By Melanie Lekocevic
Capital Region Independent Media
RAVENA-COEYMANS-SELKIRK — Wrestling may have been in his mind at Saturday’s Jamie Mormile Invitational, but Kaden Potter ended up with much more than that in his heart.
Potter’s father, Scott Potter, made a surprise return home from Qatar, where he was in active service in the military, just in time to see his son compete in the invitational’s finals in the 145-pound weight class.
Kaden Potter gave his dad a bear hug just before heading off to his match against Michael Franco from Chester. Potter would not come out on top of the match, but got something much more important — a reunion with his dad.
Potter finished second in the tournament in his weight class.
Seventeen teams headed to RCS for the annual Jamie Mormile Invitational, from as close by a Coxsackie-Athens to as far away as Taconic, Massachusetts.
The Indians finished the tournament in fifth place with 119.5 points.
Arlington took first place with 167.5 points, followed by Coxsackie-Athens with 159.0 and Guilderland in third place with 134.5.
The Indians’ Frank Broadhurst also made it to the finals round at the competition that saw hundreds of athletes take to the mat. Broadhurst took second place in the 126-pound weight class after being pinned by Trevor Bishop from Tamarac.
RCS’s J.T. Lyle qualified for the consolation finals in the 189-pound division but was defeated by Ryan Ulscht from Coxsackie-Athens.
Indians’ Head Coach Justin Schipano said the team had 12 wrestlers competing in the annual tournament named in honor of Jamie Mormile, a longtime supporter of the school’s wrestling team.
“Jamie Mormile was the wife of a past Ravena coach, longtime coach Henry Mormile,” Schipano said. “He was my coach growing up and I took over the program when he was done. Jamie Mormile was his wife, she had cystic fibrosis and passed away in 2010 and we named the tournament after her.”
The following RCS wrestlers competed Saturday: Jayden Acomb, Frank Broadhurst, Dominick Brozowki, Jaymie Carkner, Ethan Green, Owen Greene, Jaequan Jones, J.T. Lyle, Dominick Maltese, Alivia Ortiz, Antonio Piscitelli and Kaden Potter.
Potter and Broadhurst finished second in their respective weight classes, Acomb and Jones finished fifth, and Greene and Maltese finished sixth in their respective divisions.
The Indians will next compete Jan. 12 against Ichabod Crane in an away match.
Here are more photos from this weekend’s Jamie Mormile Invitational. Special thanks to photojournalist Gina Pelletier for providing many of the photos.