Sports
Rocky Point Wrestling Starts a Young Squad This Season
Team has lost three all-star seniors that carried the group last year
Coming off a state championship run last year, the varsity wrestling team this season lost three of its top wrestlers, who all moved on to compete at Division I schools.
The three althletes boasted a combined 680 career wins for the Eagles.
It's a big hit to the remaining wrestlers and some have already written off the team. But with a young, scrappy squad that still includes some seasoned veterans and All-County talent, the Eagles don't intend to roll over for anyone during the 2010-2011 season.
Find out what's happening in Miller Place-Rocky Pointwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Head Coach: Darren Goldstein
Home Venue: Rocky Point High School Gymnasium
Find out what's happening in Miller Place-Rocky Pointwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Top Wrestlers:
- Matt Ross (Senior – wrestles at 145 pounds)
- Sam Schwartzapfel (Junior – wrestles at 130 pounds)
- Tommy Dutton (Eighth Grader – wrestles at 119 pounds)
Key Losses: The Eagles have a tough task ahead of them replacing three wrestlers who all won at least 40 matches last year. Stephen Dutton, a two-time state champion now wrestles at Lehigh University. Dutton won the county title at 140 pounds last year.
Anthony Volpe, a one-time state and two-time county champion, wrestled at 160 pounds last year and now wrestles at Rutgers University. Lastly, the Eagles must replace Billy Coggins at 171, a one-time state and two-time county champion who now wrestles at the University of Virginia.
Roster:
Weight
Grade
Name
Coach Quote
96 pounds
Seventh
CJ Archer
"He's a little light for the weight class but he's got some fight in him. Come check back with me six years from now and I'm sure he'll be a stud."
103 pounds
Ninth
Kevin Morrow
112 pounds
Tenth
Connor O'Gallagher
"He's been around a while. He wasn't All-League last year but he did win around 28 matches in varsity and we expect big things from him this year."
119 pounds
Eighth
Tommy Dutton
"He's Stephen's younger brother and comes from the same stock. He was 39-5 as a seventh grader last year. He' fifth in Suffolk, a league champion, and he's somebody that we look to for wins."
125 pounds
Nick Accardi
"Accardi's a two-time All-League wrestler."
130 pounds
12th
Nick Loscalzo
"He's a tough kid. He wrestled really well last year and won a bunch of matches for us."
135 pounds
11th
Sam Schwartzapfel
"He's an accomplished wrestler who moved to our district last year from Pennsylvania. He wrestled a guy ranked second in the county [early this season] and pummeled him."
140 pounds
Vinny Loscalzo
145 pounds
12th
Matt Ross
"One of the top ranked wrestlers in the county last year but was upset. He comes back this year and is ranked second at 145 and is probably our most solid wrestler."
Expectations: "We start a bunch of new people from 150 on the way up," Goldstein said. "The interesting thing about our team is that we're young, we're inexperienced, but a lot of the kids are program kids. They come through the program, know what's expected and wrestling is their sport."
Key Games:
- @ Shoreham-Wading River (1/7)
- vs. Glenn (1/12)
- vs. Mt. Sinai (1/21)
- @ Miller Place (1/27)
The Final Word: "People really buried us after the kids graduated last year. You could say they buried us and left us for dead," Goldstein said. "We have a lot of growing to do. We're no county championship squad, but we have fight in us and if the kids want to put in the time and work ethic, they'll be in the right environment to be successful."