By TONY BELLISSIMO
Such is the case at West Hempstead, which had 16 wrestlers at the Uniondale Tournament on Dec. 6 and only six entered in last Saturday's Nassau Division I qualifying tournament at Plainedge. Four were lost to injury, four withdrew from the program and two became academically ineligible.
"A lot of coaches I've talked to lost a bunch of kids for the same reasons we did," Rams coach Neil Testa said. "Because we're a fairly new and small program, it's more significant since we're not able to fill roughly half of the 13 weight classes."
Forfeiting as many as seven weights and spotting opponents up to 42 points (six points per forfeit) made it nearly impossible for West Hempstead to achieve victory, but a sweep of all four contested bouts Feb. 5 against Oceanside gave the Rams a satisfying 35-30 win after 14 straight dual meet losses. "Getting a victory was the highlight of the season," Testa said. "To see the kids react with such excitement was great. It was like we won a championship."
West Hempstead faced a 30-12 deficit after forfeit points were awarded to each side. Six of the Rams' points came courtesy of sophomore Joe Chaitan, who didn't wrestle but slimmed down to qualify for the 189-pound class where the Sailors had a vacancy. "Joe did it the right way by working hard," Testa said. "Nobody pushed him. He wanted to do it to help the team."
Junior Dominic Bonfiglio (215 pounds) got things started for the Rams with a thrilling third-period pin and freshman John LoNigro (103) followed by pinning his opponent in 46 seconds. Junior Zack Frigand (135) recorded a technical fall victory, then forfeit wins for Chaitan and junior Jason Sohan set the stage for senior Keith Cohen in the final match at 152. Cohen wasted little time, getting the job done with a pin in 57 seconds. "Keith was confident," Testa said. "He told me a pin was coming."
It wasn't the first time West Hempstead enjoyed success on the mat this winter. "We wrestled well in a lot of matches," explained Testa. "The scores didn't show it, but it was a victory in my eyes when the kids went out there and gave their all."
As the roster dwindled throughout the campaign, it became difficult to benefit as much as usual from practice. Though Testa never cut practice short, he sought help to improve the situation from his former high school coach, Tom Maddock, at Valley Stream North. "I called Mr. Maddock to ask if we can practice with his team and he welcomed us without hesitation," Testa said. "It helped tremendously."
Though no Rams advanced to Hofstra for the county championships, Frigand said they're already thinking about next season. "We're motivated to come back and do better," he said. "It was a tough season but nobody gave up."
Comments about this story? TBellissimo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
