Wantagh seeks county supremacy

The Wantagh wrestling team took two-time defending county champion Long Beach down to the wire in the Nassau dual meet finals and is now seeking to thrive on the tournament stage this weekend.

Long Beach captured a county dual meet three-peat with a 32-30 win in a match that came down to the final bout. The Warriors won the first five weight class battles before a packed crowd at Clarke High School on Jan. 28, but two pins by Long Beach including in the final match denied Wantagh its first dual meet title since 2014.

“It was some battle,” Wantagh coach Paul Gillespie said. “It was very tight.”

Wantagh jumped out to a 21-0 lead on early wins from Josiah Encarnacion (99 pounds), Aidan Araoz (106), Christian Encarnacion (113), Charles Maier (120) and Michael Killard (126). The Warriors later got victories from Justin Vines (138), Jonathan Loew (182) and Gavin Casey (285).

“A match like that win or lose makes your team better,” said Gillespie, who previously guided Long Beach to 17 county titles before his initial retirement in 1997. “They know they can beat the best since they were so close.”

Wantagh reached the county finals with 59-9 semifinal win against Farmingdale and a 65-6 rout of Uniondale in the quarterfinals.  The Warriors entered February ranked third in the state with its only two dual meet losses both at the hands of Long Beach.

Wantagh followed up its strong dual meet performance by qualifying 22 wrestlers for the upcoming Nassau County individual championships last weekend at Syosset High School. Eleven Warriors finished first in their respective weight classes including Josiah Encarnacion (101), Araoz (108), Christian Encarnacion (115), Kyle Schairer (122), Vines (128), Thomas Rohan (147), Loew (162), Joseph Conklin (172), Nick Coppola (184), Larry Baker (197) and Casey (287). Second place finishers included Maier (122), Killard (128). Sean Ryder (147), James Langan (162), Billy Bonasera (222) and Patrick Smith (287).

“They did their job and worked hard,” Gillespie said of his team’s strong qualifying performance Saturday against Syosset, Manhasset, Plainview-JFK, Division and Great Neck North. “Having 11 [qualifying champions] is pretty good.”

Long Beach snapped Wantagh’s five-year individual county title streak last February and Gillespie expects the two South Shore rivals to once again be vying for the most points on the scoreboard. Gillespie has seen progression throughout the winter and sees the Warriors being in contention on the Hofstra stage with his former program.

“It should be between us and Long Beach again,” Gillespie said. “It’s going to be a nip and tuck battle.”

The Nassau County individual finals are slated for Saturday and Sunday at Hofstra University’s Mack Sports Complex starting at 9:30 a.m. both days. Gillespie said several Warrior wrestlers could be in contention for championships and qualifying for the New York State Championships at the Times-Union Center in Albany on Feb. 24-25.

“We have very good depth,” he said. “The confidence level is there.”