Thursday, October 1, 2026
Jason Martin has been on a mission for a year.
And there was no denying the Mepham senior in what was his last opportunity to become a Nassau County wrestling champion.
Martin, the top seed, overcame an early deficit to defeat defending champ Josh Kama of Farmingdale, 10-4, in the 190-pound Division I title match Sunday evening at Hofstra University’s Mack Sports Complex.
Martin, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler, was pinned by Kama in last season’s semifinals.
“It feels just incredible,” Martin said. “This has been a longtime dream and I’ve been working for five years towards it. I was training all season for this match and felt if I made the finals, he [Kama] would be the opponent and I’m glad it was him. He’s a great athlete and a great kid and I’m so grateful to win.
“I set high expectations for myself, but at the same time I try not to put too much pressure on myself,” he added.
Kama, the No. 2 seed, scored the first four points of the match before Martin ripped off 10 unanswered.
“We knew the deeper the match went, the better it was for Jason,” Mepham coach Ken Richards said. “Beating Kama is no easy task. We know how athletic and great of a wrestler he is, Jason didn’t panic down 4-0. He’s been in every situation there is over the years and he came up big in the biggest spot.”
Martin, who earned All-County in each of the previous two seasons as well, will take a record of 31-1 to the New York State championships Feb. 27-28 at Albany’s Times Union Center and he’ll be joined by senior teammate Jack Weber, who beat Kama in a challenge match for second place to punch his ticket. Martin topped Weber in Sunday morning’s semifinals, 6-3.
“I’m looking to go up there and have a fun time and get All-State,” Martin said of finishing in the top six in Albany. “If I can make it to the finals, even better.”
Weber’s only loss of the tournament came to Martin. On Saturday, Weber knocked off Kennedy’s Michael Polizzi by major decision, 13-5, and beat Jericho’s James Wang, 7-2 in the quarterfinals. His key wrestleback victory came Sunday afternoon over Calhoun’s Gianni Castiglia, 5-4.
“He’s one of the hardest workers in our room,” Richards said of Weber, who has a record of 41-4. “What separates him is how well he prepares and takes care of his body.”
The Pirates, who placed seventh in the county, had two others reach the All-County podium.
Junior Paul Genovese split his first two matches and battled back to get fourth at 165 pounds. His podium-clinching win was a 9-6 double-overtime decision over Jericho’s Brad Rosembarg.
Senior Christopher Notti took fourth at 138. He reached the semifinals where he came up just short against Freeport’s Christian Mccravey, 12-9, but rebounded to edge Long Beach’s Matthew Diamond, 2-1, in his next match.
