Clarke looking tough on the mats

Clarke may look to be a little on the light side when it comes to battling on the mats — the team has just 22 wrestlers on the roster, including only three seniors — but that doesn’t mean the Rams lack for heavy hitters.

Senior Mike Leonard stands 12 victories shy of becoming just the third wrestler in Nassau County history to hit 200 career wins, and the sixth-year varsity wrestler already has a tournament title under his belt this season. Leonard captured first place at 125 pounds at the Battle at the Beach Tournament at Long Beach, and just before the holiday break finished a perfect 6-0 when the Rams headed down to Orlando, Fla., to take part in the KSA Classic Wrestling Tournament. 

Where Leonard performed as expected in Orlando, junior Vinny Lombardo was Clarke’s biggest surprise. He also racked up victories in all six of his matches against competition from Washington, Pennsylvania and Florida. “He’s really turned it on,” coach Mike Leonard said. “He’s [improved] his technique and is willing to try that technique on the mats now.”

Seniors Kevin Schneider (145 pounds) and Brandon Constantine (140) return as key members of the lineup. Schneider is only starting to scratch the surface of his potential and has only wrestled since his sophomore year, but a full offseason of work has helped speed up the learning process. Heading into January, he had already doubled his victory total of last season.

Junior Dave Amann took third place at 135 at Long Beach, and like Schneider can point to a heavy offseason workload as a reason for the fast start. Even though junior Evan Gottstein hasn’t been able to carve himself a slot in the lineup in one particular weight class, he is able to wrestle at any weight from 125 pounds up to 140, and the Rams are going to take advantage of his versatility.

At 171 and 189 pounds, Clarke is led by a pair of three-sport athletes in juniors Austin Peraza and Karl Schmidt. Sophomores Enndy Nunez (215) and Mohammed Munazal (275) anchor the heavyweight classes, while sophomores Joe Hoffman and Chris Lopez will see action at both 103 and 112.