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Mostly Cloudy Tournament winners for South Side
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South Side's Christian Lethbridge, top, had Lawrence's Haras Chaudhry in a bind at the Sprig Gardner Tournament on Dec. 12.
Jeff Wilson/Herald
South Side crowned a pair of champions in its annual wrestling tournament last Saturday as junior Steve Meoli took the 215-pound title and freshman Thomas Cozier was the last one standing at 96.
“It was a great day except for the ride home,” joked Cyclones coach Jason Washington, who noted the seven-team event wrapped up in the early evening hours when roads were treacherous due to accumulating snow. “We’ve got a really young team and it’s good to get everyone experience early in the year. Some of the young kids have impressed me.”
One of those is Cozier, who went 3-0 in the Cyclone Tournament won by Chaminade. Cozier won a major decision over Jorge Quintanella of Hicksville in the final, 11-2. “He has great confidence and is mat savvy,” Washington said of Cozier, who took fourth place in the Sprig Gardner Tournament hosted by Bellmore-Merrick on Dec. 13.
Meoli, a runner-up at the Sprig, also met a Hicksville wrestler in last Saturday’s final—Robert Merino—and he recorded a pin in 3-minutes, 15-seconds. “Steve’s a good story because he worked extremely hard to drop a bunch of pounds to qualify at 215,” Washington said. “He’s been stringing all of his moves together using a combination of strength and technique and has taken advantage of opponents’ mistakes.”
Junior James Rodriguez reached the 140-pound final and lost an exciting match to Mepham’s Mike Paccione, 15-10. Paccione picked up Most Outstanding Wrestler honors on the day. “James has an unconventional style and it’s hard for kids to counter what he does,” Washington said of Rodriguez, who qualified for the county tournament last season and is currently ranked sixth in Nassau at 140.
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