By TONY BELLISSIMO
The Marines won the eight-team event behind 11 finalists and eight champions. They totaled 312 points. Freeport was second with 259. Valley Stream South was a distant third.
"I couldn't be more happy," coach Ray Adams said. "I've known all season long we had some talented individuals. They answered the bell and now we're looking to make a run at the county title. MacArthur is the defending champ and a heavy favorite, but I think we have a shot along with East Meadow, Bethpage and Massapequa."
One of the highlights for Long Beach was grabbing the top three places at 96 pounds. Senior Sandeep Kumar downed eighth-grade teammate PJ Gillespie in the title bout on overtime criteria. Eighth-grader Eduardo Delgado took third.
"It's outstanding to have two kids in the same weight class wrestle in the final, but it's tough at the same time," Adams said. "At that point, the coaches just sit back and let them go at it. I think both Sandeep and PJ have a chance to place at counties."
At 125 pounds, junior Tom Moriarty captured first when he handled Valley Stream South's John Marzella in the final, 5-0. Senior Deone Williams, who placed fifth in Nassau last season, raised his record to 34-1 with three victories in the qualifier, including a dominant performance in the 130-pound finale. He beat Sean Lippel of Lawrence, 13-4.
"So far, everything has gone according to plan for Deone," Adams explained. "His goal is to win the county title and he'll be one of the favorites in his weight class."
Senior Stephen Jones was victorious at 135 pounds, knocking off Chris Alvarez of Freeport to win it, 9-3. Jones, fourth in the county last winter, is 29-3. Junior Jose Rodriguez (140), a county runner-up, scored a convincing 11-4 victory over South's Nick Gericitano to take the qualifier while raising his record to 31-6.
"If Jose wrestles well, he'll be the one to beat," Adams said.
Senior Mark Kosta claimed the 145-pound title, pinning South's Sean Tobin in 3:04. Senior Thomas Murphy won at 160 with an impressive pin of Lawrence's Dominic Andreno, and junior Matt Jordan triumphed at 215 thanks to a 3-0 decision over Wilton Crespo of Freeport.
"We wrestled very aggressively for the most part," Adams said.
Two other Marines reached the finals of their respective weight classes but came up short. Eighth-grader Dane Davis (103 pounds) won a thrilling semifinal in overtime but was pinned by South senior Joe Moran in the final. Junior Jorge Herrera was the runner-up at 275 pounds.
Juniors Jesse Camac (171) and Andre Morris (275) finished fourth in their respective weight classes and also qualified for counties. Five other Marines who didn't advance to this weekend's big event earned All-League honors: senior Travis Brush, juniors Jawan Johnson and Keving Chaupiz, freshman Ryan Rodger and eighth-grader Juan Muena.
"We had optional practices in the mornings before school last week and a bunch of kids showed up," Adams said. "They've all worked hard."
The county tournament begins on Saturday at 9 a.m. and goes well into the evening hours. The semifinals and finals are Sunday beginning at Noon.
