Big Red shows big improvement

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The Glen Cove Big Red varsity wrestling team finished its regular season with a dual meet playoff berth, it’s second in as many season. Although it was bounced in the first round, a culture of winning is being bred in the Glen Cove wrestling room.

“We had a good season that ended with a spot in the playoffs for the second time in two years,” coach Chris MacDonald said. “We lost in the first round to Baldwin, who ended up making it to the final four.”

The Big Red also took first in both the McCullough tournament and Cove Cup this year. The coveted Cove Cup trophy will be staying within the familiar hallways and glass case of Glen Cove High School once again.

Glen Cove now turns its focus from the team meet format to the individual county qualifiers that are rapidly approaching this weekend.

“The goal is that we think we can get 8-10 guys to the counties,” MacDonald said. “At this time of the year, everyone is getting ready for their qualifiers. Everyone is working on their specific game and is focused. They all think they can do it.”

Two of Glen Coves most accomplished wrestlers, senior Sal Guastella (160 pounds) and junior Isaiah Jackson (106) will definitely see county bids.

Jackson will look to make his third county appearance while Guastella will amass his fifth.

Other county hopefuls for Glen Cove include Eder Leiva, Edson Murillo, Phil Aguilar, RJ Almas, and Brandon Rivera.

“We’re going hard in the practice room this week to get ready. We’ll bring some other schools in to scrimmage and get different looks, but it comes down to us improving our game,” MacDonald said. “We’ll probably start to taper off by Thursday to be physically ready for the qualifiers.”

MacDonald is also aware of the group Glen Cove drew in the county qualifiers. “We did draw a very tough qualifier in Massapequa,” MacDonald said. Massapequa is indeed one of the better teams in the state of New York, let alone Long Island.

As of Jan. 20, Long Island Wrestling put out top 6 individual rankings for each section’s weight classes heading into the county qualifiers. Glen Cove’s Jackson ranks third at 106 and Guastella ranks fourth at 160. In the same rankings, Massapequa has 12 team members place in the top six and four ranked first in their respective weight classes.

Eder Leiva (182 pounds) was lauded for his efforts and ability by his coach who believes he could definitely be in the mix for a spot at the counties. The number one and two ranked wrestlers in his weight class are both members of the Massapequa team.

“We’re not paying attention to rankings, we’re paying attention the next match in front of us, we’re focused,” MacDonald said. 

He also spoke of his team’s mental fortitude and readiness coming into this game. “I could tell these guys are ready by the amount of close, late wins these guys have won this season. Chances are, most of these county matches are going to be close, so when I see my guys outlasting the other guy and getting a win late, I think that means they’ll be ready for this weekend.”