By ANDREW McCLURE
The approach paid off as three Rams qualified for the Nassau County championships, which take place this Friday and Saturday at Hofstra University.
"It was very good season," Gewirtz said after last Sunday's eight-team qualifying tournament hosted by Uniondale. "Having three wrestlers qualify for the county meet is big for us. If not for a few injuries, we would have had a couple more qualify."
Seniors Doug Sheelar, who wrestled at 171 pounds, and Steve Lane, 189, both suffered injuries that kept them off the mat. Gewirtz felt both would have contended for county titles.
Senior John Zanca has had an outstanding year for the Rams and qualified for the countywide event for a second consecutive year, this time in the 112-pound class. As a junior, he qualified for the county meet in the 103-pound weight class. Zanca dominated his weight class in Conference III-B, a league that included Roslyn, Hewlett and Glen Cove, and finished first in an early season tournament at Uniondale, where West Hempstead finished in fourth place.
Also qualifying for the country championship are seniors Chris Scheel in the 145-pound class and Dom Bonfiglio at 215 pounds. Bonfiglio, who was an alternate at the county meet as a freshman, had an excellent conference record, and finished second at the Uniondale tournament. Uniondale has emerged as one of the top programs in Nassau County.
West Hempstead also had three wrestlers finish just one victory shy of qualifying for the county meet. In the 119-pound class, senior John Comuniello fell just short of qualifying. Due to a random seeding process, Comuniello met and defeated teammate Matt Greiner in a first round match.
Juniors Dan Colica and Keith Cohen both competed well at 152 pounds, and were narrowly defeated. A pair of sophomores, 135-pound Frank Lonigro and 130-pound Zach Frigand, also earned their way to the county qualifier. The four underclassmen, joined by a few solid junior varsity wrestlers, should form a solid nucleus for West Hempstead in 2008-09.
Gewirtz, who is assisted by Neil Testa, feels that the growth of the program will depend upon how much time the Rams put into training during the offseason. The Rams work hard in the weight room, and spend a lot of time on cardio and plyometric training.
Gewirtz, who was nominated for coach of the year honors, is pleased with the progress the program has made. The Rams lost just two conference matches. "Things went very well all season" Gewirtz said. "We did well in the league, competed against some of the strongest programs around in tournaments, and have three who qualified for counties. The boys did a great job."
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