By Paul Shapiro
Bill Clinton was just inaugurated for his second term as U.S. President and the Brett Favre-led Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl XXXI, the team's first NFL championship since 1967. Now, nearly 12 years later, the Hewlett Bulldogs got back in the win column by defeating the Oceanside Sailors, 42-27, on Monday, Dec. 15, in the team's second match of the 2008-09 season.
The Hewlett wrestling program last recorded a win during the 1996-97 season, after which the program was done away with. "This win is a big stepping stone for us," said Coach Mike Jimenez, who took over as the Bulldogs' head coach when the wrestling program was reinstated prior to the 2007-08 season. "It feels good to get your first win out of they way."
After not winning a match in the team's return to play last year, Hewlett wrestling took a giant step forward with last month's victory. "It's so rewarding for the wrestling committee, the administration, and the school to see the boys and the coaches put in such an effort to win their first varsity match after just assembling the program last year," said Bill Smith, Hewlett Woodmere Wrestling Committee founder.
Smith's son, Troy, who is a freshman wrestling in the 125 lb. weight class, won his individual match against Oceanside. "I was excited about the team's win, obviously, because we haven't really had a good team," he said. "Now I think this year it's going to work, we're going to get better."
Mike Piri, a sophomore wrestling at 119 lb., went through last year's winless season and hopes this win means more good things in the future for the Bulldogs. "It really was a great feeling knowing that after all of last year and the first half of this season that all the hard work finally paid off," Piri said. "It's a good feeling having it pay off and now we have to work on piecing more wins together."
Sophomore Jordan Browdy is happy for his teammates that came back for this season after the Bulldogs' winless 2007-08, especially after Oceanside defeated Hewlett last year. "That we all came back and beat Oceanside was really phenomenal," Browdy said. "We worked really hard for this, especially last year. The guys that came back after last season and went through the first month or so at practice, it was a lot of work, but it really paid off with this win."
Coach Jimenez has brought Hewlett's wrestling program a long way during his one-plus seasons as head coach. "You have to have patience when you're sitting in my seat," Jimenez said. "I want the kids to see that and understand that we're not going to be a power house yet, that one win means a lot. It's a huge step for the program."
Piri sees a tremendous difference in his fellow teammates from this year to last. "We're starting to look more comfortable during our matches," Piri said. "It's starting to become more instinct, the moves are coming to us and we are starting to look better and better out there."
Hewlett's team, which consists of a 21-man roster, has just three upper classmen - two juniors and one senior. The program is clearly building for the future. "Wrestling is like no other sport and you have to give these kids so much credit," Mr. Smith said. "Our team is mainly comprised of freshmen and sophomores and they are competing against juniors and seniors. Win or lose, it takes a champion just to step on that mat and compete one on one. These kids will gain more from this program than from any other sport they play and the courage, self esteem, discipline, and respect they gain will carry through for the rest of their lives."
Coach Jimenez, along with assistant coach Owen Dugan, sees a very bright future for the program and hopes his athletes see that as well. "There are more wins to come," Jimenez said. "We're a young program, mainly comprised of freshman and sophomores. I know I am asking a lot of them and I am asking them to step up as if they were seniors and juniors. A lot of them are filling shoes that they normally wouldn't have to fill. We're rebuilding right now."
The process of building a wrestling team in Hewlett started in 2004 when the Hewlett Woodmere Wrestling Committee (HWWC) was founded by parents of several youth wrestlers in the district who were concerned that there would be no where for District 14 kids to wrestle once they reached seventh grade. In 2006, and after several years of requesting that wrestling be added as a new sport in the district, the HWWC, with the insight and guidance of several members of the Athletic Facilities Committee (AFC), accepted the district's conditional decision that in order for wrestling to be started, the committee had to accept 100 percent of the financial responsibility of the first two year's cost for both the middle school and high school wrestling programs.
"Five years ago, Billy Smith and I started the PAL wrestling program in hope of restoring the high school wrestling team," said Ken Rosenberg, a founding member of Hewlett Woodmere Wrestling Committee. "It has worked and we are on our way to building a thriving program."
It was from that point forward that the committee, through the Hewlett Woodmere Educational Foundation, a not for profit 501(C)(3) corporation, began it's fundraising efforts to bring wrestling back to Hewlett. To date, the committee has raised a total of almost $115,000, which was gifted to the district. In addition, the committee has also purchased new uniforms, wrestling mats and other equipment for the middle school and high school teams. Wrestling is now also part of the district's budget.
Coach Jimenez thought the team had a lot of confidence going into the match against Oceanside and hopes they keep that up for the rest of this season and for years to come. Many of his wrestlers feel the same way.
"I'd like to start putting together winning seasons," Piri said about his upcoming junior and senior seasons. "It's a great step to have one victory under our belt, but hopefully we can put more wins together over the years and win more dual meets. It's a good feeling to watch our hard work pay off in victories and hopefully we can have more in the future."
"I think we have a bright future ahead of us," Browdy said. "We work hard, our coaches push us, teach us a lot and make us work hard and I see more victories in our future. I'd like to be a competing force for conference championships and county championships. I don't just want to have a couple of wins. I want to be a team that other teams have to look out for."
Whether the win over Oceanside is the Bulldogs' only victory this season, Coach Jimenez is happy with his team's performance this year. "I'd be happy with more wins, but I wouldn't be upset if Oceanside is our one win," he said. "I'd obviously hope for more, but no matter what, this is a good year so far. That's easy for me to say, but it's hard for the kids to see it. We're looking at it from a different perspective. To me, it's all about learning, and then next year we'll win two and the year after that we'll have a winning record. We are trying to build a winning team here."
Hewlett high school's next home match will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. at the high school against Great Neck North. The team's last home match of the season will be at W.E.C. on Friday, Jan. 9 at 4:30 p.m. against Westbury. For more information on Hewlett wrestling, visit www.hewlettwrestling.com.
Comments about this story? PShapiro@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext 201.
