Hills West Colt Wrestling Team Impressive in the Bob Armstrong Cup at Port Jefferson HS

After a difficult week where the Colts lost two consecutive matches for the first time this year and were eliminated from contention for the League IV Dual Meet Championship, the West grapplers rebounded for a strong showing in Bob Armstrong Cup at Port Jefferson High School.

"After the week we had, I'm hoping that we rebound here,"  Coach Patrovich said, and then added, "We need a good showing; this is the last chance to improve in a live match before League Championships next week."  

The Colts did not disappoint.  As the semifinals of the tournament rolled around, there were Colts in 11 of the 15 weight classes--a tremendous number. But it caused the Colt faithful to bounce back and forth between the mats, as there were many times that two Colt wrestlers were competing at the same time. Fans were heard screaming two different names in the same breath.

Semifinalists included junior Zach Aal (112), sophomore Tyler Flett (125), junior Ryan Carter (130), junior Devan Williams (135), freshman Kane Bholan (140), sophomore Tyler Grimaldi (145), senior Alec Levine (152), sophomore Joe Piccolo (160), sophomore Jagger Rebozo (171), senior Chris Golinowski (189) and senior Michael Quinn (285).

As tradition has it, prior to the championship round, all of the finalists were announced during the Parade of Champions, which included six Hills West wrestlers, the most in the tournament.  Grapplers Aal, Carter, Grimaldi, Rebozo, Golinowski and Quinn all competed in what seemed to be a Hills West home meet.

When the finals were complete, four Colts were champions and perched atop the podium.

Zach Aal defeated Whatley (Pat-Med) 6-0
Ryan Carter defeated Pisano (Comsewogue) injury
Tyler Grimaldi teched Pidel (St. John the Baptist) 15-0 at 5:41
Michael Quinn defeated Sokol (Pat-Med) 3-1 in overtime

Coach Patrovich summed up the day in typical "Patch" fashion: "Hey, you know what? It was a good day.  We had some kids do very well here. We have to focus now on what is important. We have our League Championships this coming weekend. I would like to do well here. We need to focus and work hard."

Captain Tyler Grimaldi echoed that: "Tournaments are fun, especially when you do well, but what is really important is winning leagues.  We need to work as hard as we can. I don't feel as though I have peaked as a wrestler yet this year, and I don't think the team has peaked yet. We really need to 'do work' this week. We cannot settle; we need to dig deep."

As always, Coach Patrovich and his soldiers will be working their tails off this week, as the League IV Championships will be held next Saturday at Comsewogue High School.