Talented Hewlett has major goals

Hewlett is one of four Nassau County wrestling programs ranked among New York State’s Top 10 and has done nothing to show it doesn’t belong through the early going.
The Bulldogs, the preseason No. 3 in Nassau and No. 9 in the state, made a statement by capturing their host tournament — King of the Mat — featuring 14 teams Dec. 11, including some of Long Island’s best such as Long Beach, MacArthur, Hauppauge and Chaminade.
“We have pretty high expectations and the main thing is keeping everyone healthy and on the mat,” Hewlett coach Stephen Jones said. “We didn’t have our normal summer, but a lot of the kids competed in club during the offseason and came back in really good shape.”
Hewlett was ranked 8 th in the county last winter and had a bunch of top finishers in the unofficial county tournament, Jones noted. This season’s starting lineup is a mix of seniors and underclassmen, including captain Jacob Maiorano (215 pounds) who placed third in the county as a sophomore in the 2019-20 campaign and is ranked at the top of the weight class.
“Nobody has survived the first period against Jacob yet this season,” Jones said of Maiorano, also an All-County football player. “He’s strong and skilled and experienced. If there was a state ranking out yet, he’d probably be at or near the top.”

Junior captain Ariel Waldman has county title hopes as well after finishing runner-up as a freshman 106-pounder. He’s competing at 126 now and ranked at the top of Nassau’s list. “Ariel puts in a lot of work and is technical and strong,” Jones said.
Waldman caps what so far has proven to be a dominant first four weight classes. Carlos Salazar, just a 7th-grader, has made tremendous strides in the past year, Jones said, and is off to a flying start at 102. “He loves to wrestle and has an incredible amount of upside,” Jones explained.
At 110, sophomore Eric Gendlin is scrappy and aggressive. He placed in last season’s unofficial county tournament and is eyeing another All-County finish, Jones said. Gendlin took third in King of the Mat.
Another sophomore, Kirk Smith, has an All-County campaign under his belt as a sixth-place finisher two seasons ago and also finished third in the King of the Mat tournament. “He competes with an edge and gets better by the week,” Jones said.
Senior captain Diego Gonzalez brings grit and All-County potential at 132. The same goes for fellow captains and classmates Jon Zenny and Josh Gendlin. Jones said Zenny (152) is strong on his feet and explosive, allowing him to turn the momentum of a match on a dime, the coach said. Gendlin is off to as strong a start as any of the Bulldogs, Jones said, highlighted by a thrilling 6-4 overtime victory over Joseph Mattei of Herricks in the 160-pound title bout in the King of the Mat.
Jones is excited about the return of junior Ryan Goodman (189), who missed all but one match last season due to injury. Goodman took third in the tournament.