Lawrence sets solid foundation

It has not been an easy season so far for the Lawrence wrestlers out on the mats this winter, as the team has struggled to keep up on the scoreboard in matches against Roslyn, Bethpage and Wantagh. But behind the scenes, Golden Tornadoes head coach Seth Cook feels there is still significant progress being made.

“The team’s work ethic and behavior is ten times better this year than it was last year,” Cook said. “We have a total of 10 tenth graders on this team right now. When they are all seniors in a few years, we expect to be very good.”

For Lawrence, the goal is implementing a strong foundation now, so that the team can have a chance to reach future glory. One of the ways the Golden Tornadoes hope to further their program’s development process is by instituting a new youth program this spring. 

“I’ve been coaching wrestling for 20 years, and the way teams improve is through youth wrestling,” Cook said. “I think we’ll be very busy over the next few years. If we keep the players we have on our team now, and kids keep coming back after each season, we should have a better team.”

Cook, who has experience coaching wrestling teams at both the high school and collegiate level, also believes that much of the team’s potential turnaround will be up to the players themselves, and the amount of effort they choose to put into the sport. 

“If more of our kids do off-season wrestling after the season is over, I think the team will have a good chance to improve,” Cook said. “If our kids do not choose to do off-season wrestling, and do not put in any wrestling work after the season is over, it is going to be very hard for us. The teams that end up doing very well are the teams that breed good wrestlers all year round.

Lawrence is still working on becoming more competitive as a whole, but has produced a few notable individual performers this season. 

Wrestling at 126 pounds, Mohammed Alkaifi has been one of the team’s biggest bright spots. He has finished in the top three at three different tournaments this winter, and came away victorious in his match in the club’s meet against Bethpage. 

“He has shown a lot of improvement this season,” Cook said. “He one our players that did off-season wrestling, and it’s really helped him.”

Nick Torre (195) has also gotten off to a promising start this winter. In the club’s recent outing against Wantagh, Torre won in his match, and achieved the victory by pin. 

Kevin Diaz, is another player that has caught Cook’s attention this season. The 138-pound freshman has stood out in multiple junior varsity tournaments this season, and even posted a first place finish in one of them. 

The Golden Tornadoes will return to action this Friday when they travel to Valley Stream Central for a 5 p.m. start.