Ten champions crowned at ASICS East Coast Beach Nationals, as first national-level beach event is a major success
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
The 2005 ASICS East Coast National Beach Wrestling Championships was a success, held on Long Beach Boulevard Beach in Long Beach, N.Y., August 13.
Ten individual champions were crowned, with competition on the high school, college and open levels for men and a high school division for women. It was the first national level beach wrestling competition in the United States, which featured 218 entries from numerous states and many countries, including Tajikistan, Mexico, Senegal and the United States.
The event which was organized by the Metropolitan Wrestling Assocation, ASICS and the City of Long Beach featured three rings in the sand alongside an active boardwalk on a popular beach.
The boardwalk at Long Beach was packed, with all of the stands full and thousands of other people watching from the side. People on the beach stopped along the seaside and watched. The three rings were completely surrounded by people, all in swimwear and summer clothes.
A pair of age-group national champion brothers from wrestling power Brandon, Fla. won individual titles in the high school division: Eric Grajales at Div. 1 (up to 113 lbs.) and Cesar Grajales at Div. 3 (135-155 lbs.)
Eric Grajales defeated Brandon Escobar of North Shore in the finals by pin. Cesar Grajales edged local star Gonzalo Farina of Long Beach, 3-2 in their finals match.
Other individual high school champions were P.J. Gillespie of Long Beach in Div. 2 (115-135) and Edward Smith of ATWA in Div. 4 (160 lbs. and up)
Gillespie won a forfeit over Gran Paswell of Blair in the finals, after working through a loaded field. Smith stopped Christian Refakis of Nassau FS, 2-0 in the finals.
The women’s high school title went to 2005 Junior Nationals champion Nicole Woody of the New York AC, who won a round-robin, including a victory over runner-up Alicia Yungandreas. Woody also won a number of matches in the boys high school competition, placing fifth in Div. 1.
The college division had two weight classes. Omi Ortiz of Brockport won the Div. 6 title (up to 170 lbs), beating Stephen Jones of Long Beach in the finals, 2-0. The college Div. 7 title (170 and up) was captured by Cisco Cole of Viking, with a 3-1 win over Deon Barrett of Navy.
Three open division champions were also crowned. In Div. 8 (up to 150), Stu Holzer of Duke stopped Andy Loux of ATWA, 3-0 in the finals.
The champion in Div. 9 (150-180 lbs.) in the open division was David DeStefano of the New York AC, who edged local star Ray Downey, 4-2. Ray Downey, who was a New York State high school champion in the early 1980s at Deer Park. He is the son of September 11 hero fireman Ray Downey, Sr. who gave his life directing the response to the attack on the World Trade Towers. Ray Downey, Sr. received the National Wrestling Hall of Fame medal of courage for his heroism on 9-11.
The Div. 10 champion was Carlos Dolmo of New York AC, who stopped Willie McCowan of PMZ, 4-1 in the finals.
Bill Swezey, the 45 year old from the father-son combination from Long Island, placed fifth in Div. 9 and his son Bill also won a number of matches in the tournament.
Sports Illustrated attended the event, along with many of the major photo agencies in the nation. The event was being broadcast on the internet by Live Sports Video. College Sports Television had a feature crew in attendance, as did HD Television. Many of the nation’s top photography agencies, including Duomo and Corbis, also attended the event.
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