__________________ SEAFORD _________________
HERALD When students become teachers
library joins wildlife group
2023 Honorary Patriots named
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Vol. 71 No. 7
FEBRUARY 9 - 15, 2023
$1.00
Blazing a scholarly trail all his own By MICHAEl MAlASZCZYK mmalaszczyk@liherald.com
Keith Rossein/Herald
Ellen Allard performs at Temple B’Nai Torah Temple B’Nai Torah welcomed Ellen Allard, center, a well-known musician in the Jewish music industry, last Saturday. With Allard were fellow performers, from left, Sean Cotty, Temple Cantor Rica Timman, Kevin Kelly and, second from right, Dave Mackie and Stacy Kelly. Third from right was the temple’s rabbi, Daniel Bar-Nahum.
Evan Thole arrives at Wantagh High School every day eager to learn — and said he wouldn’t have it any other way. The senior has declined to take lunch periods or study halls, and has a burning desire to gain even more knowledge, making him a viable candidate for the United States Presidential Scholars Program. Thole, a lifelong Wantagh resident, started out at Mandalay Elementary School, before attending Wantagh Middle School and eventually the high school. But Thole never saw himself
as just another grade in a book. And while his grades are high, he has always been determined to get more out of school than that. “To me, you get only so much time in high school,” Thole said. “And I wouldn’t really be happy with myself if I didn’t really take advantage of it, and took four study halls instead of classes. There’s only so much time in the day.” He’s passed on the lunch periods, too, to take as many classes as possible. His academic record speaks for itself — he has taken 14 Advanced Placement classes. He enrolled in three his sophomore year, three his junior year, Continued on page 2
Ashley Diaz notches a first at state wrestling tournament By MICHAEl MAlASZCZYK mmalaszczyk@liherald.com
Some years from now, you could be mentioning Ashley Diaz in the same breath as Ronda Rousey — or perhaps, more accurately, Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler Helen Maroulis, Diaz’s hero. Diaz, a junior at Seaford High School, is one of the first three girls to win a state championship in wrestling in New York — in her case, the 120-pound division. Diaz is a lifelong Seaford resident, having gone to Harbor Elementary School, Seaford Middle School, and now the high school. She is also a lifelong fighter, who
began officially wrestling at school in seventh grade. She had trained in sixth grade at Wantagh Youth Wrestling, and before that she had trained in Brazilian jiu jitsu for as long as she can remember. “I originally was a swimmer, and our school didn’t have a swim team,” Diaz said. “I knew I wanted to participate in a sport, so I tried wrestling and it stuck. And I liked it more than swimming.” Diaz trained under coach Ray Hanley at Wantagh Youth Wrestling, and recalls winning a match against a boy of similar size. “I felt bad,” Diaz said. “But
T
wenty years from now, we’ll look back and see how girls’ wrestling is so much bigger than it is now.
DAVE TAKSERAAS
Seaford wrestling coach Coach Hanley told my dad, ‘She’s gonna do this on the team.’” Diaz fought through the youth season in the program before starting seventh grade. There is only one wrestling team in the
high school, and it welcomes both female and male wrestlers. Under the tutelage of Seaford wrestling coach David Takseraas, Diaz has developed a high-powered offense that keeps her in every match, no matter how well her opponent is doing. “She shoots for the legs often,” Takseraas said. “She’s definitely an offensive wrestler. We have
some wrestlers that are more defensive, but Ashley is aggressive. So she always puts points on the board, and that’s why she’s in every match — because she can score.” Wrestling can be won either by pins or on points — through takedowns, escapes, and reversals at the end of three periods. Continued on page 4