Leading off: Apache Paschall, coach of the nationally ranked Nazareth girls basketball team in the CHSAA, has been suspended by his school for insubordination, The New York Post reported Thursday.
The CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens principals committee investigating allegations of improper recruiting by Paschall met Wednesday and tabled discussion, two principals in the meeting told the paper.
However, Nazareth Principal Providencia Quiles took Paschall to the woodshed for breaking the media blackout by talking at length to The Post on Tuesday. He will miss two postseason games -– including a possible tie-breaker with Christ the King on Feb. 23 and the Brooklyn/Queens quarterfinals –- and a week of practice, Quiles ruled.
Paschall referred all questions to Quiles, who said Paschall was accepting of the punishment.
Paschall was long been a lightning rod in New York City basketball after developing Manhattan's St. Michael Academy into a national power before the school closed its doors in June. Paschall and many of his players moved en masse to Nazareth. If rival coaches were accepting of varsity players making the migration, they were furious that a number of promising eighth-graders found their way to the Brooklyn school.
Paschall, assistant Ron Kelley and Nazareth administrators were summoned to a hearing by the Eligibility and Infractions Committee three weeks ago, with allegations of in-home visits by Paschall and possible tuition breaks for incoming students among the concerns.
A ruling against Nazareth would be devastating, with potential penalties that could terminate this season immediately and also turn out the lights on the program for the following season, the paper reported.
It's unclear why the committee tabled discussion Wednesday, though it would be a huge embarrassment to the league and the school if there was sentiment to penalize the school on the eve of the playoffs.
A matter of faith: It's not your typical "boy meets girl" story, because they didn't meet at all on the wrestling mat in Des Moines, Iowa.
It feels as though we read (and report) this story about once a year, and there's year's edition comes courtesy of the Iowa state wrestling championships.
Joel Northrup, a home-schooled sophomore who was 35-4 wrestling for Linn-Mar High School this season, defaulted his first-round match rather than take the mat against Cassy Herkelman, making the Ottumwa sophomore the first female wrestler credited with a victory in the 85-year history of the meet. She carried a 20-13 record into the meet.
Northrup did not speak with the media, instead releasing a written statement: "I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cassy and Megan (Black, the other female qualifier a 112 pounds who was eliminated via a pair of pins) and their accomplishments. However, wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times. As a matter of conscience and my faith, I do not believe that it is appropriate for a boy to engage a girl in this manner. It is unfortunate that I have been placed in a situation not seen in most of the high school sports in Iowa."
Herkelman did not speak with reporters Thursday.
Northrup's father, Jamie Northrup, is a minister of an independent Pentecostal church that believes young men and women shouldn't touch in a "familiar way," Bill Randles, the church's pastor, told The Associated Press.
"We believe in the elevation and respect of woman and we don't think that wrestling a woman is the right thing to do. Body slamming and takedowns, that full contact sport is not how to do that."
Wildcards announced: The New York State Public High School Athletic Association wrestling committee released its list of wildcard entries for the state meet scheduled Feb. 25-26 in Albany.
The wrestlers below are listed by class in their order of their rank:
DIVISION I
96 BRYAN RUGGERI, FAIRPORT 10
96 AUSTIN ACQUARD, IROQUOIS 9
96 BLAISE BENDEROTH, N. ROCKLAND 8
96 DOMINIC INZANA, SARATOGA 8
103 MARK RAGHUNDAN, LONG BEACH 11
103 MIKE PARISE, BREWSTER 11
103 GEOFF BROWN, SPENCERPORT 12
103 TYLER WOOD, QUEENSBURY 11
112 COREY RASHEED, LONGWOOD 9
112 ASHER KRAMER, SUFFERN 12
112 T.J. KREIDER, CORNWALL 11
112 SCOTT BARRETT, SPENCERPORT 12
119 JOE BARBATO, WANTAGH 12
119 BRADY BARON, PITTSFORD 11
