Coach Ned Campbell’s James Madison Golden Knights have had a particularly strong season on the mats.  The team currently stands at 15-3 .  Their season has been highlighted by a victory over Horace Mann, two wins over Grand Street Campus, and a win over MLK last week to place third in the PSAL Dual Championships. They also won the team title at the Paul Goddard Tournament.

With the dual portion of their schedule complete, the Golden Knights can now focus on achieving individual honors in the upcoming Mayor's Cup, City Championship, and State Tournaments.  Four wrestlers that fans should keep an eye on in these meets are Konstantin Parfiryev, Mark D'Chiutiis, Kutjim Nikq, and Askar Raimbek.  These four grapplers have been major headaches all season for both their opponents and tournament announcers.

Read more: James Madison prepares for the Mayors Cup and beyond

Connor Hanafee graduated from Monsignor Farrell in 2009 as a 2-time CHSAA Champion and a New York State Placewinner.  His hard work on and off the mat helped him gain admission to the United State Military Academy at West Point where he is now a Senior and the Starting 141-pounder for the Black Knights wrestling team.  Recently, Connor took some time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions.

Connor, you competed at Monsignor Farrell before enrolling at West Point; how did the school and coaching staff for the Lions prepare you to be a cadet?

Wrestling is a very discipline-intensive sport.  If you want to be successful at it, you simply have to do things that aren’t always desirable, much like being a cadet at West Point.  Farrell Wrestling and my coaching staff, especially Rob Pavis and Lou DeStefano, helped me considerably in my maturation process, not only as a wrestler, but as a human being.  The demands of West Point are manageable because of the life lessons that wrestling has taught me.  Farrell’s academic curriculum also does a great job of preparing students for college-level curriculums.  I owe a lot to Farrell and the wrestling program. 

Read more: Interview with Monsignor Farrell Alum and Army 141 pound Wrestler Connor Hanafee

Photo: Denis Gostev

Recently, former Monsignor Farrell Head Coach and Current Poly Prep Assistant Lou DeStefano took the time to answer some questions. (Photo credits: Denis Gostev | MSG Varsity.)

Lou, it came as quite a surprise when you left Monsignor Farrell this spring - what led to your decision to step down?

In the late spring it was decided that my little brother John Luke was going to attend Poly Prep. I had been at Farrell for nine years and was planning on coaching four more seasons with him at Farrell. Once he was going to Poly, it was hard for me to justify staying on. In addition, I am in the process of starting a family so knew I wouldn’t have the time necessary to run a program as a head coach.

Read more: Interview with Lou DeStefano

The semifinals will take place tonight, Thursday, January 17th at Brooklyn Tech High School. Both matches begin at 4pm, side-by-side. The matchups are Brooklyn Tech vs. MLK and Madison vs. Cardozo.

The losing teams will square off immediately following the semifinal matches to wrestle for third place and the two winners will meet in the Dual Meet Championship Finals on Tuesday, January 29th. Location and time for finals are To Be Determined.

RESULTS UPDATE

Brooklyn Tech has defeated MLK by a score of 52-14, while Cardozo downed Madison 41-24. Brooklyn Tech and Cardozo will meet for the championship on Tuesday, January 29th!

Madison defeats MLK 42-35 in a great match for 3rd place in the PSAL Dual Meet Championships.

Scores will be updated as they become available.

Action from the Madison vs. Grover Cleveland Match.
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Top Bracket

Prelim / Quarter One, at Cordozo

Cardozo 57 d. Flushing 30
Bronx H.S. of Science 50 d. Stuyvesant 36

Cardozo 81 d. Bronx Science 4

Prelim / Quarter Two, at Beat The Streets

Grand St. 46 d. Curtis 36
James Madison 79 d. Grover Cleveland 6

Madison 49 d. Grand St. 36

Bottom Bracket

Prelim / Quarter Three, at Petrides

Brooklyn Tech 50 d. Petrides 23
Eagle Academy 66 d. Francis Lewis 15

Brooklyn Tech 48 d. Eagle 24

Prelim / Quarter Four, at Wingate

New Utrecht 63 d. Queens Voc. 0
MLK 45 d. Wingate 36

MLK 45 d. New Utrecht 39

The pairings are set for the opening round of the PSAL Dual Meet Championships, beginning tonight, Tuesday, January 15th. The Semis will take place starting at 4:00pm at Brooklyn Tech on Thursday, January 17th, and the Finals will be Tuesday, January 29th. 

The Championship pairings and qualifiers are listed below.  As you will notice, there is a letter after the name of each Division -- this letter was drawn out of a hat and corresponds with the bracket. For more information about how it all works and how the wild cards were calculated, check out the Final Standings and Wild Card Breakdown. Please Note - Final Division Standings are based on teams' DIVISION RECORD, not their overall record. If you want to delve even further, you can look through the PSAL Rules and Regulations which outline the process for determining how it works.

Read more: 2012-13 PSAL Dual Meet Championships set to open tonight

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Led by Cheick Ndiaye's 5th place finish at 113 lbs., the PSAL put three young men on the podium at the 11th Annual Eastern States Wrestling Classic in Loch Sheldrake, NY on Saturday, January 12th, 2013.

Avenging an earlier loss to Austin Keough (Warsaw), Ndiaye pulled out a 4-2 OT decision in the 5th place consolation finals. Keough is a five-time state qualifier out of Section V and has placed three times, including a runner-up finish in 2011. Santo Curatolo (Tottenville) finished in 8th place at 120 lbs. and Shaquille Williams ended up in 8th at 285 lbs.

Read more: Final results from 2013 Eastern States Classic