Thursday, October 1, 2026
Carlos Salazar added another Nassau County wrestling title to his trophy case after capturing his third straight last Sunday afternoon at Hofstra University’s David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
The No. 1-seeded Hewlett High School junior beat No. 2 Andrew Poh, 13-3 by major decision, in the 126-pound Division I title match to once again punch his ticket to the New York State championships.
“It feels good,” Salazar said. “It’s always a nice thing to have when you walk away and leave the arena with a nice feeling.”
It wasn’t just the 10-point victory against Valley Stream North’s Poh that sealed his fate; it was the three other matches over the course of last Saturday and Sunday that showed pure dominance. Salazar entered the weekend as a strong favortie in his weight class and won all four matches by a combined 57-6.
In the second round, he beat Bethpage’s Alex Neuman 17-2 by way of tech fall. Then on Saturday afternoon, he beat Manhasset’s Lucus Pai 10-0 by major decision in the quarterfinals.
Salazar clinched the title match with a commanding 17-1 tech fall win over Farmingdale’s Aiden Squitieri on Sunday morning.
“When I was first here for my first county finals appearance, I was a little nervous,” Salazar said. “I just learned how to get used to that. The nerves go away and you become a vet to it.”
In a few weeks, Salazar will cap off his junior season, but he enters states with a 34-4 record this season and 174-37 overall. Hewlett coach John Khoury said Carlos is an animal and when he gets to his stuff, he’s pretty much unstoppable.
“Carlos is very dominant,” Khoury added. “We wrestled Poh at Eastern States, 7-2 match. We knew we were a little bit more physical than he was, but I’m very proud of him.”
Last winter, Salazar finished in seventh place at states after finishing eighth as a freshman. With another crack at a state title, Salazar has his eyes on the prize.
“I want to win the state tournament,” said Salazar, who last season became Hewlett’s first-ever two-time All-State wrestler. “If I do, that would be a dream come true. I work so hard for this, put in a lot of time and effort. I want a state title,” he added.
“We’re trying to win it all this year,” Khoury said.
Last season, Salazar beat Jake Strianese of Oceanside in the 124-pound county title match, 7-3,. Salazar’s first county title came two seasons ago when he won a 5-4 decision over Gregory Walpole of Long Beach for the 116-pound title.
Next stop for Salazar is the state's capital, Albany, where he’ll compete for a state title Feb. 27-28 at the Times Union Center.
