Huskies Experience Dominates Bobcats Youth in Wednesday Wrestling

On Wednesday afternoon the Huskies wrestling team of Harrison High dominated their meet against the Bobcats of Byram Hills with a final score of 60-9. The day started out well for the Bobcats as they won the first match with a pin, but the team only won one other match the entire day.

Harrison turned to the leadership of several seniors and juniors to make an impact. Seniors Zachary Guarnero and Robbie Carducci both continued their stellar seasons winning their match ups. Guarnero wrestled at 171 and battled through all three rounds to an eventual victory over his opponent, improving his overall record to 17-3 for the season.

Conversely, Robbie Carducci at 140 pounds needed less then a minute to pin his opponent and win in the shortest bout of the night.

The Huskie's biggest athlete, Duke Alvora, also had a good day. Alvora, a Harrison football player, has lost close to 20 pounds to wrestle at 215.

"I feel it helps a lot, I feel more athletic, I feel like I can shoot and move with more agility then when I weighed 230,"Alvora said. "He was a lot easier to take down than wrestle on bottom, so I just gave him a quick point and then I would take him down for two."

He won his match 14-3, using both his size and intelligent strategy to win.

Harrison's head coach Vincent Nicita pointed out two other wrestlers he felt really stuck out.

"Giovanni Princepe at the 152 did a nice job getting a pin for us. I though Gavin Menchel [a freshman] also did a nice job at 112. Really the rest of the matches went the way I expected them too," Nicita said.

The Byram Hills program is relatively new compared to other programs in the section and Coach Bill Twardy felt that the team's lack of familiarity is what hurt them the most.

"Its just experience, Harrison is the toughest team in the league, So I think it was just more experience" said Twardy. "Our guys need to grow. We have a very young team we only have one senior in our lineup, that's going to hurt you against a good team."

Both coaches commended the Byram Hills athletes for hanging in with the heavily favored Huskies.

"I have to give Byram Hills credit every one of their guys was a fighter," Coach Nicita said, "they were all tough kids, and in a couple years they're going to have a good program."

Coach Twardy commented on the team's growth already this season, "Despite the score I think we made some improvements over our last match against Pawling. A lot of guys didn't get pinned, and they really hung in there and fought… Any type of growth is what we are looking for with this young of a program."

The Huskies outmatched the Bobcats in most aspects of the meet. Harrison's wrestlers were poised, confident, and a more experienced group of young men. In some matches they were able to win with raw brute force and quick hitting strength while in others they used their knowledge and mastery of the sport to beat their opponent. Though the Huskies lost the first match they quickly pulled away and took complete control of the match.

Look for the Huskies to continue their winning streak on Friday night at New Rochelle.