Thursday, October 1, 2026
With a conference championship and a runner-up finish in the Nassau dual meet playoffs providing momentum, Long Beach enters the most important stretch of the wrestling season with high hopes and expectations.
The Marines head into the county qualifier tournament this Saturday with a 16-3 record and will look to make another deep run at the Nassau Division I championships the following weekend at Hofstra University, led by standout senior Dunia Sibomana and sophomore Ethan Andreula.
“We’re very excited for the qualifier,” said head coach Ray Adams. “That’s the first round of the state qualification process, so we’re hoping to punch a lot of kids into the county tournament. We’re hoping to qualify close to 20 guys.”
Long Beach fell to Massapequa Jan. 24 in the finals of the Nassau dual meet playoffs, 39-33. Casey Powers (103), Andreula (118), Sibomana (132), Brody Franklin (138), Gavyn Vicente (190) and Kasir Morgan (215) all won matches against Massapequa.
“It was a great match, back and forth,” Adams said. “One of our senior kids, Morgan Kasir, stepped in at 215 after our starter got hurt and got a huge pin to tie the score going into the last match. Unfortunately, we lost the final match. They had the number one-ranked heavyweight, but it was just a great high school match.”
In the dual meet semifinals, the Marines thumped Manhasset, 42-25. Powers (103), Andreula (118), Sibomana (126), Franklin (138), Matthew Diamond (144), Josiah Gibson (150), Jason Andreula (157), Vicente (215) and Brandon Galeano (285) all came out victorious.
“We bumped Gavin Vicente from 190 up to 215, and he reversed the kid and put him on his back with less than five seconds left to win it,” Adams said. “The place went nuts. It was incredible.”
In addition, Long Beach captured the Conference 2A title, but Adams has bigger expectations for his kids.
“It feels great,” Adams said. “That’s always one of our goals to win, to win the league title. We have a very tough league with the likes of MacArthur and East Meadow in there. That was our first step, then our next step was to try to win the county championship.”
Sibomana, Ethan Andreula, Franklin and Powers are all “in the conversation,” Adams said, regarding who can take home an individual county title Feb. 15 at Hofstra. Sibomana has won four county titles in a row, as he goes for his fifth and Ethan Andreula has dominated and already looking for a third.
“[Sibomana] is our team leader on and off the mat,” Adams said. “He's the guy who sets the tone for our team. We’re going to miss him next year when he goes to the University of North Carolina to wrestle.”
“[Ethan Andreula] has been on varsity for four years,” Adams said. “He’s a three-time All-State wrestler already, and a two-time county champ. He won as a seventh and eighth-grader and was the first seventh-grader ever to win a Nassau County Division I title. He’s a lightweight, and along with Sibomana, they really get us started in our matches.”
