Thursday, October 1, 2026
Oceanside’s wrestling team entered this season with several questions marks in its lineup after multiple key performers expected back decided not to return. But coach Julio Flores remains very confident in the pieces that do remain in place on his squad, and still expects big things from the Sailors this winter.
“We’re still pretty tough,” Flores said. “We lost some of our top caliber guys, but we still have a lot of hope and should still be top three in the conference.”
Oceanside opened its season with a win over Calhoun, followed by a loss to Lynbrook. The Sailors then suffered a tough defeat in a match with Long Beach on Dec. 18, but was able to bounce back strong in the South Side Tournament the following day.
“After a big loss to Long Beach, the kids came into the tournament the next day and most of them placed top four,” Flores said. “That shows a lot of heart and confidence from them.”
This year’s Sailors’ team is led by a talented group of lightweights. One wrestler Flores has high hopes for is 99-pound Dan Fishman. “We think he could be top three in the county this year,” Flores said. “He’s tough, talented, and very coachable.”
In the 113-pound class, Oceanside returns Quinn O’Rourke, who placed second in both the county and qualifier tournaments last season.
Mike Fishman, and twin brothers Malique Hyde and Maquie Hyde, all clock in at close to 120, and will be looked towards for big things in 2016.
John Cannella (132) is also back in the Sailors lineup, after finishing all-conference last year. He also took fourth place in last year’s qualifiers, after a broken collarbone prevented him from participating in the county tournament.
At the 152-pound level, Flores believes Brian Kiesche could be in store for a breakout season.
“He’s really picked it up and found his mojo,” he said. “He’s wrestling very technical this year and he’s gotten a whole lot better, so hopefully something good will happen to him at the end of the season.”
The coach also is excited about 170-pound C.J. Kearney, who he says has been looking very confident in the early going.
“He took fourth at the South Side tournament,” Flores said. “He beat some good kids and pulled out some big wins after trailing early on. I think he can do some damage this year.”
Oceanside still has plenty of challenging matchups ahead of them in 2016, beginning with a battle against East Meadow this week. Last year the Sailors were defeated by the Jets, and Flores is excited to see how his team stacks up against them this season.
“In last year’s matchup, we lost eight matches by just one or two points. It was definitely a match that could have gone either way,” Flores said. “We are hurting in our lineup this year, but our kids have a lot of heart, and I think we can still make something happen against them.”
