Mepham's Hernandez, Tracy win wrestling titles

Mepham entered the Nassau County Division I Wrestling Championships at Hofstra University looking for its first individual champion since 2005.

In a span of roughly 15 minutes last Sunday night, the Pirates had not one, but two wrestlers crowned as the best in their weight class. Sophomore Louis Hernandez pinned Garden City’s Matt Schmelzinger at the 1:25 mark of the first period in the 145-pound final, and just minutes after that victory, Mepham junior Danny Tracy (152 pounds) won a 7-3 decision over Hewlett’s Troy Smith.

“We had to refocus for Danny,” Pirates coach Rich Anderson said of the staff’s quick return to the mat. “To have back-to-back county champs is rare and pretty special. It was awesome.”

Hernandez and Tracy, two of Mepham’s four All-County honorees, qualified for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships at the Times Union Center in Albany on Feb 24-25. Junior Steven Lambert finished fourth at 152 pounds, while junior Jamie Dunn was sixth at 106. They joined the two Pirates champions as All-County performers.

Hernandez, who captured the Most Outstanding Wrestler honors and had the most pins in the least amount of time at a qualifying tournament Feb. 4, was just as dominant at Hofstra. In the finals, he scored a quick takedown of Schmelzinger in the first period, and moments after the Trojan escaped, Hernandez took him down again and secured the pin for the title. “Having last year’s experience under my belt helped a lot this season,” Hernandez said.  “I knew what to expect and worked hard to get this far.”

His road to the championship included a 7-1 decision over the top seed in the weight class, Baldwin’s Dylan Cohen, in the semifinals and a pair of major decisions — 21-6 over Division’s Felix Perez and 20-5 over Herricks’ Mike Vespe. ”He’s wrestling at a very high level,” Anderson said. “He’s picking up the pace and going for it.”

Tracy, meanwhile, had an equally difficult road to his title that included a stunning four-point swing in the final 15 seconds of a quarterfinal bout with Long Beach’s Liam Fitzpatrick. Trailing by two he secured a cradle to complete the comeback in a 6-4 win. Tracy then shutout the top seed in his bracket, MacArthur’s Steve Schneider, 2-0, in the semifinals before the win over Smith. “Danny was an underdog, but I told him every day he could win it all and we could both be county champs,” Hernandez said of his workout partner. “Now we’re going to the state tournament together. It feels great. He’s a very funky wrestler. No matter what position you put him in, he can work his way out of it and score on you.”

Lambert scored a major decision over Wantagh’s Doug Rogers, 10-0, in the quarterfinals and also had a pair of pins before a 3-1 defeat to Schneider in the battle for third place. Dunn completed his second All-County campaign, while Steven Ray, only a freshman, advanced all the way to the placing round at 138.

“The [team as a whole] got a sense that they could do great things and we took seventh,” Anderson said of Mepham’s finish in among the 42 teams in the field.