Flyers Wrestling kicked off winter break with a bang winning the Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) state title, and that's not all — they're on their way to Albany!
Chaminade High School is proud to announce that in addition to winning the state title for the first time since 2013, 11 of our student-athletes placed on the podium throughout the February 15-16, 2020, tournament at Holy Trinity Diocesan High School. We collectively earned 259.5 points, and three of our men will be moving on to the overall New York State Public High School Athlete Association (NYSPHSAA) Division 1 Championship on February 28-29 — Rocco DeMartino '21 (132), Shane Meenaghan '23 (106), and Michael Sanfilippo '21 (126).
For DeMartino, today's 7-2 triumph over Zach Ash of St. Mary's High School, makes amends for his loss last year in a 7-5 sudden victory decision (after jumping out to a 5-0 lead) in the CHSAA state finals to Dan Adams of Monsignor Farrell High School. This win was the only time all weekend that the junior went the distance. He posted identical 36-second falls in his first two appearances on Saturday and finished strong on Sunday morning by pinning the 2020 Nassau/Suffolk CHSAA League bronze medalist, Dominic Seminera of Saint Anthony's High School in 3:14 in the 132-pound semifinals.
This year, Meenaghan became the first freshman at Chaminade High School since 2000 to win the CHSAA crown. He had a great weekend avenging his loss in the recent NSCHSSA Nassau/Suffolk CHSAA league finals by defeating Ryan Napodano of Saint Anthony's, 5-2, in the semi-finals. In the finals, he put a premature on the 106-pound weight class when he earned a reversal to the back and locked up a cradle to stick on the 2019 state 5th, Devon Diaco of Xavier High School at the 2:52 mark.
Speaking of righting a wrong from a season ago, for Sanfilippo — the third time was a charm. He erased the memories of back-to-back CHSAA state finals losses in 2018 and 2019 by doubling up on Matt Ash of St. Mary's High School, winning 4-2. Earlier in the day, the junior climbed out of a 4-1 hole to pin Lance Delisle of St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School in a rematch of their Nassau/Suffolk CHSAA league finals match. With a 1st and two 2nds to his name, Sanfilippo will enter 2021 looking to be the first four-time state finalist for Chaminade since John Witzenbocker, who did the deed from 1999-2002.
CHSAA STATE FINALS CHAMINADE WINNER SUMMARY:
First Place:
- Rocco DeMartino '21 (132) — 2x finalist/1x champ
- Shane Meenaghan '23 (106) — 1 down, 3 to go
- Michael Sanfilippo '21 (126) — 3x finalist/1x titlist
Second Place:
- Christian Schifano '21 (138) — 2x medalist (6th, 2nd)
Third Place:
- Davis Luckner '20 (145) — finishes career as 3x placer (6th, 5th, 3rd)
- Doug Stern '20 (160) — 3x CHSAA State bronze winner
Fourth Place:
- Joe Cosgrove '20 (152)
- Dan Griffin '20 (182)
- James Martin '22 (99) — Now a 2x State 4th
- Louis Moore '20 (195) — 2x placer (6th, 4th)
Fifth Place:
- Michael Semeraro '20 (138) — 2x 5th place performer