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Image provided by: Suffolk Cooperative Library System
I Northport wrestlers ready for action Despite losing seven starters, the Tigers have solid core of talent BY ROBERT LEUNER Following a third place (7-4. 4-3) finish in League ; HJ last season. Tiger wrestlers will step up to the rig- | ors of League H competition this year. That and the - loss of seven starters due to graduation and Mike | Ebert to injury will make this season especially chal- _ lenging for Tiger grapplers. Stil! Northport coach Al Cicis has a solid core of ' wrestlers to put on the mat this year Semior co cap tain Dillon Yanson, who will wrestle in either the 215 ° or 275-pound weight class, leads the Tigers. The two- time league and Suffolk County champion is hopeful of finally gaining a New York state berth. Northport's other co-captain Vin Colombo will | compete in either the 145 or 152-pound weight class. The three-ume All-League selection has been a con- sistent performer for Northport for the past three - years. Jumor Chris Gandolfi will wrestle in either the 165 or weight class. Last year. Gandolfi _ shined in the 182 -pound division, finishing second in the league meet and fifth in the county competition. Filling in some of the other weight classes are senior Chris Norton at 1357140 pounds, sophomore Matt Sears at 103 pounds. junior Chris Devaney at 119 pounds. semor David Castagna at 125 pounds. jumor Matt Cimino at 152/160 pounds and junior Brandon Pearl at 112 pounds Also jorning Northport's rarks this year is Ryan Murray, a transfer student from Florida. \He's a quality wrestler who took fourth place at last summer's Empire Game. ~ said Cicio Beyond that. the Tigers have plenty of holes to fill \We're scrambling to put together a solid lineup.\ said Crcro. \We have a lot of wrestlers who are in the 145 to 160 pound weight class and we are trying to figure out how to spread them out and put them in the might classes. But our goal this year, as it is every year, is to try and win the league championship and be one of the top teams in the county. Fie photo by Robert O'Rourk Last year at a Northport scrimmage, wrestlers of similar weights started workouts in groups of four, with 60 second turns at attempting takedowns. Northport's Dillon Yanson, featured above, will either compete in the 215 or 275-pound weight class this season. Yanson, a senior co-captain, is a two-time league and Suffolk County champion. Following a series of nonleague matches begin- ning on December 7 against Smithtown West, the Tigers will start league competition on January 6 against Central Islip. Northport boys' basketball is on the rise BY JOHN WESTERMANN The young Northport Tigers of last year have matured, and they have absorbed the lessons a 4-15 season can teach. Are they ready for a move up the ladder in League II? Their longtime coach George Frank certainly hopes so. \\We still need to work on a few things, like our transition from offense to defense and vice versa, but I'm encouraged,\ he Senior Travis Burr returns for his third year of varsity play and slides from the two-guard back to the point. Shooting- guard duties will be handled in part by _ senior Max Bartig, who retums to the sport after a one-year absence The Harvard hound Burr recently named a News 12 Scholar-Athlete -- and the Syracuse-bound Bartig run the backcourt as they run the lacrosse midfield, together, and to turn your head is to lose them. Seniors Shaun Clouse and Chris McCormack return in the frontcourt, as well as returning junior swingman Ben | Atkinson and the powerful pair of junior _ forwards Kevin Gustavson and Colin . Brady. Moving up from last year's JV are Scott Moodnik, Justin Smith, Greg Greiner and sophomore Rich Robbins, who is already physically strong enough to compete at the varsity level. 'We have very quick guards and big, strong inside players,\ Frank said. \It's what we want- ed. Everybody's been working real hard.\ Against a rebuilding Kings team, both squads showed rust in the carly action. Cuts were tentative, spacing awk- _ found their thythm, and it was evident . how they could be with patience and pol- - ish: an aggressive, competent, intelligent - team that fights for the top spot in their league. Bartig can run, pass, shoot and defend. Burr is shifty enough that he can - get his own shot off when the offense - breaks down, and he follows his misses as . well as anybody in Suffolk. Atkinson is a - slasher who can surprise defenders with his speed, a leaper who shoot. The ~ post players are skilled with the ball, if not overly tall. Colin Brady is a football play- ertlike Bartig, Wmm‘spell mmdcflacpalnnmorcflunhappytobmg _ with the behemoths. C \We're running the hail this year.\ said '\! Burr, \and it's such a lot of fun. Having ig Max back fits right in with what we're try- @ ing to do. Plus Kevin Gustavson came \\I back so much bigger and stronger, he's finishing off fast breaks. We get Eddic Lynch and his three-point shooting back this week, so I'm pretty excited. I think League II is wide open this year and we have as good a shot as anybody. We ran ~ with John Glenn, Riverhead and Kings J Pack in our scrimmages, and I think we \ mflmbcldoumwnwgoodpm- grams Et would be nice to play for the e s mmbymom competed against 51mm for their mmscmmmwwbwuummmw on him in a game played last year. This season Brady, who also plays football, is expected to help lead the team. So far Northport has had two scrimmages and a Wmflwymmmphymy Daub-rs. opener-this past- Tuesday, WGMMWmam day sournament at Smithtown East on MyMSmtdiy
