Kennedy earns stripes on mat

For the first time in coach Brian DeGaetano’s 20 years on the mats with the program, Kennedy didn’t return a single All-County wrestler. But that’s not a knock on the talent the Cougars are sending out in dual meets or tournaments.

It simply means the program’s young and gaining experience on the fly. “We’ve got a young team,” DeGaetano said. “The youngest squad I’ve had in a long time. The most important thing is to get a lot of matches and experience.”

The handful of seniors in the lineup have been a steadying influence in the wrestling room and provided strong leadership, particularly important as Kennedy prepares for this weekend’s Nassau County Dual Meet playoffs and the Nassau County qualifier tournament at Garden City on Feb. 8. The Cougars, 7-7-1 overall in dual meets, travel to Syosset Friday for their first matchup, an outbracket battle against Clarke. The winner continues on to battle Farmingdale the same evening.

Senior Ben Sather, a 113-pounder, leads the team in wins with a 23-3 mark, and senior Matt Shane has won 20 of his 25 matches. Senior Roman Esposito boasts an 18-7 record, junior Danny Arkow is 19-5 and senior Hunter Zalud, a returning All-Conference honoree, has 13 wins. At the Busby Classic Duals at Port Washington last Saturday, Shane won four matches at 170 pounds against opponents from Great Neck North, Mineola, Mt. Hope (Rhode Island) and Port Washington, and all were by pin. He spent a total of 2:35 on the mat and finished three fights in less than 30 seconds, including a first round pin at the 0:10 mark. “[Matt] Shane has been a big surprise for us,” DeGaetano said. “He’s wrestling great for us, and he is enormous. He’s picking guys up, throwing them to the mat and pinning them.”

With DeGaetano mixing and matching the lineup in dual meets, a number of the younger wrestlers have gotten exposure not only in their own weight class, but in some cases one or two higher than they would normally battle at. “Our guys always put the team first and this year’s is no different,” he said. “They understand that dual meets are about the team and tournaments [about the individual].”

Sophomore Bruno Pizzirusso has competed at 120, 126 and 132 pounds, and his classmate, Anthony Lanzano, who tips the scales at 193 pounds, has given up plenty of weight not at his natural class of 195 pounds, but when he moves up to 220 and 285 pounds. “[Bruno], he’s a tough kid,” DeGaetano said. “He’s a wrestler. He doesn’t care who he wrestles. He just wants to wrestle. [Anthony] is a very defensive wrestler which keeps him in matches.”

Junior Danny Elegante has put together a 12-10 mark, and sophomore Matt Schwartz is 13-11 at 145 pounds, while freshman 99-pounder Eric Brach has turned some heads. “Because the team is very new we’ve condensed our technique and focused on six or seven things and hoping [to create] a good foundation,” DeGaetano said. “What’s nice is that everyone is trying to prove themselves and there’s no egos.”