Wantagh off to commanding start

Wantagh wrestling is conquering its high expectations early in the 2017-18 season.

The Warriors captured their first 20 matches including four triumphs last Saturday at Seaford High School’s annual Patrick Butler Duals. Wantagh defeated Sachem East 62-12, Long Beach 56-19, Uniondale 61-12, and Seaford 59-9 to capture the team title in the prestigious tournament. The early season dominance also featured seven dual wins at a two-day tournament hosted by Clarke High School in late December.

“It’s going to be hard to beat us because of the depth we have,” said seventh-year head coach Paul Gillespie. “We are strong at every weight class.”

Wantagh won a team title for the sixth time in seven years at the Nassau County individual wrestling championships at Hofstra last February by a 15.5 margin against Long Beach. The Warriors finished at the top of the podium just weeks after narrowly falling to Long Beach in the county dual meet championships and Gillespie hopes his team can wrack up titles in both events this winter. The Gillespie also has eyes on competing in the inaugural New York State dual meet wrestling championships in Syracuse on Jan. 27.

“We’re looking forward to going up there and making some noise,” said Gillespie, who prior to arriving at Wantagh in 2011 won 17 county titles built Long Beach into a powerhouse with 17 county crowns.  “We have a pretty good shot if everyone shows up.”

Leading the charge in Wantagh’s quest to make a mark on the county and state level are several returning individual title winners. Wantagh produced three champions at Hofstra who went on to compete on the state stage in Albany who are back on the mats in 2018 including senior captain and Cornell commit Jonathan Loew (195 pounds), sophomore Josiah Encarnacion (106) and senior Justin Vines (138).

Gillespie also has high hopes for junior Bobby Moore, who fell to Encarnacion in the 99-pound title match at Hofstra and is wrestling at 113 this season. Other returning All-County wrestlers include seniors James Langan (182) and Charles Maier (120) along with freshman Aiden Araoz (113) and sophomore Matt Rogers (170).

“It’s an experienced team with a good mixture of young kids,” Gillespie said.

Seniors Gavin Casey, who was edged in the 285-pound county finals to MacArthur’s Ryan O’Shea 3-2 in overtime, and 2017 147-pound fourth place finisher Tommy Rohan are sidelined after suffering football injuries this past fall. Wantagh still has a deep lineup however that features Joseph Moore (126), Joe Russo (138), CJ Ahern (145), Drew Donaghy (152), Joe Conklin (160), Giancarlo Damiani (220), and Ryan Alesius (285).

The Warriors will compete for the Nassau County dual meet championships at Clarke High School on Jan. 19-20 with hopes of also earning a spot in the state team finals the following weekend. The Nassau County individual championships slated for Feb. 10-11 at Hofstra’s Mack Sports Complex with the New York State Championships then on tap at the Times-Union Center in Albany on Feb. 23-24.