Sports Herricks wrestling season wrap-up

Joseph Mattie finishes 2nd in state tournament as Highlanders finish 29th out of 136 teams

BY SUSAN MATTEI

Bellmore JFK County Qualifer – Feb. 4

The Herricks Highlanders competed in its county qualifer at Bellmore JFK High School on February 4. It was a very challenging qualifer including MacArthur, Bellmore JFK, Levittown Division, Baldwin, Glen Cove, Roslyn, and Valley Stream North.

At the completion of the tournament, Herricks had the following eight All-Conference wrestlers, with top fve place-winners advancing to the County/Section Championship:

102 lbs (6th): Nehan Yasir

126 lbs (1st): Joseph Manfredi

132 lbs (1st): Michael Manfredi

160 lbs (1st): Joseph Mattei

189 lbs (2nd): Cooper LaRock

215 lbs (5th): Hughie Santosus

285 lbs (2nd): Alex Cabrera

285 lbs (3rd): Amr Ibrahim

In addition, Joseph Mattei earned the most pins in least time award with fve pins in 4:36 minutes.

Nassau County Championship – Feb. 11 and 12

On February 11 and 12, Herricks entered the Nassau County/Section 8 Wrestling Championship at Hofstra University. The top fve Highlander place-winners from the previous week’s qualifer at Bellmore JFK competed in the event. Each of the 13 weight classes had approximately 26 wrestlers seeded according to this season’s performance.

On Sunday, Feb. 12, Highlanders had three All-County wrestlers, including one champion. The following is how all the wrestlers performed:

Joseph Manfredi, junior (126 lbs) – defending 110 lb State and County champion, was third seed in the weight class, went 4-1 over the two days and advanced to the semi-fnals. He lost in the semi-fnals and placed 3rd, qualifying for the State tournament.

Michael Manfredi, senior (132 lbs) – a returning County place winner, was fourth seed in the weight class, went 3-2 in the tournament and placed 6th in the County.

Joseph Mattei, senior (160 lbs) – a returning County fnalist and state place winner, was frst seed in the weight class, went 5-0 and was crowned county champ. He did not have a single point scored on him during the entire tournament and also won the Tom Hennigan Most Pins Least Time award, with four pins in 4:11 minutes and also advanced to the State tournament.

Cooper LaRock, senior (189 lbs) – was sixth seed in the weight class, went 2-2, losing to the 3rd place fnisher in the championship round and lost in the blood round to the eventual 6th place fnisher. He was a top-eight fnisher in the County.

Hughie Santosus, sophomore (215 lbs) –was unseeded, lost two competitive matches in the championship and consolation rounds and was eliminated after the frst day.

Alex Cabrera, senior (285 lbs) – was eleventh seed in the weight class, went 3-2, losing to the 6th place fnisher in the championship round and losing in the blood round to the eventual 5th place fnisher. He was a top-eight fnisher in the County.

Amr Ibrahim, senior (285 lbs) – was twelfth seed in the weight class, was 3-2 on the day with losses to the eventual 1st and 6th place fnishers. He was a top twelve fnisher in the County.

The Herricks Highlanders ended up with 92 team points in the County/Section 8 Championship, placing eighth out of 40 teams.

New York State Championship – Feb. 24 and 25

On February 24 and 25, Herricks entered the New York State Wrestling Tournament Championship at the MVP Arena in Albany. The Highlanders had two qualifers from the Section Championship, Joseph Manfredi at 126 lbs and Joseph Mattei at 160 lbs. Manfredi earned the fourth seed while Mattei secured the third seed in a 21 man bracket. Unfortunately, shortly before the tournament began, Joseph Manfredi had to withdraw due to an illness.

Mattei went 3-1 in the tournament, placing second with a tough 7-6 loss in the fnal. He had two wins by pin and another by decision before the fnals loss. Mattei fnished his high school career with 188 wins and 138 pins over fve years of wrestling which included a lost year due to Covid in 2021.

The Herricks team ended up with 24 team points in the State Championship, tying for 29th place out of 136 teams.

Special thanks to Coaches Eric Goldberg, Thomas LaMaida and Robert Bianco for a great season and to all those who came out and supported the team.

The following are the wrestlers comprising the 2022-2023 Herricks Wrestling team with their season records:

Abbas Rizvi (Fr. 1-11), Rodin Rayany (Jr. 10-25), Dane Saji (So. 4-20), Raphael Cruz (Fr. 5-2), Brandon Leong (So. 7-17), Ryan Verma (Sr. 3-23), Ayaan Ghafar (So. 19-8), Joseph Manfredi (Fr. 46-2), Enzo Peralta (So. 19-15), Alex Espinoza (Capt. Sr. 11-17), Jesus Yeh (Jr. 9-22), Ayaan Sharma (Fr. 6-7), Michael Manfredi (Capt. Sr. 27-3), Earfon Rad (So 15-9), Joshua Lee (Fr 7-4), Samir Ebrahim (Jr 20-14), Riley Royals (Jr), Landon Lee (8th 25-9), Orlando Salinas (Sr. 2-4), Matthew Rapa (Jr. 12-9), Varnith Samala (Fr. 0-5), Jesse Royals (Jr. 1113), Yuvraj Singh (Fr. 2-19), Jonathan Penfold (Fr. 2-0), Jonathan Sukhraj (Jr. 14-13), Joseph Mattei (Capt. Sr. 42-3.), Nawat Tipmanee (Jr. 7-10), James Maggio (Fr.3-8), Joseph Puvogel (Jr. 7-12), Aryan Sharma (So. 9-6), Cooper LaRock (Capt. 31-10), Shuo Rosario (Jr. 5-5), Jake Stein (Fr. 0-8), Jaime Sanchez (So. 5-17), Hughie Santosus (So. 22-14), Costas Dafnos (Fr. 10-16), Kiriakos Dafnos (So. 14-13), Alex Cabrera (Sr. 26-3), Amr Ibrahim (Sr. 27-10)