Westry Robinson of Flushing pins Frankie Simmons. (Kendall Rodriguez)
Danny Vazquez finally heard his named called. Flushing coach Luis Aguirre-Amaya was waiting to see where he would use the junior depending on how the match went and who Martin Luther King Jr. put on the mat. He decided to use Vasquez at the most critical juncture. The score was tied and Flushing’s middle weights, which were a worry for Aguirre-Amaya, were coming up.
“I was put in a lot of pressure because it was tied up,” Vazquez said. “Because it was tied up [my teammates] were like, ‘Get the points, get the points. We can’t let them win.’ I just got motivated, did what I did and won it.”
He pinned MLK’s Tyrek Henegan at 145 pounds in 1:53 to break the tie and get top-seeded Flushing rolling. The Red Devils dominated from there, rattling off eight straight pins to cruise to a 66-18 win over No. 2 Martin Luther King Jr. in the PSAL Class B wrestling championship at John Bowne Thursday night. It is the first title for a program that has been in existence for just three seasons.
“This is amazing,” senior Dylan Arencibia said. “I never thought I would be part of this, but I’m just glad I am.”
When Vazquez took the mat, the score was tied at 18 as MLK (12-1), also making its first championship appearance, had won the last three matches, including Leonardo Agosto pinning Ike Ariza at 1:40 to knot things up. Vasquez’s victory provided the spark his team needed as Westry Robinson, Donta Bartley, Dalvin Tavares, Davis Brown, Johnny Marquez and Arencibia all put their opponents’ shoulders to the mat for Flushing (14-0).
“I broke the tie up,” Vazquez said. “Since my match we’ve been getting pins, pins, pins and that’s what wins.”
Aguirre-Amaya, who took over when former Bryant coach Peter Maliarakis left late in the season for personal reasons, was concerned about his middle weights coming in. He had hoped they would just not get pinned, hold their own and give the team’s heavyweights a chance to give it the lead.
“I wasn’t concerned with 152 up,” Aguirre-Amaya said. “I was just concerned if I was going to make the right decisions and put my guys in the right spot. That can cost you a match right there.”
Instead his decisions helped him win and got him a pretty nice trophy also. His wrestlers, though, have loftier aspirations for next season. And it’s not a repeat.
“We can move up to the ‘A,’” Vazquez said. “We just won a ‘B’ championship. I think we can do good in the ‘A’ if we get focused and motivated.”
