5 on Greeley Wresting Team Win All-Section Titles

(Editor's Note: Below is a write up from Greeley wrestling coach Mike DeBellis):

Greeley wrestlers had their strongest finish in years, placing 8th out of 36 teams on Sunday and Monday, February 9th-10th at the Section One Wrestling Championships.   Greeley walked away with five All-Section wrestlers – Kirby Atlas, Mitchell Klein, Brock Cvijanovich, Scott Wymbs and Brent Lobien.  

Senior captain Kirby Atlas (120lbs) had an outstanding performance once again.  Kirby won the Divisional title the week before and was seeded 4th in the Section.  In the quarter final round, he wrestled a tough freshman from Fox Lane, Scott Rodrigues.  Scott and Kirby wrestled earlier in the season to a decision of 9-8 in Kirby's favor.  Kirby was not going to take this great young talent lightly. Kirby came out strong in the first period with a takedown and two quick back points.  It went back and forth with reversals for a while until Kirby caught him in a cradle on his back and recorded the pin in 1:56. Kirby then lost to the eventual champ and Section One Most Outstanding Wrestler (MOW), John Muldoon in the semi-finals. Kirby wrestled back into fifth place and secured his spot on the All-Section team.  Kirby wrestled three full seasons on varsity, after being out with an injury freshman year, and earned 98 wins in his career. Kirby went 37-10 in his senior year.  Kirby will be spending his college days at Lehigh University.  

Junior Mitchell Klein (145lbs) went 4-1 on the day and finished with a 37-8 record for the year.  Mitchell wrestled in the semi-finals against Brad Marvin from Roy C Ketchum High School, coming up one point short of making the finals.  Mitchell wrestled all the way back to third place in the Section.  Mitchell has made tremendous progress this year and now sits as one of the elite wrestlers coming back next season in the state.  He is an exceptional wrestler. You are never out of danger when you are wrestling him.  He can pin you from any position.  Klein has his target set on being a Section One champion next year.  

Sophomore Brock Cvijanovich (182lb) went 3-2 on the day to capture his All-Section honor.  Brock is an amazing young wrestler. I refer to him as a puppy because he is still so young in a weight class dominated by upperclassman.  Brock has had an incredible year going 32-9 for the season.  Brock was down by 3 points late in the third period of the consolation semi-final round, only to come back and almost beat his opponent at the buzzer for the win.  He has no limits and has already told me that he plans to train even harder for next year.  

Senior captain Scott Wymbs (195lbs) wrestled his way into the Section finals for the second consecutive year.  He had to wrestle Steven Sabella of Yorktown, the defending Section Champion from 2012.  Scott gave him a great run losing 3-2. Scott wrestled great in the finals but just fell a little short of his goal to be a Section One champion.  His efforts afforded him the opportunity to be put up for wild card slot into the State Championships in Albany.  Scott won the wild card and will represent Horace Greeley and Section One in the finals on Friday and Saturday, February 22nd and 23rd at the Pepsi Arena in Albany.  Scott is the first representative from Horace Greeley at the State tournament since Ben Spiegel in 2007.  Scott also breaks the all-time wins record at Greeley every time he wins a match. This will give him another opportunity to add to his 123 wins.  

Senior Brent Lobien (285lbs) made it into the semi-finals and wrestled the eventual champion, Mike Manni from Tappan Zee. The score was tied after the first period and Brent had choice in the second.  He chose down, escaped and quickly earned a takedown. Manni reversed Lobien to make the score 3-2.  Manni had choice in the third period and escaped and the score was tied 3-3 with 15 seconds left in the match.  Manni shot a blast double and caught Lobien by surprise for the takedown.  Lobien wrestled back to take fifth place and earn All-Section honors.  Brent is also All-Section in football and will be attending Hamilton College in the Fall.

Thank you for following the Greeley wrestlers this season.