Five Cyclones to county tourney

South Side will have at least five wrestlers at the Nassau County championships at Hofstra this weekend by virtue of their performances at last Saturday’s qualifying tournament at MacArthur.

Seniors James Rodriguez (140 pounds), Christian Lethbridge (171) and Steve Meoli (215), sophomore Thomas Cozier (96) and freshman Ryan Holzgruber (103) all finished in the top four of their respective weight classes to advance to the big stage. And Cyclones coach Jason Washington is optimistic sophomore Mike Petrone (103) can join them as a wild-card selection.

“Not bad,” Washington said of his team’s showing in a challenging qualifier that included the host school, Uniondale and Clarke. “As a coach you always wish a few more guys could place, but I’m proud of everyone’s effort. They really battled. We ran into a couple of weird spots where we had kids go up against each other. It’s something that seems to happen to every team at least once.”

South Side, which posted Conference 3B wins over Roslyn and Hewlett, benefited from a rugged regular-season schedule. “We walked away with something positive from every match,” Washington said.

Rodriguez, who earned All-County honors as a junior by finishing fifth, was runner-up in the qualifier to Bryan Conrad of MacArthur and takes a record of 18-5 into this weekend. “James gets over losses quickly and he has a great chance to be All-County again,” Washington said. “One loss isn’t going to change his plan.”

The coach was thrilled with Lethbridge’s run to the qualifier finals where he lost to Uniondale’s Teniola Daramola. “Christian took an aggressive approach and almost had an early takedown,” Washington said. “He’s headed to the county tournament for a second straight year and I’m hoping he’ll do some good things.”

Meoli is another returning county participant. A small mistake cost him in the semifinals of the qualifier, but he bounced back to pin Marlon Doyle of Valley Stream South to get third place. “Steve shook off the loss and came back with a pin,” Washington said. “He’s been in the top three in all but one tournament and knows how to win.”

Cozier also took third and avenged an earlier defeat in the process. He edged MacArthur’s Mike Coiro, 4-2, after suffering a pin in their first meeting. Cozier, who reached the county tournament as a wild card last season, spent a portion of the regular season competing at 112, Washington noted. 

On his way to a third-place finish, Holzgruber defeated his teammate and workout partner, Petrone. The latter is a prime candidate to secure a wild card, but even if he doesn’t, Washington said he’ll be at practice all week. “Ryan and Mike are good friends and great supporters of one another,” Washington said. “Mike already told me if he doesn’t get in, he plans to help Ryan get ready. I mean, what can you say? What a gesture.”