Gottfried, Lenzi rule at states

Jake Thomases • jtthomas@lohud.com • February 28, 2010

ALBANY — Andrew Lenzi trains year-round at Iowa Style Wrestling club. Penn Gottfried trains year-round at Iowa Style Wrestling club.

Lenzi is undefeated this season, 39-0. Gottfried is undefeated this season, 43-0.

Lenzi made the first three rounds of the state tournament look easy. Gottfried made the first three rounds of the state tournament look easy.

The two friends have a lot in common. Until Saturday, one thing divided their wrestling careers — Lenzi owned a state title, Gottfried didn’t.

Now that’s one more experience they can share. Gottfried, Ardsley’s 119-pounder, captured his first state championship with a takedown in the final 10 seconds. Lenzi, Fordham Prep’s 135-pounder, snagged his second with a reversal in the final 10 seconds.

“I played that feeling over in my mind about 500 times going to sleep,” Gottfried said.

State Champion Penn Gottfried

This was just how the senior dreamed it: a dramatic change of fortune on the biggest stage with time winding down. He trailed top seed Kyle Crisafulli 1-0. He had blown an escape chance in the second period. It all led up to his sweep single with seven seconds left and a 2-1 win.

When time ran out he calmly removed his ankle band and shook hands with his opponent and his opponent’s coaches. Later he said the magnitude of what had just happened hadn’t hit him yet. The moment it hit was when he looked into assistant coach Michael Murray’s face. Gottfried sprinted into Murray’s arms, where he was lifted into an exuberant carry.

Validated are his five Section 1 Division II titles — a sectional record. Division II in Section 1 is not especially deep. On a state level, though, it’s as deep as Division I.

“When you’re wrestling tournaments you’re wrestling big school, small school; we’ve been through Long Island, we’ve been all over,” Ardsley coach Craig Zern said. “You know what? Big school, small school, it doesn’t matter, he stepped on the mat with everyone this year. He was undefeated. He beat everyone.”

Two-time NYS Champion Andrew Lenzi

Lenzi needed no validation after winning a Division I title as a sophomore.  “It’s a lot harder the second time, they always say,” the senior from Buchanan said. “It was tough getting here a second time. There’s a target on your back once you win it once. I train all year. I took second last year so that’s what I really need to fuel me, coming back and winning another state title.”

His match with Section 9’s Cody Ruggirello, whom he’d beaten 6-5 at Eastern States, was scoreless and headed for overtime. Then Lenzi whipped out a move he’d practiced all season but never used once. His Granby roll from bottom reversed Ruggirello with nine seconds on the clock for a 2-0 win.

Also making the finals was Gottfried’s teammate Drew Longo. The freshman dropped a 10-6 decision to seventh-grader Tristan Rifanburg of Section 4 at 96 pounds. Ardsley was the first Section 1 team since Suffern in 1997 with two state finalists and at least one champion.

Justis Flamio continued his finals curse by placing second for the third year in a row. He beat rival Steven Rodrigues of Fox Lane in the 125 semis only to lose to Section 8’s Nick Arujau 9-7. Rodrigues wrestled back for third. Also taking third was Brian Realbuto of Somers. Many figured Realbuto, a 2009 champion, for another crown. He lost in the 112 semifinals 13-10 to eventual champ Nigel McNeil.  ”

I was happy I got revenge on (Sean) McCormick,” he said after beating McCormick in wrestlebacks after losing to him at Eastern States. “Besides that, I’m not really too happy right now. It wasn’t really what I was looking for.”

Billy Watterson (119) finished third for John Jay, which placed four kids and finished sixth among all schools in Division I.

Edgemont’s Ray Wang (160) took third in Division II.

Section 1 had 17 place-finishers, ten of those currently train at Iowas Style Wrestling.  It finished fifth among all sections in Division I and sixth among all sections in Division II.

(Edited by John Degl)