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BLAIR NOTES Blair won its 22nd straight National Prep Championship (23rd overall) in 2002 with a team composed entirely of high school wrestlers. The Blair high school team was recognized in the year 2002 as the number one high school wrestling team in the United States (both public and private) by USA Today, Amateur Wrestling News, Intermat, Rob Sherrill's Prep 25, and WIN Magazine. This is the second consecutive year that Blair has earned such recognition and the fourth time in the history of the program. The Blair high school team was recognized locally as the number one wrestling team in the in the area by the Express-Times. Zack Esposito, Matthew Palmer, Kurt Backes, Max Meltzer, Matthew Veres and John Stout all competed in the NHSCA High School National in Cleveland in April of 2002. Esposito and Palmer won back-to-back championships at 152 and 160 pounds respectively. Backes placed 2nd and Meltzer also earned All-American status by virtue of a fifth place showing. This is the third time that Blair has had two national champions in the same year. Click here to see how Blair wrestlers have performed at the NHSCA Nationals since the tournament's inception. Zack Esposito, Matthew Palmer and Kurt Backes were all named First Team Asics All-Americans by a panel of wrestling experts in 2002. The honor is one of the highest in high school wrestling. This is the second consecutive year that Blair has had three first-team Asics All-Americans. Ryan Davis and Mark Perry were also recognized as Honorable Mention. For the complete details and press release on this honor click here. John Giacche ('98) won the University Nationals in freestyle at 69 kg on May 2nd in his home arena at Northwestern University. Giacche beat Jeremy Spates from the University of Missouri 10-6 in the finals. The victory marks John's first-ever national title at the collegiate leve. Two other former Blair wrestlers, Cory Cooperman and Paul Velekei (both '01), also competed and placed at the tournament. Cory competed for the Lehigh Wrestling Club and made it to the semi-final round at 60 kg when he sustained an injury and defaulted down to 6th place. Paul competed at 96 kg for the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club and also placed 6th. Click here for complete results. Zack Esposito and Matthew Palmer were undefeated during the 2002 season. Zack Esposito and JT Young competed in the FILA Junior (20 & under) World Team Trials at the Camp Jordan Arena in Chattanooga, TN this past spring. Zack won the freestyle title at 69 kg and was named the tourney's Outstanding Wrestler. Two former Blair wrestlers, Cory Cooperman and Paul Velekei (both '01), also placed at the tournament. Cooperman took runner-up honors at 63 kg while competing for the Lehigh Wrestling Club in freestyle. Velekei wrestled for the Dave Schultz WC and placed in both Greco and freestyle. Paul finished 3rd at 97 kg in freestyle and placed 7th at 97 kg in Greco. For the press release and more details about Espo's victory click here. For complete results click here. Robert Preston, John Stout, Zack Esposito, Michael Waite, Kurt Backes, and Matthew Veres competed at the Northeastern Regionals at SUNY Brockport this past spring. Preston, Esposito and Backes all won titles at their respective weights while Stout earned a fourth place finish. Esposito was voted the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler. Mark Bogart, Gregg Romano and Matt Maciag competed in the USA Wrestling Advocare Cadet Freestyle Nationals this past summer in Fargo, ND. Maciag won the national title at 182.5 pounds going 9-0 for the tournament. Romano also participated in the Greco Roman competition. Robert Preston made the New Jersey team but was unable to participate in the nationals due to injury. John Stout, Mark Perry, Zack Esposito, Michael Waite, Kurt Backes and Steven Mocco competed in the USA Wrestling Asics Junior National Freestyle Championships this past summer in Fargo, ND. Steven Mocco ('01) capped off one of the most remarkable high school wrestling careers in recent memory with yet another stellar performance at the Asics Junior National Freestyle Championships. For an unprecedented third consecutive year, Steven was unscored upon for the duration of the tournament, and this year, unlike the two previous years, none of his matches went the distance - he won every bout by either fall or technical fall. In addition to winning the title at 275 pounds, Steven was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler. Zack Esposito ('02) also put together a tremendous run to the finals of one of the most competitive weight classes in the tournament but came up just short of the title dropping a 4-7 decision to Derek Zinck of Pennsylvania. Zack's runner-up finish this year marks his third consecutive summer of earning All-American status out in Fargo. He placed fifth at the Cadet Nationals as a freshman and eighth at last year's Junior Nationals. Going into his senior year, Zack has already become one of the most accomplished high school wrestlers in Blair history. Cory Cooperman and Steven Mocco participated in two of the nation's most prestigious dual meets at the conclusion of the 2001 season. First, they wrestled in the Dapper Dan Classic in Pittsburgh, PA. Cory wrestled two-time Pennsylvania state champion Evan Sola from Conrad Weiser High School and came out on top by a 7-1 margin. Steven faced two-time state champion Ric San Doval from Shady Side Academy in the 275 pound divsion and won by a 6-3 score. The following week, Steven and Cory wrestled in the Dream Team Classic in Cedar Rapids, IA. Cory defeated Iowa prep star and three-time state champion, Trent Goodale from Osage, Iowa by an 8-2 score. Steven pinned two-time Iowa state champion, Mike Shedeck from Cedar Rapids Xavier in 1:57. NCAA Accomplishments... For the second year in a row Sean Gray ('97) attained All-American status with a 6th place finish at the NCAA Division I National Championships. Gray, seeded fourth and competing at 141 pounds for the Hokies of Virginia Tech, won his first three matches before falling 9-11 to Iowa's returning champion, Doug Schwab, in the semi-finals. Gray sustained an injury and lost his next two consolation bouts by medical forfeit. Sean won the EWL title two weeks prior to the nationals and has one more year of eligibility in college. Joining Gray at the NCAA's were five former Blair teammates three of whom were ACC champions. At 125 pounds, ACC champion George Cintron who spent his junior year at Blair, wrestled for North Carolina State University. At 165 pounds, ACC champion Greg Francesca ('97) represented the University of Virginia, and at 285 pounds ACC champion Matthew Kenny ('98) represented the University of North Carolina. Rounding out the Blair contingent were Francis Volpe ('96) who competed at 184 pounds for Harvard University, and Marat Tomaev ('99) who competed at 133 pounds for Penn State University. Jason McLean ('96) capped off an impressive career at Muhlenberg College earning All-American credentials by way of a seventh place performance at the Divsion III NCAA Tourney held at Wartburg College. Leadership and academic honors around campus...
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