Thursday, October 1, 2026
A season removed from producing five All-County honorees and one state qualifier, sixth-year Freeport wrestling coach Matt Cellan is looking for an even bigger championship performance this winter.
Christian Mccravey achieved the biggest spot on the podium as a freshman with a third place showing at 116 pounds in the Nassau County Division I championships at Hofstra to earn a spot in the New York State championships in Albany. Now as sophomore, Cellan sees an even bigger ceiling for Mccravey in the 138-pound weight class.
“I think he would win counties and be back upstate competing for a state title,” said Cellan of Mccravey, who picked up his 100th career win early in the season. “One hundred wins is not something that people usually get until they are a senior, and he's already got 100 wins less than halfway through the season as a sophomore which is pretty impressive.”
Cellan also sees county champion potential in senior John Saraldi, who finished fourth in the heavyweight division as a junior. Saraldi entered the Christmas break undefeated with several pins.
Senior Kerry Ellis could be poised to reach the podium for the first time at 144 pounds after knocking on the door the last few seasons. Ellis recorded a pin of Shoreham-Wading River’s Giovanni Aliotta on Dec. 20 in the Red Devils’ 59-21 dual meet loss to the Suffolk County power.
“He hasn’t placed yet but he has been right there with a lot of very competitive guys,” Cellan said of Ellis.
Senior Carlos Aguilar at 190 and junior Jason Lara at 175 are also capable of making deep county runs this winter. Both are captains along with Saraldi and Ellis, with the group pricing key leadership leading by example to establish a winning culture for underclassmen on the roster, according to Cellan.
“We ask them to guide the younger kids and lead the way and show them how to do things,” Cellan said of the captains. “It's a good thing to have guys have enough experience and are mature enough to do that.”
Cellan pieced together a challenging dual meet schedule to prepare for the high stakes county tournament including a Jan.6 road tilt at Massapequa, which placed third in the counties last year. Five members of the team, Mccravey, Saraldi, Ellis, Aguilar and Lara will also participate in Eastern State Duals on Jan 9-10 in Clifton Park, N.Y. featuring the top wrestlers from New York and surrounding states.
“That is the top regular season tournament out there,” Cellan said of the Eastern States. “If you place in this Eastern States tournament it's almost just as good if not better than placing in the state tournament.”
The Nassau County Dual Meet championships are scheduled for Jan. 24 at Clarke High School. The individual county championships are slated for Feb. 15-16 at Hofstra’s Mack Sports Complex with those who qualify then competing in the New York State Championships at MVP Arena in Albany on Feb. 27-28.
