Bellmore-Merrick wrestlers shine on mats

Kennedy, Calhoun and Mepham continued to grind out victories on the wrestling mat, combining to send 29 wrestlers to this weekend’s Nassau County Division I Championships at Hofstra University.

The Cougars were led by four individual champions at their qualifying tournament at MacArthur and will have at least 12 representatives. Kennedy junior Robert Person sets out to repeat as a county champ after claiming last Saturday’s qualifying title at 113 pounds. He was joined in the winner’s circle by junior teammate Rich Luxmore (126 pounds) and seniors John Luxmore (182) and Matt Accetta (220).

For Rich Luxmore, the win was particularly impressive. “He had been out since Jan. 14,” coach Brian DeGaetano said. “For him to come in and win was a huge thing. Now he gives himself another week to get in shape for the county’s.”

The Colts, who wrestled at Massapequa, had one champion (freshman Matt Krause at 99 pounds) among their six individual qualifiers.

The Pirates, meanwhile were backed by junior Jamie Dunn, a champion at 106 pounds and junior Danny Tracy, a 152-pound champion at Freeport. Sophomore Louis Hernandez, the 145-pound champion, took home the honors of Most Outstanding Wrestler and Most Pins in the Least Time (three in 3:45), and is also one of 11 Mepham wrestlers headed to Hofstra.

“We had a lot of big performers from a lot of different people,” Pirates coach Rich Anderson said.

Hernandez, who leads the team with a 21-2 record, capped his three-pin performance with a 13-4 decision over Freeport’s Julius Diaz in the 145-pound finals. Tracy, one of the team’s leaders, pinned Hewlett’s Troy Smith to earn his crown, while Dunn’s first Qualifying Championship included a 4-2 finals win over Hewlett’s Simon Greebel.

“We’re going to be coming back with a lot of wrestlers,” Anderson said of the younger members of the team making waves. “It’s awesome.”