Last weekend, Section I held its first wrestling championship tournament in two years, as scores of grapplers from all over the area took to the mat at Clarkstown South High School, hoping to win gold and book a trip to States. When the two-day event concluded on Feb. 13, three local competitors took home top honors at the highly anticipated meet.
Mamaroneck’s Owen Deutsch and John McGowan, and New Rochelle’s Steven Burrell all won their weight classes on Sunday to earn a spot among the 13 Section I Large School champions who earned an automatic bid to the New York State High School Wrestling Championship Tournament, which will be held on Feb. 25-26 at the MVP Arena in Albany.
Burrell—who came into his senior season with lofty expectations—was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Heavyweight Wrestler after securing four straight pinfall wins to cruise to the 215-pound title. His final victory, which saw him subdue Pearl River’s Jack Raspanti in 2:38, was the only one of Burrell’s matches to advance past the first period.
After finishing in second place at sectionals as a sophomore in 2020—denied a chance to compete for a title last year due to Covid-19’s impact on the wrestling schedule—Burrell (now 22-0 on the year) said he did his best not to concern himself with fears of a similar fate befalling this year’s sectional tournament.
“I couldn’t worry about that, I could really only focus on myself and making sure that I would be ready no matter what happened,” said Burrell. “But it feels amazing [to win] and to look at where I am now and where I was when I started.”
The Mamaroneck duo of Deutsch and McGowan—who won titles at 138 and 189 pounds, respectively—echoed Burrell’s sentiments about being relieved to be able to compete for a sectional crown this year.
Like Burrell, Deutsch (26-0) earned a second-place finish at the 2020 tournament and was eager to get one more chance to stand atop the podium. He realized that goal on Sunday with a second period pin over North Rockland’s Rob DePolito.
“There’s no replacement for wrestling; it’s such a unique sport because it’s a pure meritocracy,” said the Mamaroneck senior. “All the hard work I’ve put in, all the runs, every single weight I’ve lifted, it’s culminated in this moment.”
Following Deutsch’s win, McGowan was able to make history with his finals pin over Lakeland/Panas’ Connor McGannon, giving Mamaroneck two Section I champions in the same tournament for the first time in the program’s history. The 189-pound senior said being a part of this groundbreaking team—earlier this season, the Tigers captured their first league title in two decades—made Sunday’s triumph.
“It means more than the world; especially with the league title, my brother Mike, he was chasing it before me, since his freshman year,” he said. “So this is like eight or nine years of work to get to this point.”
With the Section I tourney in the rearview mirror, Sunday’s winners will now set their sights on the state tournament next week. And with time running out on their high school careers, the upperclassmen moving on to Albany know they have one last chance to put a final exclamation on their varsity resumes.
“I just have to relax, I can’t get too excited and I just have to focus on what I do,” said Burrell.
“The job’s not finished,” added Deutsch. “I’m looking forward to states; [winning Sectionals] is a good one, it’s nice to put on the kitchen table, but you can never be satisfied and I still have states to look forward to.”
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