The Carmel-North Rockland and Pleasantville-Dobbs Ferry matches were interesting in their own way.

   North Rockland opened strong at 135 through 145 pounds, only to be answered by Carmel from 152 through 189 pounds. The match of note here was at 171 pounds as Carmel’s Anthony Pecora controlled Tim Hopkins for an 11-1 win. Pecora was especially effective wrestling from the defensive position. Carmel took this match by winning the 96-, 103- and 112-pound matches, highlighted by 112-pounder Marty Lorenz’s pin.

   North Rockland closed with pins by Marc Zurla (125 pounds) and Teddy Eccleston (130) to make the final score 33-32. It was a nice win for Eccleston, who trailed 2-0 after one, but turned Sal Farace to his back in the second period and pinned him.

   It was good to see a former Section 1 wrestler back in the sport as the Junior Varsity match was officiated by Marty Smith, the former North Rockland wrestling standout. It’s only a matter of time before Marty is doing varsity matches.

   Dobbs Ferry registered an impressive 42-33 victory over Pleasantville. Don’t be fooled by the score as a Pleasantville forfeit win and pin in the last two matches made the score respectable.

   Dobbs Ferry coach Jamie Block was rather subdued tonight, but the usually-animated Block was quite proud of his team and called this a ‘Big win.’ The Eagles ran off four consecutive wins – three pins and a tech fall – from the 160 through 215-pound weight classes, resulting in 23 points, giving them a 33-15 lead. Dobbs Ferry senior John Zink initiated the run in the 160-pound weight class with a 16-0 tech fall over Raf Tigre.

   This was Dobbs Ferry’s first win over Pleasantville since the program returned to the varsity level in 1999, according to Block.

   Dobbs Ferry’s continued progress is a credit to Block, who brought wrestling back to Dobbs Ferry. Two seasons ago Dobbs Ferry won a league title and the past two seasons have included a pair of sectional champions – Andrew Lavaia (2005) and Eric Sitman (2006). Dobbs Ferry has also had a host of placefinishers, highlighted by Harry and Teddy Kyreakedes.

   Dobbs Ferry also received a lift from former teammates, Rich Burke and Sitman, who were in attendence and sat on the bench with the Eagles.

   The only negative to the match was an elbow injury suffered by Pleasantville senior Jon Alvarez in the 145-pound match against Matt Ferrari. Pleasantville coach Bob Bernarducci said he was told by EMS workers that it was probably dislocated.

   Alvarez was taken out on a stretcher with his right arm immobilized. Here’s hoping that everything is okay with Alvarez and he’s back quickly for the Panthers.

   In the loss, Bernarducci received a strong showing from freshman Michael Kar, who had a 28-second pin in the 96-pound weight class. T.J. O’Brien (125) pinned and Michael Esteves (130) had another short outing with a first-period fall.