Seven Pearl River Wrestlers Pursue Section Titles

One year ago, Pearl River's John Muldoon reached the Section 1 Division I championship match at 113 pounds as a sophomore.

Ossining's Alex Delacruz stopped Muldoon one victory short of his goal, pinning him 12 seconds into the championship match after the Pearl River grappler was dazed by an incidental headbutt. 

The two could face off again in the Section 1 tournament, which starts 9 a.m. Sunday at Pace. The competition was scheduled to begin Saturday at Clarsktown South, but that was cancelled due to the snowfall that began Friday. Section 1 announced another change over the weekend, moving the semifinals and finals to 3 p.m. Monday at Pace. Finals are expected to begin at approximately 6 p.m.

Muldoon (39-3) enters the tournament as the top seed at 120 pounds, largely because of a victory over Delacruz by disqualification in the semifinals of the Eastern States Wrestling Classic. Muldoon led the match, 7-4, when it was stopped. The video of the match is attached to this report.

Delacruz (31-2) is the third seed behind North Rockland's Blaise Benderoth, who Muldoon beat twice this season. 

Muldoon will have plenty of company at Sectionals with seven Pirates making it there. Sophomore James Kelly (99 pounds) and Senior Chris Flynn (170) are back after first-round defeats in 2012. Kelly (37-2) is Pearl River's other top threat for a section title.

Junior Nick Simeti (132), freshman Jake Kurzhals (113), junior Rob Gullo (152) and eighth grader Sean McGarvey (99) also earned the trip to sectionals.