Kennedy wins Sprig Tournament

Kennedy built on a perfect 5-0 mark at its Hall of Fame Duals, with a first-place finish at the annual Sprig Gardner Tournament Dec. 10. The Cougars, backed by four individual champions, finished with 288.5 total points, 37.5 ahead of second-place Clarke. Mepham with two individual champions and a second-place finisher was fourth (204 points), while Calhoun was sixth (130) and had a quartet of finalists.

“From the first practice we knew we had a good thing going,” Kennedy coach Brian DeGaetano said. “We still have a lot to do and a lot to work on, but the way we’ve wrestled this early in the season we haven’t seen in a while.”

The Cougars’ championship parade was led by junior Robert Person, a returning Nassau County champion and All-State wrestler, who won a 7-4 decision over Lawrence’s Pankil Chander in the finals and earned Most Outstanding Wrestler honors. Seniors Mark Levine (126 pounds) and John Luxmore (182) and junior Rich Luxmore (132) were also crowned individual champions. Rich Luxmore needed overtime to squeak out a 7-6 victory over Clarke’s Jonathan Arias.

Cougars junior Tyler Smith lost a 4-3 decision to Mepham’s Jamie Dunn in the 106-pound finals, and Dunn, an All-County honoree two seasons ago, was named the Pirates’ Alumni Outstanding Wrestler. Senior Matt Accetta, like his teammate Person, a returning All-County honoree, finished second at 220 pounds.

Joining Dunn in the winner’s circle for Mepham was sophomore Louis Hernandez, a returning 145-pounder looking to build on an All-Conference campaign. In the 152-pound finals, Mepham junior Dan Tracy fell 3-2 in overtime. “He wrestled a lot in the offseason to get more experience and get better,” Pirates coach Rich Anderson said of Hernandez.