Sports

Little Red wrestlers rolling

By Steve Lawrence

Having been around the Ithaca High wrestling team since he was a Little Red grappler (class of ‘95), head coach Eric Parker knows a favorable convergence of circumstances when he sees one.

Any wrestler or coach knows the pain of seeing an opponent’s hand raised when accepting a forfeit because there was not a wrestler available at that weight class. The points go on the board, and the shorthanded team has a higher hill to climb. With Ithaca having a full roster this year, Parker told me, “It’s the first time in eight years we have had all the weight classes filled, and it’s great to go out there knowing we won’t be down by 12 — or 30 — points before we even start.”

Calling this season “an exciting one so far,” Parker said: “Our numbers are up. We have 10 more guys on modified, and eight more at the JV and Varsity levels. We have some younger kids that are working really hard in the wrestling room, picking it up very well, and some very talented kids helping them along.”

I mentioned that favorable convergence of circumstances, and a coach is always pleased to see his modified and youth programs serving as feeder systems. But when a talented transfer shows up, that’s a real bonus.

“George Oroudjov transferred here from Syosset, New York,” Parker stated, “and he was a runner-up at the last state tournament two years ago.” I conveyed that getting such a wrestler is indeed a great turn of events, and I asked how he is doing so far this season. Eric answered, “He is a senior, wrestling at 138 pounds, and he is 23-0.”

One of the main challenges in many wrestling rooms is finding enough talent to challenge an elite wrestler in practice, and in the Little Red’s case, Parker need only look up one weight class — to 145 — to find a worthy workout partner in his son, Daniel.

“Daniel and George train together, “Parker said, “and it’s really nice the way it has worked out.” The numbers support that contention, as Daniel — a sophomore — is currently 22-1 with his only loss coming to Jordan Scott, the 2020 state champ who is also, Coach Parker said, “a full commit to wrestle at the University of North Carolina after graduation.”

The Little Red is also getting some impressive contributions from eightgrader Quinton Getzin, who is currently 21-2. Getzin, Parker and Oroudjov each won their respective weight class at the Stan Blinsky Tournament in Deposit, New York, and Parker said, “These guys have traveled all around the U.S. for tournaments.”

The veteran coach really likes what he sees looking forward. “We have a few more young guys showing a lot of promise,” he said. “Like Evan Shields — who is only a seventh grader and is presently too light to go up to varsity — and Dikota Hamilton, a ninth grader who is coming off an ACL injury.”

Parker said that many of his wrestlers are products of the Bomb Squad, a club run by Ryan Ciotoli, who, like Parker, was a standout wrestler at Ithaca College. He also complimented Josh Antoine and Johnnie Akins, calling them “two highly motivated young coaches who have done a great job with recruiting wrestlers” (from other sports), and he is pleased that former Little Red wrestler Patrick Reynolds will be a part of the program’s continued success.

Parker said “the COVID situation has been tough to navigate,” and he added that the program “adheres to some very strict protocols, we train in pods, and we try to be as proactive as possible.”

Daniel Parker is 22-1 for the Little Red thus far. Photo: Callen Golden

Things are also going well at Parker’s alma mater, as the 16th ranked Bombers took a solid second place at last weekend’s Budd Whitehill Duals in Williamsport. By dropping a tight match (21-15) to #17 Ohio Northern, Ithaca moved to 4-1 on the season, and will look ahead to next Sunday when the team hosts the Empire Collegiate Wrestling Championships. The meet will get underway at 10 a.m.

BIG IMPACT

The Mini Print Exhibition proves you can make a big statement in small space

By Arthur Whitman

Founded and directed for three decades by the late Beverly McLean, the Mini Print International Exhibition has been held biennially since 1985. Beginning with the 19th (2016-17) edition, Ithaca’s Ink Shop Printmaking Center has taken over organization of the juried show. Featuring works no larger than four inches square, the exhibit draws entrants from around the world.

The “21st Mini Print International Exhibition” (Nov. 5 - Jan. 27) was originally postponed from 2020 due to the pandemic. The show is characteristically eclectic, with printmakers working in both digital and more traditional print media. Each artist chosen is represented with up to four pieces.

