Teemer wins fourth state title

Long Beach junior makes history

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Battling a rare case of nerves didn’t stop Long Beach’s Jacori Teemer from making history last Saturday evening in Albany.

Teemer, a junior, became Nassau County’s first four-time state wrestling champion when he edged Mike Venosa of Victor, 1-0, in the 132-pound title bout. “I’m not usually nervous, but the crowd at the state tournament is so big it always seems to get to me a little bit,” said Teemer, noting the 6,000-plus fans at the Times Union Center. “Once the match started, the nerves went away and I just focused on what I needed to do,” he added. “It was the third time I faced Venosa. He’s very strong on his feet and good defensively. I knew it was going to be close.”

The hard-fought victory over Venosa was the 178th of Teemer’s high school career and moved him within 37 of breaking P.J. Gillespie’s all-time program record of 214 wins set in 2007. Teemer, who battled through a knee injury early in the season and missed roughly 20 bouts according to Marines coach Ray Adams, finished with a record of 29-1.

“Jacori did a great job and accomplished something really special with a fourth state title,” Adams said. “He works extremely hard and he’s always prepared. I never felt like he was in any kind of danger in the finals, but anyone can get caught at any given moment. Jacori had to battle every second against a tough opponent.”

The No. 1 seed, Teemer opened the tournament last Friday with a 12-3 major decision victory over Robert Scopelliti of Monsignor Farrell. Later in the day, in the quarterfinals, Teemer defeated Lucas King of New Hartford, 16-10. “The quarterfinal match was tiring,” Teemer said. “He took me down twice and there was a lot of action. I didn’t wrestle my best, but I found a way to keep scoring.”

In the semifinals, Teemer knocked off Chris Gomez of Patchogue-Medford, 9-3. Gomez defeated Long Beach senior Matt Maquet in the quarterfinals. Maquet won four matches in the tournament and earned All-State honors for a second straight season by placing fourth. Senior Tyrese Byron also achieved All-State status by taking fifth at 152.

Prior to the tournament, Long Beach was honored as the top-ranked dual meet team in New York State for the second year in a row. The Marines will take a 48-match winning streak into next season.

In addition to continuing the team’s streak, Teemer will try to become only the second five-time state wrestling champion in history. “I really want to do it,” he said.