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Wrestlers Win at Wittenberg
Following close on the heels of their third place showing in the Illinois State Regional Tournament, the team won the 2009 YU Henry Wittenberg Wrestling Invitational XIV for an unprecedented sixth time. After winning last year's tournament by one point in a very dramatic finish, ICJA took this year's title by a comfortable margin over the Frisch School. The victory was built upon a tremendous team effort with 19 wrestlers placing, including having at least one wrestler at each weight class in either the 1st place or 3rd place finals. This feat had never been accomplished in ICJA's history and only once in tournament history. Ida Crown did not coast to victory, though. Following the semifinal round on Sunday afternoon, which saw a string of Frisch victories and a few heartbreaking defeats for ICJA wrestlers, Frisch held a 30 point lead over the Academy team. Moreover, eventual third place finisher Torah Academy of Bergen County stood only a half a point behind ICJA. It was that this point that the character and depth of the entire Ida Crown team shone through. Needing a nearly perfect performance from its wrestlers--several of whom had just suffered demoralizing defeats in the semifinals--the Aces did just that. In the critical--and ultimately decisive-- consolation semifinal round, ICJA advanced 10 wrestlers into the third place finals, pinning most of their opponents along the way. In doing so, ICJA racked up a 50-point tally and erased Frisch's lead to take a 23 point lead of their own. This margin proved too much for anyone to catch the Aces, who also wrestled well in the finals on Monday. Senior Stanley Dayan (160) capped off his storied career with this third Wittenberg crown, as he demolished his TABC opponent, 9-1. Dayan finishes with a record-setting career win/loss record of 90-9, which will likely stand for some time to come. Junior Daniel Gutstein completed his superb season with an exciting win in the finals at 112 pounds. Wrestling hard and recording second place finishes were Senior Jacob Lewis at 119, Sophomore Jacob Lowenstein at 125, Senior Rafi Lowenstein at 140, Senior David Kandelman at 152, and Freshman Gabe Michael at 285. Junior Avi Gluck (103), Senior Josh Dorfman (130), Senior Zach Goldberg (145), Junior Jonathon Halpert (171), Junior Yossi Ruben (189), and Senior Avi Bromberg (215) took third place honors. Freshman Zach Bernstein (103) Freshman Barry Greengus (112), Freshman Elan Yudkowsky (135), and Sophomore Sammy Blivaiss (152) finished fourth in their respective weight classes. Also, Sophomore Adir Feifel (125) took fifth place, and Junior Josh Glickman (160) finished in sixth place. |
