MacArthur eyes state duals

The MacArthur wrestling team has eyes on competing against the state’s best.

The inaugural New York State dual meet wrestling championships are slated for late January in Syracuse, and MacArthur head coach Rob Paletta thinks his Generals have the ability to march onto the big stage. With Wantagh the clear favorite to capture the Nassau County duals, Paletta expects MacArthur to be in the mix for the region’s second available state finals spot along with Massapequa, Plainedge and Long Beach.

“We feel like we’re a top five team,” Paletta said. “Wantagh is the clear number one team so everyone is fighting for that number two spot.”

The Generals marched out of the gate strong winning their first six dual matches. The impressive start included victories against crosstown rivals Island Trees and Division along with a commanding 52-18 win against defending county champion Long Beach.

“The team is working very hard,” said Paletta, who was a standout wrestler at MacArthur in the early 90s. 

MacArthur entered the season ranked fourth by the Long Island Wrestling Association. The Generals have a young roster but boasted four ranked senior wrestlers in mid-December including Christian Dougherty (145 pounds), Steven Powell (152), CJ Louie (160) and Jake Hunter (195). Freshman Jake Schneider is also ranked at 106 pounds after a standout campaign on varsity as an eighth grader last year.

While not ranked early in the season Paletta also has strong expectations for senior Dan Steinmann, who along with Schneider and Dougherty took home first place medals at the annual MacArthur Holiday Tournament on Dec. 2. Paletta said Steinmann is especially motivated for a strong final high school season after he was sick during county qualifiers last year and was unable to compete in the individual championships at Hofstra.

“He is looking for redemption,” said Paletta of Steinmann. “He is on a mission.”

To position the Generals for a chance at shining in the county duals and individual county championships, Paletta pieced together a challenging early-season schedule featuring Massapequa and Long Beach, McArthur finished second to Massapequa in its holiday tournament and made a loud statement on Dec. 12 with a dominant win against Long Beach in which the Generals captured 12 of 15 bouts.

“The tough early matches against higher ranked teams set the tone for the season,” Paletta said.  

The Generals worked hard leading into the season with 30 wrestlers from varsity and JV attending a summer camp at Penn State, which Paletta said helped foster team bonding in addition to improved skills. After closing the regular season with home matches against Mepham on Jan. 5 and Manhasset on Jan. 10, MacArthur will compete in the Nassau County dual meet championships at Clarke High School with hopes of punching a ticket to the state team finals.  The Nassau County individual championships are then scheduled for Feb. 10-11 at Hofstra.

“The team has put a lot of time together in the weight room,” Paletta said. “We’re trying to get better on the mats very day.”