High expectations for Long Beach

Despite finishing without a county champion for the first time in more than a decade, Long Beach made plenty of noise at the Nassau Division 1 wrestling tournament last season with seven All-County finishers.
Five of those returned for coach Ray Adams, who believes the race for the Nassau team title is up for grabs. The top four heading into January were defending county champion Massapequa, Long Beach, MacArthur and Wantagh. “Last year’s experiences are really going to help our guys and we’re seeing it already,” Adams said. “We’re still in the process of figuring out our lineup. We’re really deep at some weights.”
The Marines captured the King of the Mat Tournament hosted by Hewlett on Dec. 14, a week after finishing third in their own Battle at the Beach event. “We’re pretty stoked about finishing first at Hewlett,” Adams noted. “Our tournament was a back-and-forth battle all afternoon.”
Junior Jeremiah Echeverria (106 pounds) and senior Max Maquet (138) both reached the county finals last winter where they fell to No. 1 seeds. Echeverria received a wild-card berth to the state tournament and worked tirelessly all offseason, Adams said. He won the Hewlett tournament and was runner-up at Long Beach. “Jeremiah wants to win a county championship,” the coach said. “He’s stepped up his game and has improved on his feet. He’s a handful.”
Maquet racked up nearly 40 wins as a junior and is in his fifth season on the varsity mats. He’ll compete at 152 or 160. “It’s time for him to cash in,” Adams said. “Max is a captain who sets the tone at practice for us every single day.”

Junior Kevin Lopez had five wins on the county stage in February to take third at 99 pounds, and he’s off to a huge start with tournament victories at Hewlett and Long Beach. “He’s strong and scrappy,” Adams said.
Senior Wally Sofield and sophomore Jafet Velasquez both placed sixth in the county. Sofield is looking to get back on the podium, this time at 126, while Velasquez (113) is already proving last season was no fluke when he came out of the clouds after competing exclusively at the JV level.
Adams said nobody on the roster is more motivated than senior Amir Hodge, who came up one win shy of All-County status after capturing the third qualifying tournament title of his career. “He wants to finish big,” Adams said.
Seniors Matt Amato and Nick Giorlando are returning county tournament qualifiers and keys to the upper weights in the Marines’ lineup. Long Beach received a boost at 182 when Trey Sofield, who missed the past two seasons with a shoulder issue, returned to the program for his senior campaign.
Adams is also looking for Jack Valentin, Michael Berube, Oscar DeAvlia, Andreas Castro, McKendy Hogarth, Wyatt Parker, Dylan Sofield, and Thomas Rooney to make noise. Berube was a finalist at Hewlett, while Parker reached the Battle at the Beach finals.