South Side's youth starts strong

South Side may not have the big numbers of other wrestling programs in Nassau County just yet, but the Cyclones sure pack plenty of bang on the mat with their roster of 22, an increase of five over last winter.

At the annual Sprig Gardner Tournament hosted by Bellmore JFK and Mepham on Dec. 11-12, South Side place ninth out of 13 teams with freshman Kyle Mosher winning an individual title at 120 pounds. Senior Paulo Carre was also a finalist, losing in his bid for an individual crown at 160 pounds to Michael Abidin of Half Hollow Hills East.

“We have a bunch of young guys coming in and I think the program is moving in the right direction,” coach Mike Robinson said.

Mosher, who’s already racked up 74 career victories, didn’t need long to pin Rich Gomez of Kings Park in the finals. He grabbed the title with a win at the 1:22 mark of the opening period, giving him seven wins in his first eight matches already this season. “He’s in the upper echelon as far as wrestlers,” Robinson said of Mosher, a Nassau County Champion last season who then finished fifth at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships as a 99-pounder. “He does multiple things. He goes to camps and clinics. There’s no offseason for him. He’s a great role model.

“He’s [strong] with his positioning and a smart wrestler. He understands every aspect of the mat and where he should be at all times. He has a lot of technique that guys at this level don’t have.”

Junior Cliff Cornell, one of several current Cyclones wrestlers to come up through the middle school program, continued to take a big step forward on the mats with a third place finish by defeating Mepham’s Jack Molloy, 6-5, in the consolation finals. At 132 pounds, junior Marc Marasco took fourth after an offseason spent improving his game at clinics. Freshman Nick Shimkin is developing quickly and took fifth place with a pin of Baldwin’s Paul Wehr at the 1:45 mark. “He’s tough, he’s strong and he’s coming on,” Robinson said.

Among those expected to contribute for South Side this winter are senior Sean Keever, a 220-pounder who finished up his junior campaign on a high note, as well as junior Dan Schwartz, wrestling at 195 pounds. Senior captain Patrick Wolfrom is currently battling at 152 pounds but may drop down to 145. “So far the season’s going pretty well,” Robinson said, adding, “We’ll be more competitive in duals than in the past. And [having] guys getting pushed through into the semis and finals makes you a good tournament team.”

After finishing hanging tough with Division, the No. 2 team in Conference III last season, in a dual meet in a 45-31 dual meet loss on Dec. 16, the Cyclones are banking on a deeper roster that will help fill up weight classes in dual meets and keep the program’s arrow pointed up. “We’re looking forward to the season,” Robinson said. “We had a competitive match [with Division] and a couple of matches could have gone either way.”