Peddie junior can go for fourth wrestling championship next season
By: Sean Moylan
For the second straight year, Peddie’s Dan White won the 125-pound individual wrestling championship at the National Prep ‘A’ Wrestling Tournament at Lehigh University on Saturday. White, now a junior, had won the 103-pound title as a freshman.
"There’s an unspoken pressure when you’re on top. And Dan (White) is on top. He’s one of the most dominating wrestlers in the Nation," said Peddie head coach John Leonardis.
White had made a bid for Peddie’s first ever Outstanding Wrestler Award at Nationals before, but this year he left little doubt as to who was the tournament’s best grappler as he pinned Gonzaga’s Matt Vilhauer, Potomac’s Kaison Tanabe, Saint Mary Ryken’s Dew Willis, Cardinal O’Hara’s Chuck Mulloy and Blair’s Joe Stanzione on his way to the 125-pound title.
White’s quickest fall came in the finals when he floored Stanzione in 81 seconds. His record improved to an incredible 42-1 with that victory.
"I feel fortunate to have a chance to work with a wrestler like him," Leonardis added.
Peddie’s 112-pounder Frank Cimato gave a gutsy performance to place third in the competition.
"He lost in the quarterfinals in a devastating way. He was winning the match with eight seconds left and the guy he was wrestling (Mount Saint Joe’s Austin Clouse) made a move to win it (3-2)," said Leonardis, who was proud of the way Cimato came back in the wrestlebacks to beat Georgetown Day’s Eli Raneses, Calvert Hall’s Nik Gialamas, La Salle’s Ryan Ginsburg and McDonogh’s Albert Woody and grab third.
Cimato had started the tourney off with wins over Germantown’s Shawn Armato and Saint Christopher’s Tyler Spangler.
Chase Badger, a senior transfer from Notre Dame, also placed third. Badger’s wins came against Loyola’s Ben Garbart, Salisbury’s Anthony Parry, Mount Hermon’s Drew Frazer, Wyoming Seminary’s Michael McMullan and Pomfret’s David Loomis.
"Badger taking that third was good for us. The kid has only been wrestling with us since January 15th," said Leonardis.
Peddie freshman Zak Mayo took 8th place in the 171 pound weight division which pleased Leonardis very much. However, the Falcons, as a team, were looking to do a bit more at Nationals.
"As a team we placed in 10th (with 107.5 points). Tenth is the lowest we’ve placed in my six years here," said Leonardis.
It’s a tough tournament, however, and even Peddie stars like Chris Picollela (31-8) and Sean McSweeney lost in the early rounds.
Still what the Falcons did this season was quite remarkable as they posted a 13-6 record while forfeiting three or four weight classes nearly every match.
"We had a young team but we learned a lot," said Leonardis, who did a fine job of coaching this team this season. "White leads by example."
Peddie is only graduating Simon Kim so it should be tough next year too.

