Wrestling: Meet Section 1 wrestling's 2023 hall of fame induction class
The Section 1 wrestling hall of fame is welcoming five new inductees for 2023.
Harrison's first-ever section champ, Joe Arcara, three-time Section 1 and college conference champion Jon Bonilla-Bowman of East Ramapo, Nanuet wrestler and coach Sean Conklin, Ossining star and current Mahopac coach Steven Tornambe, as well as longtime referee Dave Warren were voted in by a committee of hall of fame members.
A Section 1 wrestling social is scheduled to take place on Friday, April 14, 6 p.m., at Harrison Meadows Country Club. It'll be an end-of-season event to celebrate the year and honor the newest inductees, as well as ones from the past couple of years that were not publicly and formally recognized due to challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. Guests and attendees are asked to RSVP to Vin Nicita at [email protected].
Here's more on each of the 2023 inductees:
Last year: Section 1 wrestling hall of fame 2022 inductee class
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Joe Arcara, Harrison
Arcara was a pioneer at Harrison, where he was the program's first-ever section champion in 1973. He was also named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.
"It meant a lot to me because nobody had ever done it in our program's history," Arcara said. "I was determined to get that section title and most valuable wrestler. I just thought it was an accomplishment for future kids coming up, some goal to shoot for."
He graduated in 1974 with a 77-7 varsity record. A tough and talented wrestler, Arcara received a full scholarship to wrestle at the University of Kentucky. They worked out an arrangement where he could spend a prep year at wrestling powerhouse Blair Academy, instead of a redshirt season.
"Blair was great, it was the top wrestlers in that room every day," Arcara said. "State champ from Virginia, there was a state champ from Iowa, Pennsylvania. When you went in there and you practiced, you really practiced."
Arcara is only the fifth Harrison native to be inducted into the Section 1 hall of fame. He joins his nephew, Mark, who was inducted in 2020.
He was a part of the first generation of Arcara wrestlers at Harrison, a tradition that has spanned to include more than a dozen grapplers in his family.
"Wrestling made me a better person, made me learn to be disciplined in anything I did in my life," Arcara said. "I was kind of surprised when I got the (hall of fame) news, but I appreciate it."
Jon Bonilla-Bowman, East Ramapo
He was almost a Section 1 legend that never was and his journey from underdog to champion proves the impact a coach can have.
Bonilla-Bowman didn't start wrestling until he was a seventh-grader, and he attributes his lengthy career to his coaches and older teammates that mentored him.
"It's funny, I never really fell in love with wrestling, I fell in love with East Ramapo's program," Bonilla Bowman said. "Tom Canty, takes everybody on the team and he became the de-facto dad for a bunch of these guys. Ramapo is a district that doesn't have a lot of money, and you have this man and his assistant Lance Matter, who was also as much a part of our success as Tom, and it's like putting a diamond in a bag of sawdust.
"Wrestling was really hard and I had never done a lot of hard things in my life. A lot of us growing up, like I grew up without a father, but Tom created a family where guys felt safe, safe to fail. I think that was the most important thing. He didn't care if we won or lost, or missed weight, he just wanted us to try."
Bonilla Bowman did more than try, he won a lot, too. He amassed a 125-10 record over his six-year varsity career, and he was named team captain for his last three seasons. He won three Section 1 Division I titles, was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at sectionals once, and earned all-state twice, before graduating in 2005.
He wrestled one season at Virginia Tech, where he was an ACC champion and NCAA qualifier, before transferring to Hofstra, where he won two more conference titles and NCAA Tournament berths. At one point, he wrestled against 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs, and he also defeated eventual UFC star Justin Gaethje during his NCAA All-American season at Northern Colorado.
He had a couple of stints as a pro kickboxer and was a mixed-martial artist in Bellator MMA, but now he still resides in Ramapo, where he's a nurse. He hasn't completely closed the door on wrestling though, and would be open to potentially coaching at some point.
"Honestly, I never thought I did that much to be recognized," Bonilla Bowman said. "I'm so humbled, first of all. It's one of those things where I didn't think anybody was really watching, until later on. It's a really cool thing that validates what you put into it. Sometimes, you move through life and especially me, I never really put stock into anything I've done well. I just moved from one field into another and along the way there were a few victories."
Sean Conklin, Nanuet
He's like many before him, who transitioned from Section 1 wrestler to coach, and while he still has plenty of years left to add to his legacy, Conklin already established himself as one of Section 1's legends while he was still in high school.
