John Raffel
Sports Scene
This year, coach Daryl Dawe ran into the same challenge the Ithaca wrestling team faced last year, albeit a pleasant challenge considering the accomplishments of the football team.
The Yellow Jackets had four key wrestlers on the football squad Thanksgiving weekend for the state finals en route to Ithaca’s second straight championship.
Three weeks later, the Yellow Jackets were at the Joe Loren Memorial Invitational wrestling tournament at Chippewa Hills, with Dawe, in his first season as coach, having one wrestler place sixth, another seventh, and one place eighth.
Senior Noah Harless was sixth at Chippewa Hills at 189 pounds. Freshman Bram Desacgher was seventh at 130 pounds. Junior Mingo Cervantes was eighth at 135 pounds.
Josh Capen started out 2-0 for the season.
Ithaca was 11th at its home invitational on Jan. 21.
“After Christmas break, everybody will be getting up to their weights,” Dawe said. “We’re voiding three weight classes right now. After winter break, everybody in the upper weights will be able to get to the weights they want to be at. We’ll be a much different team.
“Football season went so long and our guys that were football players had to alpha [weight] so late in the year, and that messed up our weight classes.”
Capen should have an excellent year, Dawe indicated.
Harless said he intends to drop down to 171. Last year, he was at 160.
“Personally, my highlight [last year] was in our district match,” Harless said. “We wrestled Flint Beecher and I came down 11 points to pin a kid and win the match as a team.”
It’s Harless’ fourth varsity wrestling season, but he’s been on the mat for 13 years total.
“Last year was memorable because of all the high-stake matches I had during the season,” he said.
Harless was 25-19 as a junior for his best season.
“I feel I’m wrestling as good I have, ever, at this point,” he said.
Harless was a reserve lineman for the state championship football team.
“I thought maybe I would be [behind] coming off of football season,” he said. “But once I jumped into wrestling season, everything started falling back. It only took me a few practices to get into the hang of things.”
Harless hopes to make it to the state finals and place.
“I need to get down to 171 and continue to wrestle as smart as I have been,” he said. “Because I have been wrestling for so long, I have some of the techniques down that maybe other wrestlers don’t because they’ve only been out for a few years. I can go out and hit any move I want to. I’m not a very strong wrestler. I don’t have the muscle. That’s what I’ve been working on, to get stronger.”
Harless likes his team’s potential.
“We’re still giving up a few weight classes. Once we get down to our weights, we have potential to win our league and districts.”
Tony Ventocilla is a senior at heavyweight.
“Last year I made it to individual regionals,” he said. “This year, I’m hoping to make it to state and at least place, if not win it.”
Ventocilla was also a reserve lineman for the Ithaca football team.
“I’m a little behind in terms of my conditioning, but over Christmas break I’ll be building it back up,” he said. “I’ve gained a lot of endurance in terms of sprinting with a short burst of energy. I think that will help me out on the wrestling mat.”
Ventocilla said he has improved at the neutral position.
“My strength is on bottom,” he said. “In terms of wrestling, I’m trying to learn a lot of new moves at the neutral position for takedowns. I have to work at keeping the guy down so I can pin him.”