Maguire Horl helps St. Anthony’s pin down second at CHSAA duals
Maguire Horl (top) of St. Anthony's pins Frank Scafuri of Monsignor Farrell in round 5 of the CHSAA wrestling championshps at Monsignor Farrell High School on Staten Island, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017. Credit: Jeff Bachner
St. Anthony’s Maguire Horl is doing whatever he can to make sure the Friar’s wrestling program continues to roll.
Whether it’s on the mat in the biggest tournaments or training with the younger wrestlers at practice, Horl has been a huge part of the Friar’s recent success.
The reigning 220 pound CHSAA state champion went 5-0 with five pins Sunday as St. Anthony’s went 4-1 as a team and finished second at the CHSAA dual meet championship at Monsignor Farrell.
“In big dual meet tournaments like this I always try to help my team out and get bonus points,” Horl said. “You can’t care about yourself and you have to just do what’s best for the team.”
Horl did just that and credits improved technique and being mentally stronger as the reasons he’ll be able to not just win another CHSAA state title but advance deep into the NYSPHSAA tournament in Albany.
It’s just the way I practice and the way I wrestle,” Horl said. “The way I take care of business has changed.”
He said he’s tried to pass that onto the younger wrestlers on the team by doing extra work with them and moving the team practice up an hour to get in as much wrestling as possible.
“After the Parkland duals I talked to the coaches about really trying to help train the freshman because I know we’re going to lose a lot of seniors from this class,” Horl said. “We want them to learn the Friar way.”
The Friar’s won their first matches in the round robin style tournament over St. Francis Prep, St. Joe’s Collegiate, Iona Prep and Fordham Prep but tempers flared when they faced off against the undefeated host in a dual meet to crown the champion.
St. Anthony’s coach Tony Walters pulled his team off the mat during the 113-pound bout after issues with the clock and officiating.
According to the referee the match should be scored 1 point for Farrell and a minus-1 for St. Anthony’s because he deducted a team point early for unsportsmanlike conduct by a coach.
“Everything was fine all day long until we got to the final and it turned into a fiasco.” Walters said. “It was no longer a match but a game and I’m not going to subject my team to that. I apologize. Farrell won and they did what they were supposed to do today and I’m proud of them because they wrestled their butts off. I’ll deal with my team when we get home but this is why I don’t like the Catholic duals and we will not be coming back.”
Gene Morris joined Newsday's sports department in September 2012 and covers high school sports. He earned a journalism degree from Stony Brook University in 2010.
