SUNY Sullivan Grapplers Poised for Big Year
By Win Hadley
LOCH SHELDRAKE, September 2017 – The SUNY Sullivan Generals wrestling squad will open its second season under the tutelage of Coach Anthony Ng on Friday, November 3 at the Ithaca invitational Tournament in Providence, Rhode Island.
The two day tournament will be a stern test for the Generals, as it typically features twelve teams from around the northeast. Ithaca College, which sponsors the event at Providence’s PC& T Center, is the defending champion, having crowned six individual champs last year, including 197-pounder Carlos Toribio, who was named Outstanding Wrestler.
Coach Ng had a busy off-season, signing a number of accomplished wrestlers to stock his fledgling program. The team this season will feature four wrestlers who qualified for last year’s New York State High School Division I championships.
Coach Ng is particularly deep at 165 pounds, 197 pounds, and 285 pounds, where he has three capable wrestlers in each. Former Middletown standout Horace Duke, a Section IX Division I champion and NYS qualifier last season leads the way at 285, where he will be pushed by two upstaters, Nate Rose from Fonda-Fultonville High School and Cody Swartout of Coxsackie-Athens.
Joshua Jean-Baptiste of East Ramapo High, Omar Yasin of Albany and Jake Aberk of Long Island will vie for the 197 slot and Kahhar Rouffai of Brooklyn, Anwaar Francis of the Bronx and Alen Reyes of Mount Vernon will compete at 165. Coach Ng hopes that Sullivan will be able to field a full squad this year for the first time since the program began.
The Generals follow up their season opening two-day trip to Rhode Island with a dual meet at SUNY Ulster in Stone Ridge on November 10 and then participate in the New York State Intercollegiate Championships at Cornell on November 20. They open their home season with a dual match against the College of Mount Saint Vincent on November 30.
The only other home appearance for the season will be a return match against SUNY Ulster on January 24, 2018.
In addition to its dual match schedule, the Generals will participate in three other tournaments in 2017-2018, including the Bob Quade Cyclone Open in Hackettstown, New Jersey on December 3, the Long Island Open at SUNY Nassau on December 17 and the Wilkes Open at Wilkes College in Wilkes Barre, PA on December 22.