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THE RECORn-.JANUARY 9,J991 Catholic ·titles Not Enough For Friars' Trio By Brad Halfond St. Anthony's big three have their eyes set on the big one. -· a state wrestling title. · · ' Pete S.mith, Chris Tucci and Gasper LaRosa .all captured Catholic state titles last season - Smith for a second con- secutive dtne - but each failed in hls quest ~· achieve widespread recognition with a victocy in the public school cham- pionShip$. \People don't think. too much of the Catholic states,\ said Tncci, a 138-pound . senior. \You have to prove yourself by beating people in the county.'' For Tucci, his chance was temporarily placed on hold when he dislocated his el'.l()w in the finals of the Amityville tournament on December 22. Thcci was 6-1 up to ·that point. \When I hit the' mat, I heard it,\ said Tucci. \I knew there was somethirtg wrong. I thought it was going to be a great season f« me. An the guys I lost to last year are gone [have graduated]. But no matter what happens, rp be wrestling by the end of'the season; it means too · much tome.\ . Tucci, who was 26 and 5 last year, anticipates returning on or about Febru- ary 1. ' The story is quite different fur the Fri- ars' two other returning Catholic state champions. Both Smith (112) ·and LaRosa (215) have gotten out of the gates quickly and appear to be in top form. Any questions about either of the two having letdowns this season were answered during the Friars • trip to the New England classic wrestling tourna- ment in Lowen, Massachusetts, on ~etumlrC Catholic LoaJtue state cba~ (left to lfgtrt) Gasper LaRosa, Pete Smith ._net Chril Tucci are hoping to fare jut as well against their public school counterparts. December 28 and 29. Some of New Eng- year, fmisbed third and went 7-1 in the land's finest prep school wrestlers com- tournament. He defeated the Mas- peted in the prestigious event, in which sachusetts Division II state champion SL Anthony•s was the lone repre.senta- before being ousted in the quarterfmals tive from New York State. by the state's Division I champ. · Smith, a junior who is 14-2 on the LaRosa had an equally impressiv~ per- formance considering what he had to face. Unlike New York, where there are 215- and 250-pound weight classes, Massachusetts' heavyweight division begins at 189 pounds and doesn't end until 275. \Coach didn't teD me until the ' day before,\ said LaRosa. \It was pretty scary. I was wrestling guys who weighed 260.\ LaRosa won his opener, got pinned in the second round and rebounded to win his n• five straight and eventually finish fourth overall. Although both were pleased with their perfonnances, neither LaRosa nor Smith will be satisfied until he wins a state title. \\'b.ere's more pressure on me now,\ said Smith, whose older brother, Kevin, coaches the Friars. \I definitely want to place in the top three. I want to prove that rm as good as people say I am.\ Smith lost. in the place round last year on a referee's criteria. To achieve a championship. though, Smith will have to beat bigbly regarded Nassau champion Craig Vitigliano of Plainedge - whom he lost to last season. \I think I can beat him,\ said a confident Smith. Less outwardly confident is .LaRosa, who last year was 18-5 in his first full varsity season. LaRosa dropped his frrst tw<tmatcbes in the state's last year. \I don't want to look past the Catholic tournament;\ said LaRosa. \But my big goal is to p1ace.\ Said coach Kevin Smith, &'They seem to be very focused and want to get back upstate. Barring an upset, that should be the case.\ Overall, the Friars finished 12th out of 42 teams in tile toumamen~ and seniors Vic Bernardo and ~me Bolt, two 160- poundels, each placed fifth. • Hills West Tops West Babylon In League V Opener Half Hollow Hills West used a stingy second-half defense to open up League V play with a 37-29 win over West Babylon. West Babylon (6-3) led by 10 at the half, but the Colts (3-4, 1-0) allowed just nine pOints in the second half,. outscoring the Eagles 27-9. \We happened to play exceptional defense in the second half,\ said HHH West coach Dick Hogan. ''They denied passes, forced tmnovers and had a lot of steals. The girls really hung in there.