Assistant wrestling coach Wayne Catan provides the following news on Blair’s wrestling team thus far in February: Evan Silver, Sean Boyle, Joe Stanzione, Cory Peltier, Adam Hogue, Steve Hanzlik, Kyle Hanson, Mario Mason, Austin Ormsbee and Anthony Valles all finished in first place in their weight classes, leading the Blair Bucs to a first-place finish at the New Jersey State Prep Tournament at St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, N.J. Garrett Frey and Jesse Shanaman both finished in second place; Tony Buxton finished in third place, and Ben Krakower finished in fourth place. So the Blair wrestlers are primed for the 2008 National Prep Tournament at Lehigh University on February 22 and 23, where Blair will vie for its 28th consecutive title.

Mario Mason is healthy and looking for his third National Prep title; Chris Villalonga is back and hungry for his second title, this time at 125 lbs.; Kyle Hanson is looking for his first title after putting together a stellar season at HWT; Tony Buxton is looking to break into the finals at 119 lbs.; Steve Hanzlik is looking to make some noise at 215 lbs.; Garrett Frey is looking to improve upon his third place finish in 2007; Ben Krakower is ready at 189 lbs.

This year’s team will go to the preps and help “Pin Down Autism.”

Coach Paul Clavel explains, “More and more kids are being diagnosed with autism; in fact, recent studies show that one in 150 kids are testing within the autism spectrum. It’s an important issue, and we wanted to raise awareness for autism. Our proceeds from the National Prep Tournament will benefit the New Jersey Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community (COSAC). Furthermore, like last year when we pinned down juvenile diabetes, we wanted to stick with a theme about helping children, and there’s no better cause right now than autism. It’s important to know that autism impairs the ability for a child to communicate, and there is no cure for this disorder.”

Coach Clavel and Coach Charles Danhof are collecting pledges all week; to make a donation, contact them at: danhoc@blair.edu or clavep@blair.edu. For more information on autism and the N.J. chapter that Blair is assisting, please log onto: http://www.njcosac.org/cosac2/

Last year the Blair wrestlers collected $14,000 during the “Pin Down Diabetes” campaign.

Wayne also reports news concerning Blair alumni wrestlers:

WORLD CUP RECAP:
Steve Mocco ’01 defeated Ivan Ischenko of the Ukraine and Bakhtiyar Akhmedov of Russian on his way to a 2-1 record (at HWT) at the Freestyle World Cup of Wrestling held in Vladikavkaz, Russia, on February 16 and 17. Kurt Backes ’02 defeated his opponent, Abdullah Gungor from Turkey in the 211.5 lbs. weight class, and Zack Esposito ’02 lost to a tough Russian Shamil Batirov at 145 lbs. The USA squad finished fifth overall. Keep a close eye on these three ex-Blair athletes as they make a run for the 2008 Olympic Team.

Posted 2/22/08

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