119 DANNY VENTURA, FOX LANE 11
119 CODEY MOSLEY, AVERILL PARK 11
125 ALEX GOMEZ, BRENTWOOD 12
125 GARY WOLFF, MONROE-WOODBURY 12
125 DYLAN COHEN, WILLIAMSVILLE EAST 11
125 LUKE ROTH, CORNWALL 11
130 MALIK RASHEED, LONGWOOD 11
130 CODY SULLIVAN, CAMDEN 11
130 MATT GREENE, COLUMBIA 11
130 CASEY BRICE, LONGWOOD 12
135 TRENT COSTELLO, KINGSTON 12
135 RYAN REED, RUSH-HENRIETTA 12
135 CONNOR BASS, WESTHAMPTON BEACH 12
135 DAVE ALMAVIVA, SHENENDEHOWA 10
140 LEWIS CUCCHIARA, GATES CHILI 12
140 JIM CARUCCI, SHENENDEHOWA 12
140 MARK SWERTFAGER, JOHN JAY CR 12
140 LUKE FALZONE, WILLIAMSVILLE S. 11
145 MATT ROSS, ROCKY POINT 12
145 SEAN O'MALLEY, SACHEM EAST 12
145 JOE DIFRANCESCO, NIAGARA FALLS 11
145 STEVE MAIER, SPENCERPORT 11
152 SHAYNE BRADY, CARTHAGE 10
152 ANDREW PRYHUBER, BRIGHTON 12
152 JULIO GONZALEZ, MIDDLETOWN 12
152 JACOB GULLO, JAMESTOWN 11
160 KYLE DIESEL, MINISINK VALLEY 12
160 TOBY BARNES, BALLSTON SPA 12
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160 RICH LUGO, DEER PARK 12
160 NICK LOBUE, CONNETQUOT 12
171 MATT LASHWAY, QUEENSBURY 11
171 JUAN CARLOS DIAZ, LEVITTOWN DIV. 12
171 IAN SOLCZ, PITTSFORD 12
171 THOR MCHUGH, ARLINGTON 12
189 RODNEY OFFHAUS, IROQUOIS 12
189 CONOR WETZEL, MASSAPEQUA 12
189 SCOTT BOVA, ARLINGTON 12
189 FRANK ABBONDANZA, MT. SINAI 12
215 ANDREW DANZIGER, EAST MEADOW 12
215 ANDREW SMITH, PORT JERVIS 12
215 BILL COOK, BALLSTON SPA 12
215 JESSE KOZUB, BROCKPORT 11
285 MALCOLM ALLEN, NEW ROCHELLE 12
285 SETH STAUBLE, KINGSTON 11
285 GREG MARTIN, KINGS PARK 12
285 JOE MANNA, ISLAND TREES 12
DIVISION II
96 ANDREW FLANAGAN, HOLLEY 10
96 RYAN KROMER, LEWISTON-PORTER 9
96 CARTER MERECKI, SALEM 9
96 COLIN ROYCE, WARSAW 8
103 ZACH BICKLE, ROY-HART 10
103 KASEY PROPER, V-V-S 10
103 COREY HOLLISTER, PERRY 10
103 STEVE SEIBERT, CASSADAGA VALLEY 11
112 AUSTIN KEOUGH, WARSAW 10
112 ANTHONY CALVANO, NANUET 10
112 EDDIE HUTSCHENREUTER, ALDEN 9
112 ZACH MARCEL, CORINTH 11
119 JEFF O'LENA, EAST ROCHESTER 11
119 JOHN DIEKEL, WHITEHALL 10
119 PAT WEBSTER, ADIRONDACK 11
119 FRANK GARCIA, NORWICH 8
125 COLTON PERRY, WINDSOR 12
125 JARED CRAST, SOUTH JEFFERSON 12
125 DAVID CIARAMELLA, NEWFANE 12
125 ALEX SMYTHE, EDEN 9
130 BEN MOWRY, PAL-MAC 12
130 JORDAN MCGREGOR, TONAWANDA 12
130 DAN REAGAN, LEWISTON-PORTER 10
130 NICK GALLO, SCHALMONT 8
135 DUSTIN GREENE, CHENANGO VALLEY 11
135 MATT SHIRLEY, SANDY CREEK 12
135 JUSTIN HUNT, RIPLEY 12
135 TYLER FENSTERMAKER, LEROY 12
140 SCOTT PORTER, PAWLING 11
140 ISAIAH RICCIO, BEAVER RIVER 10
140 BRANDON HASSENBOHLER, ALDEN 11
140 KEVIN PEMBRIDGE, SKANEATELES 12
145 MIKE BECKWITH, GREENE 10
145 PHIL CZAPLA, EAST AURORA 12
145 AZEL TAPIA, ALBION 12
145 NATE SILVERTHORN, GENERAL BROWN 11
152 AMEEN HARHARA, LACKAWANNA 12
152 JARED SOULE, SANDY CREEK 11
152 FRANK STERLACE, SILVER CREEK 12
152 HAYDEN WAGNER, SOUTH SENECA 11
160 BURKE PADDOCK, WARSAW 9
160 JERROLD ROOSA, RANDOLPH 12
160 PAUL PARSONS BAIN-GUIL/AFTON 12
160 SHAQUILLE CHARLES, ARDSLEY 12
171 BRANDON MILLS, CANISTEO-G'WOOD 12
171 ZACH ZUPAN, CANASTOTA 10
171 KRIS SCHIMEK, PINE VALLEY 12
171 MARCUS DWAILEEBE, OLEAN 11
189 NICK LALONE, CATO-MERIDIAN 12
189 KURT SHEAR, GREENE 12
189 BRYCE MAZUROWSKI, AVON 10
189 JOE HILL, LEWISTON-PORTER 12
215 KYLE STANTON, GREENE 11
215 ANTHONY PARATORE, NANUET 12
215 BASHAR SROUJI, LEWISTON-PORTER 12
215 JOSH LEWIS, HANNIBAL 12
285 ERIC HASTINGS, GRANVILLE 12
285 MIKE PRYCE, SODUS 12
285 JORDAN SHUTE, KESHEQUA 12
285 JACK CLARK, HAD. LUZ.-LK GEORGE 12
Let the commerce commence: Let's face it, money in the industry remains tight -- to the point that several newspapers are going to be spread too thin for the next month as various state meets and playoffs take place.
I have already heard from one upstate paper that is in the market for possible freelance help in the coming weeks for the state wrestling tourney. The state hockey, skiing, gymnastics, swimming and/or track meets are also possibilities, and I expect to hear from a few more along the way.
So here's my call for folks from both sides of the equation. If you're an editor looking for help or a writer who is able to freelance, fire off an e-mail to me with details of needs or availability (including sectional and regional basketball, by the way) and I'll assist in matching folks up.
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