\ Julie Pillitiere led the Colts with 10 points, Kristen Gray had eight and Missy Coopennan and Kate Hickey added six. All six of Hickey's points came in the fourth quarter from the foul line. where she was six-of-eight The Colts started the season in good fonn, winning the Locust Valley Christ- mas tournament, but faltered in their two following games. It has taken time for Hogan's inexperienced team to come together. Hills West does have five seniors on the squad, but most have little varsity experience. \We've made some progress from last year,\ said Hogan. 'We have a little bit of versatility and some people who com- plement each other nicely. We're still developing the program. The girls have worked hard on their game. If we can keep the score in the 30s and 40s, then we have a shot to stay in most games. Hopefully we ·u continue to progress throughout the season. Right now I can ~t complain.\ Hills West travels to Commack on Fri- day for a non-league contest. JOHN GLENN WRESTLING KNIGHTS WIN 1WICE Joe Katchuba, Joel Pippia, Jason · Bruno and Dave Massa all won twice as Glenn picked up two convincing non- league victories over Smithtown West and N<rilport last week. In their 41-11 decision over Smithtown West, Katchuba, Bruno and Massa all pinned their opponents while Pippia won by decision. Other winners included Sean Pippia and heavyweight Josh Hartmann. On Saturday, Glenn toppled Northport 48-11. Senior E.t McNally pinned Northport junior Craig Stanco in the afternoon's featured match at 119 pounds. Both Stanco and McNally are league place-winners from last ye;n-. McGee, Bruno, MasSa and Hartmann all registered pins in the Northport victo- ry. Sophomore Joe Chien was one of only two winners for the Tigers that day. ST. ANTHONY'S BASKETBALL FACCIONETS 30 IN VICTORY .. Ed Faccio poured m 30 points as the Friars opened the Catholic League. sea- son with a 90-76 triumph over visiting Bishop Kellenberg •. Sophomore guard Rich Donner added 16 for the Friars, who raced out to a 25~9 first quarter lead and then coasted to the 14-point victory. \rm real happy with the progress , we're making,.\ said first-year Friar head coach Ricll Roache, whose team is off to a 5-4 s~ which includes a victory over a tough Syosset team. Faccio, a senior, .has been averaging 19 points per game but exploded on Satur- day for three 3-pointers and a season- high 30 points. \He's not used to shoot- ing this much,\ said Roache of Faccio. \But we'd hoped he'd average at least 20 a game.\ St. Anthony's continues its Catholic League season on Friday with a game at Holy Trinity. BOYS' BAS.KETBALL ROUNDUP WHITMAN, NORTHPORT, GLENN Both Walt Whitman and Northpon opened their League n seasons ~th vic- tories. Whiunan (2..0) routed Lindenhurst 80- 38 in their _league opener and then ·squeaked by Centereach, 52-49. on Sat- urday. Senior center John Brennan led Whit- man in both games, scoring 25 against Lindenhi.J.Cst and adding 14 in the win over Centereach. Sophomore Jimmy Schwartz totaled 27 points in the two games,. and Scott Paseltiner totaled 14 points. Mike Rivera added 12 points as Whitman outscored Lindenhurst 31-9 in the first quarter and bad a 46-18 lead at ha1ftime. Nmthpon (l-0. 7-0) crnised to a 77-38 win over Lindenhurst. Point guard Andrew D' Eloia played only in the first quartec but soored 16 points in the Tigers win over Lindenhurst.. In League V action,, Glenn toppled Smithtown West 81-70. Glenn led 47-25 at the half and then held off a mild Smithtown rally in tbe second half. John Garside scored 23 for Glenn, while teammates Tomniy <Jibbons and Mau- rice Taylor pitched in with 15 points apiece. HUNTINGTON WRESTLING . DEVR.S LED BY PAIR OF SMITIIS Chris Smith WCKl twice at 105 pounds as the Blue .Devils defeated West Baby- lon 51-11 and East Islip 48-10 last week. Travis Smith (112) also took home victo- ries in each meeL Anthony Medico (145), James Levine (155-pin), Larry Smith (heavyweight) and Elias Perez (126) each recorded wins for Huntington last week. The Blue Devils bost Bay Shore in a non-league match today and travel to Hauppauge for a teague match Friday. •