An opportunity to win a state title rarely comes to a high school athlete, and from Scarsdale, wrestlers have not historically gotten to the state tournament at all. That’s why this season was most unusual … as not one or two, but three athletes from Scarsdale and Edgemont vied for state wrestling titles in Albany. This past weekend, Edgemont brothers Tyler and John "Trey" Aslanian, and Scarsdale’s Jacob Berkowitz were all given a chance at the New York State tournament at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York. Despite snowy wet weather, the venue drew a large crowd, including families and teammates from all over the state who came to support their respective teams. Westchester’s section 1 crowd was particularly loud as they cheered on all the wrestlers from the schools in the section.
The New York State tournament includes the top 16 wrestlers in the state for each weight class, and some of the
His brother, Edgemont Junior John Aslanian at 113 pounds entered the tournament as a strong second seed, placing second in last year’s tournament. With an impressive wrestling career and well-performed season, John was considered a contender for the state title. On day one, John dominated his opponents, securing a 7-0 victory in his first round match, and a 6-2 win in his second match. On the second day, Aslanian edged out a victory over the 3rd seed from Warsaw, winning 7-2. After these performances, a state title seemed to be within the junior’s grasp. In a hard fought final match, Aslanian lost 5-0. Although a 2nd place finish two years in a row in a top wrestling state is extremely impressive, Aslanian will train hard for another year to work to capture a state title.
Proud Coach Peter Jacobson made the following comment about the brothers' performance, "Tyler and Trey have each really committed themselves to training the past year and it shows in the improvements they've made. This was Trey's third trip to Albany and he knows exactly what he needs to do to perform at his best at this point. While this was Tyler's first time up there, he also handled the pressures like a pro. Our program has also been fortunate enough to send athletes up to the State Championships each year for the past five years so our coaching staff has a good deal of experience preparing our athletes to perform at a very high level. To have Trey make the state finals two years in a row and have Tyler finish in the Top 8 his first time up there, says volumes about their own personal abilities to prepare. We're confident that we'll see each of them on the top of the podium next year."
Contributor Daniel Jureller is a senior at Scarsdale High School, headed to Lafayette College in the fall. He is looking forward to studying English and education.
Photos courtesy of Leslie R. Berkowitz and Peter Jacobson
Jeffrey Koslowsky, of Advocate Brokerage of Scarsdale, has been named to the Board of Directors of Miracle League of Westchester. The Miracle League of Westchester is a league for special needs children and adults that enables them to play baseball at a specially designed adaptive field. The Miracle League of Westchester was founded in 2006.
As the season was winding down for many winter athletes the Scarsdale wrestling team was gearing up for the most anticipated weekend of the season. With all of the Raider seniors qualifying for the Sectionals, there was a lot of energy heading into the two-day tournament. Many of Scarsdale’s wrestlers were slated to finish high at the top, and when the big weekend came, they put on a spectacular performance.
Spirits were high at the Scarsdale High School gym on Friday February 9 when the Raiders met their chief rival, Mamaroneck, for the last game of the regular season. Senior Night drew large crowds from Scarsdale and Mamaroneck who screamed, jeered and cheered throughout a very intense game. The Raiders lost to Mamaroneck after a 10-point 4th quarter comeback last week so a close matchup was anticipated.
at 57-48. Mamaroneck’s matchup zone was just too tough to penetrate. With Squadron injured, the Raiders had a tough time guarding Mamaroneck’s all-section senior point guard, Matt Mezansky. Mezansky ultimately had 24 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, leading the Tigers to a victory on the road. This caps off a great week for the Tigers, who earlier this week upset both White Plains and New Rochelle.
From February 3-5, more than 1,000 fencers from the United States, Mexico and Canada gathered outside of Washington D.C. for the largest youth fencing competition in history. Scarsdale was represented by Scarsdale Middle Schooler Jared Sugarman, age 12, and Polly Adler, age 10, from Edgewood Elementary School.
Polly Adler, a fifth grader, captured a silver medal at the tournmanet, beating out 30 other competitors in Y10WF. Ms. Adler went on to finish 6th in a pool of 71 fencers for Y12WF. She will represent the United States at the Pan American Games in Mexico in May. Polly trains in New York City at Fencers Club. She is also one of the youngest licensed fencing (foil) referees in the United States. Adopted from China, Polly is working toward participating in the 2013 Junior Olympics and gaining a seat on the U.S. National Team. She is ranked 6th in the United States for Y10WF and 15th for Y12WF. Over the summer Polly will be teaching fencing skills to Inuit native children in Alaska, as well as attending summer camp in Mexico.
