Oceanside surprises in qualifier

After a slow start to the season, the Oceanside wrestling team seems to be peaking at the right time. The Sailors earned a third-place finish in last Saturday’s Nassau County qualifying tournament hosted by MacArthur, and had 10 of their wrestlers earn spots in the upcoming Division I county championships. 

Dan Fishman (106 pounds), Malique Hyde (120), Maquie Hyde (120), Sam Burns (126), John Cannella (champ at 138), Parker Jervis (145), Rob Espinal (champ at 152), Roman Aguirre (182), Jerry English (195) and Dylan Amirudden (220) all placed in the top four in their weight class and will represent Oceanside at Hofstra University this weekend. 

“We knew we would get at least five in, but there were a lot of guys who surprised us,” Sailors head coach Julio Flores said. “We were especially surprised by our younger guys.”

At the beginning of the season, Oceanside was slowed by its youth and inexperience, dropping several meets the club had high hopes for. But even then, Flores saw positive signs. “We are a young team, and were struggling a lot early,” Flores said. “We kind of expected that this year. Our team results weren’t very good, because were putting a lot of freshman and first year wrestlers on the mats. But individually we were getting some really good performances.”

At the county qualifiers, it was a much different story for the Sailors, as multiple underclassmen delivered. Burns, a sophomore, was one of the biggest surprises of the day. “He has been improving and we thought he’d do pretty well,” Flores said. “But we didn’t know he was going to go and take third at the qualifiers. He’s only been wrestling for two years, and he’s just getting better and better over the course of time.”

Other pleasant surprises included a third-place finish from Jervis, a sophomore, and a top-four finish from English, a first-year wrestler.

Oceanside’s rebuilding process seems to have been accelerated, as the team’s younger wrestlers are making contributions much sooner than expected. 

“Our guys have been working hard in the room,” Flores said. “They have bought into everything we were telling them and it’s paid off. The qualifiers showed how much better our guys have gotten since the beginning of the season.”

The next challenge for the Sailors will be the county championships. Flores holds high hopes for a trio of his wrestlers competing at the event. 

“I believe John Cannella, Dan Fishman and Rob Espinal can make some noise next week,” he said. “The three of them look to be in really good spots. But, it all depends on the attitude and mindset these guys come in with.”

Building for the future, while having success in the present can be an extremely difficult task for any athletic program. Oceanside had its bumps in the road early on, but now is enjoying the best of both worlds, watching their team excel, while building a potentially strong core group of wrestlers for its future.