Clarke's Soriano a county champion

For the second time in as many years, a member of the Soriano family is a Nassau County wrestling champion.
Clarke High School senior Justin Soriano earned the Nassau Division 1 title at 172 pounds on Feb. 12 when he defeated Wantagh’s Noah Corwin, a defending county champion, 4-2, in the final at Hofstra University. Soriano won five matches over the two-day tournament and while he didn’t record a pin, outscored opponents by a combined 37-3 in a dominant display.
It was just last winter when Justin’s older brother, Jordan, captured Nassau and state Division 2 championships in the 138-pound weight class.
“It feels great,” Justin said. “I took a few deep breaths right before the match started and slowed my mind down mentally. I moved well and I’m just happy I won it.”
Soriano lost to Corwin at the prestigious Eastern States Tournament in January, and Clarke coach Mike Leonard said the strategy this time was for Justin to trust himself. “We just worried about us,” Leonard said. “Justin’s technique is almost flawless and he kept getting stronger and stronger during the season.”

Leonard said it’s impossible to outwork a Soriano. “Between Justin and his brother, nobody worked as hard as those two kids,” the coach said.
Justin’s road to the finals was void of drama. Seeded third, he had a first-round bye before winning 9-0 in the second round, 7-0 in the third round, and 11-0 in the quarterfinals on the opening day of the tournament Feb. 11. He came back the next morning and defeated Syosset’s John Munoz, the No. 2 seed, 6-1. Munoz defeated Soriano eight days earlier in the semifinals of the qualifier at Long Beach.
“It’s impressive but not surprising he beat two kids he lost to,” Leonard said.
The state tournament takes place this Friday and Saturday at Albany’s MVP Arena. “The goal is to make sure I’m 100 percent healthy and doing all the little things that will help me go as far as I can,” Soriano said.
The Rams had one other All-County finisher as sophomore Justin Gonzalez took fifth at 152.

Three finalists for East Meadow
East Meadow had a strong showing in the county tournament and is sending a trio of Nassau runners-up to Albany.
The Jets finished sixth in the team standings, racking up 199 points thanks in large part to finalists Matthew Rodriguez (152), Matthew Coffey (160) and Joseph Arbitello (285.) All three are headed to the state tournament.
Rodriguez, a junior, recorded three pins on the first day of the county event and then defeated Devin Downes of Plainedge, 10-6, in the semifinals. Rodriguez fell to MacArthur standout Paul Lichter, the top seed, in the final.
Coffey, a senior, dominated his first two opponents to reach the semis where he held off Hewlett’s Oleg Daniloff, 2-1, to reach the title bout. Herricks’ Joseph Mattei defeated Coffey in the final.
Arbitello, also a senior, had a pin and major decision win out of the gate and then emerged a hard-fought 6-5 winner over Farmingdale’s Richard Fera in the quarterfinals. Arbitello beat Manhasset’s Nacer Villalobos in the semis, 5-2, before running into Plainedge’s Vincent Petzold in the finale.