Ram wrestling version of the Academy Awards serves up 12 'Oscars' at the local 7 Willow Café
March 20, 2024 at 11:49 p.m.
It was the equivalent of the Academy Awards for local high school wrestling served up along with dinner last Thursday night, Mar. 14, at Port Chester's 7 Willow Café—and what a celebratory show it was.
More than 115 wrestling aficionados turned out to turn the dining room into a hallowed space where the mat really matters.
Memories came to life as some of the sport’s greatest seasonal hits were verbally recreated, outstanding performers celebrated, awards presented and an even more successful future anticipated.
It was an evening where the best of Port Chester wrestling was celebrated during a team awards dinner following a Fall scholastic sports season where almost every other Port Chester team had a losing season except this one.
The team record
Despite being hard-hit by injuries that left them at less than full strength, Port Chester wrestlers finished with a 12-12 record, placed in the top five in four major tournaments, qualified five wrestlers for the first ever Sectional Championships to be held at the County Center in White Plains, placed five wrestlers on the All-League All-Star team and had 12 wrestlers—including one very talented female—win Hollywood "Oscar"-like team awards as outstanding performers.
The comeback kids
It was a night to remember because it established the fact that Port Chester wrestling and its comeback kids had come all the way back from being the only Port Chester team that had its season canceled during the COVID pandemic and fought its way back to respectability the hard way during the intervening years.
It had gone from being nearly wiped out to the point where its roster last season included 14 freshmen, 16 sophomores, 22 juniors and 10 seniors (including tri-captains Jaden Barbour, Erik Coyt and Alejandro Velasquez) and its up-and-coming junior varsity ranked with the best in Westchester.
So head coach Joe Facciola and his team and assistant coaches had a lot to celebrate.
The 2023-24 Port Chester High School senior wrestlers gather for a photo at the Wrestling Awards Dinner. They are, from left, Christopher Gonzalez, Lucas Cepeda, Erik Coyt, Coach Sean Zemlyak, Franklin Cabrera, Tabata Sanchez, Christopher Ochoa, Coach Andres Salcedo, Kevin Lorenzana, Giovanni Oliveros, Coach Nicholas Bolanos, Coach Danny Alvarado, Coach Justin Karas, Jaden Barbour, Coach Joe Facciola, Alejandro Velasquez (lying down).Courtesy of Joe Facciola
As parents, friends and wrestling fans looked on, Facciola, a former All-Section light heavyweight champion, ex-Ram triple threat and current physical education instructor in the Port Chester School District, presented awards to standouts in the following categories:
Team Most Outstanding Wrestler (MOW): Jaden Barbour who finished top 3 in almost every Rams category: wins, pins, bonus points, takedowns, team points and more. His season record was 27-16. He was an All-League wrestler in the heavyweight 215-pound weight class and racked up 40 wins in only two seasons. Last year as a junior, he split time with his brother Jalen and probably would have qualified for Sectionals if he didn’t have to wrestle him last year in the qualifying blood round. This year he qualified for the Sectionals and nearly upset one of the top seeds in his first match. "And throughout the season he continued to bring what we call the 'Warrior Mentality,'" according to Facciola. “He was the hammer we always knew we had in our back pocket during dual meets. We knew that if a dual was close, we still had the big boy ready to get a pin at the end. Pin champ Jaden might be an animal on the mat, but it is remarkable how even tempered he is. He is also the perfect example of leading by example. Jaden is not just a team captain, but also the equivalent of a captain for all our student-athletes at PCHS (as well as one of the co-captains of the Ram football team). I know a lot of our athletes respect him, and that respect has come from his positive behavior and actions and his close attention to when and how you should speak to your teammates and friends. We all can learn by taking a page out of his book!"
Team MVP: Eduar Polanco ended the season with a 27-12 record despite injuring his ankle in the County Championships and had to wrestle his way through the rest of the season on virtually one leg without ever complaining. "Yet he still almost finished first in every Ram category: wins, bonus points, takedowns, team points, more, while producing extra bonus points for our team throughout the year in two different weight categories," according to Faccioa. "Polanco started the season strong, beating returning All-Section wrestlers. He was also named the Most Outstanding Wrestler in Rye's prestigious early season Bernie Miller Invitational Tournament. His ankle injury in the Counties left him hurting, but he gutted out the rest of the season wrestling in the lightweight class and made the All-League Team."
