By STEVE SINISKI
, held at the Times Union Arena in Albany. And the East Meadow senior, a two-time runner-up at the Nassau County Championships didn¹t waste the chance to battle with the best opponents in the state. He finished the weekend with a 5-1 mark and took third place in the 152-pound weight class with a 9-5 decision over Jim Kaden of Walt Whitman (Section XI).
³He saved his best for last,² Jets coach Tom Reynolds said of Hanna, who now has 116 wins under his belt. ³For two days he thought his career was over. But when he got the information [about the wild card] he had new life. He said he would take the opportunity and make the most of it.²
For the first time in the history of the state tournament, four wild cards were added to each weight class from around New York based on their career performance in local County Championship tournaments, career won/loss differential and the performance of their sectional teams in prior state meets. Few wrestlers who earned the wild-card berths had been so painstakingly close to a County Championship during their careers as Hanna, who lost in overtime in the 2006 Nassau County Finals and dropped a one-point decision to Long Beach¹s Eduardo Delgado on Feb. 19, during the 2007 Championships. He finished as a runner-up in Nassau County three times during his career.
But on Friday¹s tournament, it didn¹t take long for Hanna to establish himself, as he scored a resounding 21-8 decision in the first round over Massena¹s Thomas Barreiro (Section X). He increased his score into the 20-point stratosphere by scoring on a number of five-point moves. The offensive flurry put Hanna at the top of his weight class in terms of points in a single match last weekend. ³He wrestled the best six matches of his career,² Reynolds said.
Hanna tasted his only defeat of the two-day event in the quarterfinals, dropping an 8-7 decision to Fulton¹s Matt Bogardus. A victory would have put him on a collision course with Delgado for the third time this year, but the loss sent Hanna into the wrestleback rounds where he truly began to shine. He defeated Adrian Ngo of Johnson City (Section IV), 6-5, then pinned Pioneer¹s (Section VI) Joe Gottstine at the 2:56 mark of the second period. His fourth victory was another high-scoring decision (12-2) over Nick Fratto of Geneva (Section V). ³He had an attitude like he had nothing to lose and everything to gain,² Reynolds said of Hanna after the defeat.
When the dust settled on Hanna¹s third-place finish, it became clear that his talent had left an impact. Not only did he defeat five wrestlers from five different areas of New York State, he had again put his own exciting stamp on the Times Union Arena. ³It¹s been fun watching him,² Reynolds said. ³His goal was to be a County champ and it didn¹t work out, but he did accomplish something. It¹s probably tougher to take third than win it.²
Consider that the state champion at 152 pounds, Islip¹s Lance Wade (Section XI), had four opponents over the two days while Hanna managed to squeeze in an extra two bouts against the top competition. And without the wild card, not only would Wade, also a wild-card entrant, be without a state title, but the top-seeded wrestler in the class would have had one fewer opponent thanks to a first-round bye.
Calhoun coach Gregg Muscarella, who also had a wrestler from his Colts team earn a wild-card berth, agrees with the adjustment to the system and sees Hanna as the proof in the pudding. ³The wild card is a long time coming,² he said. ³It gives kids the opportunity who are greatly deserving of it. It¹s a breath of fresh air to know that you¹re not leaving kids home that have the credentials.²
