Seventh and eighth-graders from Howitt Middle School's Wrestling Team garnered impressive awards on Sunday, March 15 when they competed in the 5th Annual Wildcat Wrestling Tournament at Walt Whitman High School in Huntington.

So confident was this group of nine Dalers that they were not intimidated by the size of the crowd nor the level of competition. The wrestlers took three titles when two finished second place, two finished third place and two finished fourth. Of the nine weight classes entered by Daler Wrestlers, not one finished lower than fourth in a day full of tough competition. Every Farmingdale competitor was still wrestling at the end of the day, while most others had been eliminated in this double elimination tournament.

The event began at 9:30 a.m., with over 200 wrestlers waiting their turns on the eight mats. The tournament was especially interesting when heavyweight Christopher Auletta, 160 pound class Chris Paris and 116 pound class Justin Venezia were all wrestling on different mats at the same time.

The day ended with medal winners from each class receiving awards at the victory podium. Daler after Daler accepted their trophies.

Championships were won by Gary Block at 98 pounds, who defeated his opponent from Ward Melville. Venezia pinned his way to first place by winning his match against a tough grappler from Selden. The final first place award went to Auletta, a heavyweight, when he defeated a sophomore from St. Anthony's High School. Auletta was losing his match 7-4 when the 3rd period began, but he did not give up. He dominated the 3rd period to win 12-7 and take first place.

Paris, at 160 pounds, and 7th grader Steven Panarelli at 124 pounds both were one win away from first place trophies, but lost in the finals. Both wrestlers placed second.

Robert Ianne, at 75 pounds, and Kevin Melara, at 136 pounds, placed fourth. James Toney, at 86 pounds, and Walter Celenski at 104 pounds each took home an award after placing third.