By STEVE HARRISON
The time of year is coming for High School sports when the winter sports season is quickly coming to a regular season end. One of those nights is annually saved for the outgoing seniors for the team and the coaches take a moment and recognize the accomplishments being in a sports program.
Wednesday night was just that night for one of the areas most dominating wrestling teams around to celebrate the four Canisteo-Greenwood Redskins seniors.
Let’s take an inside look at each senior on this incredible program.
ISABELL DENNIS
The first up for the Redskins is Isabell Dennis, a 4-year Canisteo Youth Wrestling and first year Varsity team member.
Isabell is in the 152 pound weight class. The season has been hard. After suffering a knee injury in the summer time and after being cleared for sports, she injured her healthy knee as this has caused her not to take to the mat and in order to recover during the season.
After being away from the sport of wrestling for awhile she stated she decided to come out of retirement for her senior year because she has always loved the sport of wrestling. Coach Stewart said she has been part of the youth program and it is great having her part of the varsity program and wished that she wasn’t injured after her third practice so she could have some fun this her final year go high school wrestling.
ALIKZANDER YENCER
The next senior is also a first year CG wrestler Alikzander Yencer. He was not playing a winter sport. However, Alikzander said with a little encouragement from teammate Isabella’s father, he decided that it would be fun to get out of the house and have some fun being apart of the team for his senior year.
This week has been a good one for the first-year grappler has he collected his first win Monday night and getting a pin against Addison on senior night.
Coach Stewart stated that one of the most memorable moments this season was seeing Alikzander getting a pin late in the Irondequoit to help secure a team championship. Coach said he is super excited and happy that Yencer came out for the team, as they were in need of heavyweights. He has been a true asset for the Redskins.
JOSH WHITE
Josh White is not your typical first year C-G wrestler. Josh comes to Canisteo-Greenwood wrestling after neighboring school Jasper-Troupsburg lost their program.
Josh is a 126-pound wrestler and a three-year varsity member, two with J-T and his senior year with C-G. Josh has found transitioning from wrestling from his own school to joining CG has been interesting. He said the wrestling program attends a lot more tournaments and you have more matches than he had in his first two years of varsity wrestling.
Josh said he hasn’t once regretted making the move to C-G for wrestling.
He said his fondest memory of his high school career was having a police and fire escort through the streets of Canisteo and being recognized for his accomplishment at J-T for sectional duals team championship this year.
Coaches and teammates say Josh is a super quiet and a great kid and has absorbed everything the coaches have thrown at him. Coach Stewart said, “We hope that Josh will remember that he is part of the Canisteo-Greenwood wrestling family and will come back to watch the program after graduation when he can.”
CAEL STEWART
A fourth senior, Cael Stewart is a 12-year veteran of wrestling in Canisteo through the youth program for 8 years and 4 years being a varsity team member.
He wrestles at 102 pound wrestler and a team captain this year. Cael said the reason he stayed with the program for all these years is because wrestling is a fun sport — and winning isn’t too bad either.
When I asked who has helped guide him through the many years in the sport, Cael wasted no time by cutting the question short to say his father, Phil Stewart. Cael said he wanted to take a moment and say thank you to his father, the Canisteo-Greenwood wrestling program head coach for the varsity.
“He has pushed me to be a better wrestler and to also have fun along the way,” said Cael.
Coach Stewart said he is super-proud of Cael and is happy that he is getting a chance to take part in the program. Cael’s his first two years of eligibility were missed because he was too light by the new New York State standards for high school wrestling.
As a captain, Cael is a quiet captain who leads by example. His style as captain is to work hard. He said he hopes that the younger kids see his leadership and strive to fill the his shoes as they have a chance to become a captain in their career.
Coach Stewart said he very thankful for the youth program and would like to encourage kids to try wrestling out. He feels that if others would get involved in the program, they would see that its a ton of work and a lot of fun.
Coach Havens said it is important for the underclassman to understand that you need to buy into the program contribute at any level they can and put the team first, and that everyone on the team plays an important role for the program.