A 1995 graduate of Nanuet High School, Conklin competed at a time when there were no separate divisions between small and large schools and the postseason was a search to find the undisputed best in each weight class.
"We didn't just wrestle the small schools," Conklin said. "We wrestled the Sufferns, North Rocklands and Fox Lanes, which definitely made it more challenging, but I wouldn't have it any other way."
He won three Section 1 titles, but none was more notable than his junior season, when he recovered from a potential career-ending injury that was initially feared to be bone cancer to win a sectional championship.
That year, Conklin made it back in time after being sidelined for a major separation of a joint in his pelvic area and had just two weeks to prepare before his run to the section title and Most Outstanding Wrestler honors.
He ended his five-year wrestling career with a 136-18 record, three Rockland County titles, three section titles and two all-state finishes. Conklin was also an all-state football player and has returned to his alma mater to coach wrestling.
His Golden Knights recently won their first Section 1 Division II team title in a decade, and he's now coached five Section 1 champions, including their recent trio of John Parisi (110), Ethan Badillo (118) and Bobby Hardwick (138).
"I'm honored to be in a select group of wrestlers, having watched a lot as a kid growing up to now coaching, I'm able to see a lot of great guys and it really is an honor," Conklin said of his hall of fame nod. "My dad was my coach, and coming from a guy who never wrestled in his life and learned from other coaches and books, it means a lot to be able to give back to the kids in a community that's given so much to us."
Steven Tornambe, Ossining
The Tornambes are one of the biggest wrestling families in the Lower Hudson Valley, with generations leaving their mark on the Section 1 landscape in various capacities.
For the first time, they'll be represented in the Section 1 wrestling hall of fame. To Mahopac coach Steven Tornambe though, it's for his whole family.
"We're such a massive wrestling family that it's not just me getting in, it's like my whole family," Tornambe said. "My father (Ignacio) has put hours in the wrestling room, driving kids around for wrestling, and he hasn't missed a state tournament in 25-30 years. He's made it to almost every section tournament. My brother, John, coached for many years and he's been a ref for many years, and his kids are wrestling now."
Tornambe enjoyed his own decorated career at Ossining High School. He was a two-time Section 1 champion in an era where there were no split divisions. He was also named all-state when he took fourth at the NYSPHSAA tournament during his senior year in 1998.
He left Ossining as the program's all-time wins leader, amassing 170 victories over his lengthy, successful career, a mark that would later be surpassed by another Section 1 hall of famer in Alex Delacruz.
"It's really an honor," Tornambe said. "It's such a long time ago that I wrestled, but it almost seems like yesterday that I was competing. You don't forget some of these matches."
Now, he's joined the coaching ranks and has guided eight state-qualifiers, including two-time section title-winner Angelo Centrone and newly-crowned 118-pound champ Joe Ramirez.
"It's everything that coaches and wrestlers give back," Tornambe said. "We work so hard to beat each other during the year, now we all come together and always help people. … Look at the guys who have given back to the sport because it's given us so much, Section 1 especially, because this is home."
Dave Warren, Section 1 official
He's had the best seat in the house to watch some of Section 1's greatest wrestlers and matches as an official for more than 40 years.
Even throughout the excitement and challenges as a referee, Warren has embraced all the duties and responsibilities that has come with his position. While there's a shortage of referees across all sports, you can count on Warren not stepping down anytime soon.
"It's all about the competition, we're at an age where we can't compete ourselves but it still keeps us in the arena," Warren said. "Also, it's the camaraderie. Just globally, it's that wrestling family I'm proud to be a part of, but also more locally, the wrestling officials group is a brotherhood in itself."
Warren is only the fifth referee to be inducted in the Section 1 wrestling hall of fame and the first since Somers native Bob MacClements in 2013.
He wrestled in high school in Long Island, before going on to compete at SUNY Cortland. Warren initially tried coaching, but figured he could make more of an impact when he discovered his true calling as a referee. He started down in Long Island, before moving up to Section 1 in 1991, where he was also a physical education teacher at Mamaroneck for 38 years.
Warren has officiated eight NYSPHSAA Tournaments over his career.
"You have one of the coaches calling just before sectionals start, and you're wondering what could be the source of that," Warren said of getting the call to the hall. "My reaction was just flabbergasted. I take it as a great honor, and I'm very humbled by it."
Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at @erapay5 and on Instagram at @byeugenerapay.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Wrestling: Meet Section 1 wrestling's 2023 hall of fame inductees