The prize juror is the legendary Dan Welden, known for inventing the non-toxic Solarplate print method as well as assisting numerous famous painters with their printmaking. (He’s also a distinguished artist in his own right, as attested by his show of prints from his experimental “Aesop’s Fables” series at the Shop last October.)

With nearly all of the numerous tiny pieces here in identical black-edged box frames, a certain monotony can set in if one is not especially attentive to what is particular in each artist’s approach. In the eyes and hands of an ambitious artist, a miniature picture can be a world unto itself. Which is to say that there’s a lot more here than one might have expected upon first entering the modest gallery.

Jim Pearson, awarded first place for “A Small Drama: Rapture,” is also showing “Jealousy” and “Greed” from the same series. Incorporating fragments of unrecognizable photographic imagery and drawing with a mouse, these black-and-white digital prints evoke apocalyptic cityscapes in their dizzying proliferation of detail.

Pat Bacon contributes a pair of fine photogravure prints. Her upright format print

“Then V” by Cleo Wilkinson received an honorable mention.

Arts & Entertainment

“Roots IV” captures a copse of birch trees, roots exposed, as if huddled together. “Super Moon” — square like most of the prints here — is more abstract, with a large celestial circle plugging the upper left and a splay of branches projecting up and outwards from the opposite corner. Both are silhouetted, bright against a black background.

Catch-all shows like this one become more interesting when you are able to pick out threads connecting multiple artists. Several artists here are working with a monochrome tonalism. Thom O’Conner contributes third place winner “The Sisters” — a photogravure with drawinglike grain, blurring, empty intervals, and asymmetry — as well as “The Tower,” using the same technique. Cleo Wilkinson is a specialist in mezzotint, which involves a laborious subtraction of highlights from an evenly applied dark tone. “Then” (honorable mention) shows the head, shoulders, and bare upper back of a young boy from behind while “Inception V” shows an egg resting on a spot-lit table or shelf.

As with many fine art print shows, black-and-white or limited color is typical here. Several artists, however, contribute strikingly coloristic works. Among these are the intricate patterning and Buddhist iconography of Chaivut Ruamrudeekool’s screenprints and the — improbably miniaturized — abstract expressionism of Bernadette Madden in her monotypes.

“The Sisters” by Thom O’Conner was awarded third place.

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There’s much else here of merit besides. Ink Shop member Kathleen Friedrich contributes several experimental process prints, including the second place “Looking Down II.” Fellow member Leslie Ford offers “Layers” “1,” “2,” and “4”: dense, austere textured-color abstractions in monoprint collagraph. DeAnn Prosia is showing several sharply observed cityscape etchings. Using the unusual technique of wood engraving, Takanori Iwase’s “Waiting at Dusk” is a river landscape laden with dramatic chiaroscuro and expressionistic lines.

More and larger work by members can be seen (through Jan. 15) at the gallery’s concurrent “Holiday Print Sale.” A sale is not a formal exhibition but it is hard to complain about the opportunity to peruse often-exceptional works by such Shop members and guests as Greg Page, Craig Mains, Jenny Pope, Maddy Rosenberg, Zevi Blum, and Julianne Hunter.

“21st Mini Print” is the most consistent, and likely the strongest overall, of several juried and invitational group shows crowding Ithaca’s gallery calendar this month and last. Visitors to the Ink Shop would do well to check out the “Annual Open Exhibition: Pandemic Edition” at the Community School of Music and Arts — conveniently right downstairs. Curated by accomplished local painter Jessica Baron Warner, the show includes work in a wide range of media and styles.

It is, by tradition, a populist production, with all entrants guaranteed acceptance of at least one piece. Connoisseurs will find things to dislike — nonetheless, there are several bright spots and seeing the two shows together will offer the casual gallery-goer a decent sense of the varieties of art being made and exhibited in Ithaca.

Ink Shop

Located on the second floor above The Community School of Music and Arts (330 East Martin Luther King Jr./State Street) The Ink Shop Printmaking Center will be reopening Jan. 13 following a holiday break. They are otherwise open Tuesdays through Fridays from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m.