STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.— High school wrestling season is back, and Monsignor Farrell — the reigning CHSAA City and Sectional champion — opened its campaign in strong fashion on Tuesday evening, rolling to a 70–12 victory over visiting New Dorp in Oakwood.
“That was a pretty good win. We’ve got some new and seasoned wrestlers this year, so it was just good to see the guys get out there and get the rust off a bit,” Farrell head coach Peter Hamm said after the contest.
In addition to Dom Mercurio (103 pounds) collecting a forfeit in the opening bout, the Lions’ lower weights rattled off four straight wins courtesy of Kaiden Noia (110), Vin Mercurio (118), Dylan Lungon (126) and Ed Monahan (132), helping set the pace for the rest of the match.
Monsignor Farrell’s Vin Mercurio looks to score a pin on his opponent during a meet between Farrell and New Dorp on Dec. 2, 2025.Michael O’Brien
“Those guys got us rolling early. We set the tone early and we really found our stride from there,” Hamm said of how the Lions started the match.
New Dorp momentarily stopped the bleeding with a win in the fifth contested match, but back-to-back key performances from Alan Biktyakov (144) and Sebastian Georges (150) sparked another run of four straight Lion victories.
Farrell ultimately took seven of the final eight bouts, including wins from Misha Belyakov (157), Jayden Panfilo (165), Rocco Musso (190), Maher Abusbieh (215), and Sam Figueroa (285).
Farrell’s Rocco Sebastian Georges squares up his opponent during a meet between Farrell and New Dorp on Dec. 2, 2025.Michael O’Brien
“I thought Alan wrestled really well, he’s coming back from an injury last year. Same thing with Sebastian; we lost them both for the season last year, and getting them out there and going again is a bright spot,” Hamm said of his middleweights.
The big Farrell win is all the more encouraging considering Hamm opted to rest two of his top contributors from last season — nationally ranked Brennan Sprauge (116) and bruising heavyweight A.J. Lombardi (285) — meaning the Lions can look forward to even more firepower in the matches ahead.
“We’re trying to keep them a little bit fresh, but we’re trying to give the other guys some looks, mainly,” Hamm explained.
Monsignor Farrell’s Rocco Musso locks up his opponent during a meet between Farrell and New Dorp on Dec. 2, 2025.Michael O’Brien
“It’s a long season. It was good to see the second line guys get some time and success; we’re looking to keep developing them as the season goes on.”
Lastly, when it comes to what can be anticipated in terms of title retention and other expectations for the team this year, Hamm said that “We’ve got some similar goals to last year. We’ve got guys that put a lot of work in over the off-season, and hopefully that pays dividends for us,” the head coach concluded.
Monsignor Farrell head coach Peter Hamm talks with one of his athletes during a meet between Farrell and New Dorp on Dec. 2, 2025.Michael O’Brien
Farrell will look to keep things rolling when it wrestles St. Peter’s and Mount Saint Michael on Dec. 5, while New Dorp will look towards its first PSAL match against Curtis on Dec. 4.