Facciola considers him a potential Sectional champion next year because of his off-season training regimen as well as his dedication and passion for the sport.
The other All-League Team Award Winners include Laila Builes (101-pound weight class), Erik Coyt (108), Nicholas Pereira (138 ) and Jaden Barbour (215). They all wrestled through the Regional Qualifier Rounds to make it into the historic first ever Sectional Championships at the County Center.
Most-Improved Lightweight: Nicholas Pereira was 14-20 last year but finished 26-17 this year and was second on the team for pins. He put in the hard work all off-season and participated in a strength and conditioning program during the past summer and is already training post-season so he can have a shot at becoming a Sectional champion next year, according to Facciola.
Ex-football player Alejandro Velasquez was selected as the Most-Improved Heavyweight, won 10 important varsity matches and was elected one of the team captains as was hard-luck junior Logan Kuhn, winner of the RAM Tough Award. The hard-working Kuhn dislocated his knee during his first match in the prestigious Port Chester-sponsored Carlucci Invitational Tournament, rehabbed extensively so he could be cleared to return only to re-injure the knee again shortly thereafter. But no matter what happened, Kuhn kept showing up to root his teammates on.
Other Ram honorees included Coyt winning the Eugene Miller Award. Coyt, as one of the team's inspirational leaders who racked up 43 wins during his two-year varsity career, made All-League twice and was elected a team captain. Christopher Ochoa won the RAM Award (Responsible, Accountable and Motivated) because he tried to come back two days after suffering a season-ending injury but was not cleared to wrestle yet kept coming back to help motivate his team; Christopher Gonzalez won the Coach's Award for his willingness to wrestle wherever he was needed against the area's best, and Barbour won the Mugger Award for most wins by fall (16).
And so it want from Jacob Lopez being named Junior Varsity Wrestler of the Year after winning the Southern Westchester JV Championship for his weight class to eighth-grader Laila Builes, the international jiu jitsu age group weight class champion, being selected as Rookie of the Year after overcoming injuries while finishing 13-7 wrestling against the boys and being named the outstanding freshman wrestler at the ultra-competitive Vin Nicita Invitational Tournament.
All in all, it was an evening to remember with a hint of many more to come because award-winning wrestlers like Builes, Lopez, Kuhn, Pereira and Polanco are slated to come back next year. So the graduating seniors will be missed—including tri-captains Coyt, Velasquez and Barbour and key contributors Franklin Cabrera, Lucas Cepeda, Christopher Gonzalez, Kevin Lorenzana, Christopher Ochoa, Giovanni Oliveros and Toby Sanchez. But there will be a bumper crop of returnees in the comeback kids including 8th-grader Alexander Alvarez and freshmen Michael Crandall, Derek Deras, Owen Dorsainvil, Adrian Garcia, Efrain Gonzales, Irvin Lopez, Justin Maldonado, Tochukwu Osita, José Antonio Velasquez, Ever Yanez and Justin Zhagui.
The sophomore contingent includes Andrew Abraham, Ethan Cabrera, Damian Castro, Ariel Coyt, Emmanuel Diaz, Anthony Flores, Alexis Morel (the starting Rams football quarterback), Alber Peroj, Christopher Quito, Cesar Rendon, Ivan Reynoso Jr. Erick Rodriguez, Erick Samano, Jonathan Tenesaca, Elia Tobin, Jake Vasquez and Daniel Zavala. The juniors include Victor Alvarez, Bladimir Arias, Manuel Barcenas, Gabriel Corona, Brian Escobar, Julian Estevez, Luis Granados, Juan Hernandez, Daniel Martello, Jefferson Navarijo, Okechukwu Osita, José Rivera, Eddie Ruiz, Andres Sanchez, Joao Silva, Jordin Terrones and Eduardo Xixitia.
What all those names mean is that Ram wrestling is back big time, well on its way to overcoming the drawbacks of being the only Ram varsity team that had its entire season canceled during the COVID pandemic and is ready to take its place once again as an area wrestling power. That means there will be many more award nights in the team's future.
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