Senior Hugh Bittenbender capped a memorable season for Oceanside wrestling by capturing a qualifying tournament title and making his presence felt in the 138-pound bracket at last weekend’s Nassau County Division I individual championships at Nassau Community College.
Bittenbender rallied from a huge deficit to defeat Freeport’s Terry Ellis, 16-10, the top seed, in the finals of the qualifier and then followed up with an All-County finish (fifth place) on the big stage last weekend.
“Hugh has been so focused and wrestled amazing,” Oceanside coach Julio Flores said. “He was ranked third going into counties and we knew it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. He put together a really big season.”
Bittenbender won his first three matches and reached the semifinals where he was stopped by Matthew Castillo of Port Washington.
In a stacked qualifier that included Long Beach, Hewlett, Freeport and South Side/East Rockaway, Bittenbender earned Most Outstanding Wrestler honors. He went 3-0 on the day, opening with a tech fall victory over Jahleal Burgess of Long Beach and taking a 9-5 decision over Roslyn’s Jake Farinacci in the semis leading up to the matchup with Ellis. Bittenbinder fell behind Ellis 9-1.
“Hugh believed in himself and kept chipping away,” Flores said of Bittenbinder, who had 29 wins on the season. “He just kept coming at Ellis and eventually wore him down.”
The Sailors, who won their first conference title since 2004, had 9 county qualifiers. “I was pleased with the performance,” Flores said. “I thought we could get anywhere between 7 and 11 kids through to counties, and we ended up right in the middle.”
Jared Marine continued to make a splash as a freshman 172-pounder by reaching the qualifier final where he fell to top-seeded Ryan Goodman of Hewlett. Marine went on to capture four of six bouts in the county tournament. “Jared got caught with something silly in the qualifier and Goodman made him pay for a mistake,” Flores said. “It was a learning experience. Jared has so much talent and a bright future. He was a big part of everything we accomplished this season.”
Juniors Cole Parker (152 pounds) and Christian Scarlata (189) both placed third in the qualifier. Parker won four of five matches in the qualifier, including a pair of pins. “I still feel Cole flies under the radar a little bit,” Flores said. “People don’t realize how good he is. He’s in a difficult weight class.”
Scarlata was Oceanside’s biggest surprise, the coach noted. He battled back after dropping his qualifier opener and won four straight to punch his ticket to the county tournament. “It was the best he’s wrestled in three years,” Flores said. “It shows what possible when someone puts it all together.”
Juniors Andrew Cagno (215) and Jake Moshkovich (285), as well as freshman Jake Strainese (102), were fourth in the qualifier. Cagno and Moshkovich both went 4-2 on the day.
