Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Hewlett wrestling team made history Presidents Day weekend at Hofstra’s Mack Sports Complex by producing multiple county champions for the first time since the program’s re-launch nearly a decade ago.
Junior Lucas Pincus and senior Mike Curiel captured titles at the Nassau Division I individual wrestling championships on Feb. 14 and will next advance to face the state’s top grapplers in late February. The first place showings by Pincus and Curiel mark four individual county titles for Hewlett since the program’s reboot in 2007 and first year there has been more than one champion on the podium.
“This was big for us,” Hewlett coach Stephen Jones said. “It was great for the program.”
Pincus defeated Lynbrook’s Matt Swanson in the 138-pound final, 7-4 in a match he had control of most of the way. He placed third at 132 pounds in last year’s county championships. “He is a beast,” said Jones of Pincus, who has wrestled on varsity since eighth grade. “He is battle-tested.”
Curiel captured the heavyweight division with a 3-2 overtime victory against Ryan O’Shea of MacArthur. The Hewlett senior managed to ride O’Shea out for the last 30 seconds and avoid an escape that would have cost him the match. He placed second last year fueling his desire to go out on top as a senior.
“Mike has been rolling all year,” Jones said. “He did what it took to win.”
Jones said Curiel and Pincus are both capable of strong showings at the New York State Championships at the Times Union Center in Albany this weekend. He said competing against some of New York’s top wrestlers at tournaments like the Eastern States should pay dividends.
“Both of these guys have wrestled the best in the state all year,” said Jones. “I think they both could make a run.”
Seniors Terry Micourt and Anthony Cancellarich also excelled on the Hofstra stage earning All-County honors. Micourt rallied for a third place finish with a 7-3 win against Plainedge’s Ryan Coder in the consolation finals 7-3 after losing to him twice during the season. Cancellarich missed much of his senior campaign with mononucleosis and came in sixth place in the counties.
Hewlett placed seventh overall for the county in total points despite being without former champion Owen Bachelder, whose senior season ended with a knee injury. Senior Jared Magnone and junior Wyatt McMahon shined in the counties and suffered hard-fought defeats in the rounds to place.
With mostly freshman on the roster that earned valuable experience against top-notch competition, Jones is excited about the future of the program. He credits his assistant coaches Ryan Murphy, Nick Khoury, Oliver Astone and Steven Sewkumar along with youth coach Ken Rosenberg for being huge catalysts in the momentum of Hewlett wrestling.
“The program is growing in Hewlett,” he said. “We should have a great team for years to come.”
