what comes next: "After the Christmas Weights (weight classes are +2 pounds after the Christmas weigh-ins), a bunch of our wrestlers will be allowed to wrestle at their certified weight and we can slide in some other tough wrestlers in spots to have a solid lineup." Facciola said.
Point well taken. Because that kind of slide will only make the Rams stronger. They will be working out over the holiday break. And Facciola thinks the best is yet to come. Especially when it comes down to winning tiebreakers.
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