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GC Grappler brings home second state title

from The Garden City News (3/31/23), page 81

Article from: The Garden City News (3/31/23)

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The GC Grapplers officially ended their 2022–23 season on Saturday, March 25, when three of their 8-year-old wrestlers (Theo Ganas, Keegan Fitzpatrick, and Powers Dell’Olio) competed at the NYWAY State Championships in Syracuse, after qualifying at Long Island Regionals two weeks prior. The NYS Fairgrounds saw a remarkable turnout, with 160 youngsters entering the 2014 boys age division alone, from across the Empire State.

First-year grapplers Powers (56 lbs.) and Keegan (63 lbs.) each entered stacked weight brackets with 20-plus wrestlers. After running into first round buzz saws, they showed commendable perseverance and grit in their “wrestle back” consolation bouts against top level competition.

Theo (53 lbs.) sought to defend his state title, entering a crowded 17-person bracket as the No. 1 overall seed. NYWAY, an upstate-centric youth wrestling governing body, has long been suspected of fostering anti-Long Island bias, and those suspicions were all but confirmed when Theo was pitted against the L.I. Region’s 2nd place finisher as early as the Round of 16.

After losing a 2-point nail-biter to Theo in the regional finals, Uzbekistanborn Kamronbek Latipov, competing for Brooklyn’s Willpower Wrestling club, sought his revenge. Theo kept his poise and controlled the match, but let up a meaningless last-second takedown to win 3-2. Those were the only points Theo would allow on the day. Latipov went on to rattle off six straight wins en route to a 3rd place finish, proving that the finals should have been an all-Island affair.

Theo then faced a pesky Central Region opponent in the quarters, hailing from the small Jefferson County town of Dexter, just south of the Canada border. Points were hard to come by, but there was never a doubt, as Theo dominated the match to win 3-0. In the semis, Theo was paired against a Far West Region foe from Chautauqua. That’s when Theo found his groove, steamrolling his opponent 10-0 to reach the finals. Well, after 10 p.m., Theo capped off the night with a convincing 5-0 victory in the championship bout against the Central Region’s 1st place finisher from Indian River.

Theo finished this season with 1st place finishes at the Long Beach Gladiators Tournament, the Massapequa Tournament, the NY-USA Wrestling Nassau County Championship, the NYWAY Long Island Regional Qualifier, and the NYWAY State Championship. He walks away from his second wrestling season as a two-time Nassau County, Long Island and NY State Champ!

The GC Grapplers program will return in November for 2023–24 season. Stay tuned in these pages and follow the @gc_grapplers Instagram page for program updates and details.

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