By TONY BELLISSIMO
All three local wrestling teams will be well represented at the Nassau County championships this Saturday and Sunday at Nassau Community College.
In last Saturday's qualifying tournaments, Kennedy had four individual champions and won the 10-team event hosted by Farmingdale, while Calhoun finished third at Massapequa thanks to two title-winners. Mepham was a solid fifth at Massapequa and is sending eight participants to the spotlight event this weekend.
"This is the most we've ever qualified for the counties," Kennedy Coach Brian DeGaetano said. "I couldn't have hoped for anything more. We had a great week of practice leading up to the qualifier and it showed."
The Cougars sent nine wrestlers into the finals and went 4-5 in those bouts. Sophomore Rob Zemsky topped teammate Ian Schwartz, another sophomore, in the 96-pound final. Freshman Jared Ginsberg finished third in the weight class, giving Kennedy the top three spots. Junior Ilya Shcherba beat teammate Ian Azrak, a senior and one of the team's most improved wrestlers, in the 171-pound final.
"I didn't pay much attention to two of the finals because we had kids going up against each other," DeGaetano said. "As a coach, you just hope for a good match and let the chips fall where they may."
Senior Travis Sickle remained undefeated and won the 119-pound title in convincing fashion, while senior Jack Popper (140) also won. Sickle is 30-0 on the season and 120-13 in his career.
"The kids more than made up for the dual meet playoff loss to Long
Beach," DeGaetano said. "Travis Sickle is on a mission and he should be the top seed in the counties. He's never felt or wrestled better and I like his chances."
In addition to Schwartz and Azrak, senior Mike Abgarian (125), sophomore Bobby Etri (135) and senior Rob Bernard (145) were runners-up. Abgarian and Bernard were upset in the finals, while Etri pinned the second and third seeds to reach the title bout. "Bobby had a great run," DeGaetano said. "He, Ian Azrak and Mike Peskin were our biggest surprises."
Peskin, a 119-pound junior, never won a varsity match prior to this season but has won more than 20 and placed third in the qualifier. Others advancing to the counties for Kennedy were sophomore heavyweight Brent Weiss, freshman Greg Abgarian (135) and senior Rob Brezen (145).
Smith, Lawrence led Calhoun. Senior Cliff Smith and junior Greg Lawrence took home individual titles at 125 and 160 pounds, respectively, and will lead nine Calhoun wrestlers at the counties.
Smith took the championship with a win by technical fall and added two pins en route to the final. Lawrence won a hard-fought 1-0 decision in the final.
"Both of them have legitimate shots at county titles," Colts Coach Gregg Muscarella said. "Cliff is on a roll right now. He's 35-0 and I don't think too many kids want to be in his bracket. Greg is living a little dangerously but he continues to get the job done. He's going to need to pick up his offense a bit to do well this weekend."
Senior Mike Crisona lost a tough 7-5 decision in the 112-pound final, while freshman Mike Annibell (96) and junior Steven Glazer (130) were also runners-up. Additional top qualifying finishers for Calhoun were junior Mike Kopecky (fourth at 125), junior Rob Catalfomo (third at 130), sophomore Anthony Tobia (third at 152) and senior Bobby Kurian (fourth at 152).
Said Muscarella: "We have a well-conditioned group of kids and I'm eager =
to see them in the counties."
Mepham paced by Gunther victory
Led by junior Jon Gunther's individual title at 130 pounds, Mepham prepares to send a respectable eight wrestlers to the big county event. The Pirates also had seniors Rob Scholl (152) and Dave Margulies (275) advanced to title bouts in the qualifier.
"I'm pleased with the way the kids performed," Mepham coach Mike Muscara said. "We were in with some tough teams and eight is a solid number."
Scholl lost 7-6 in his final, while Margulies fell 2-0. "Rob had a wild match with a lot of offense, and Dave's match didn't have a whole lot of offense," Muscara said.
Senior Nairan Mahmood bounced back from an early season injury and placed fourth at 103 pounds. Junior George Pacciano (125) placed fourth, while junior Jason Muscara (135), junior Christian Crescetelli (140) and sophomore James Marzigliano (152) each finished third.
