Herricks Wrestling – Jan. 3 to Jan. 11

The Island Now

Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK
The Herricks Highlanders (overall 3-1, conf 1-1) hosted the Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK Hawks on Jan. 3, in the mecca of wrestling, the Herricks Community Center. Coaches Goldberg, LaMaida and Bianco strategically aligned their wrestlers against the Hawks. The Highlanders won the first seven of the fifteen matches, decisively winning the overall match by 47-24.

The Herricks team received pins from Kumel Arif (113), Captain Cole LaRock (160), and Ruiz Kamaruszaman (170), technical falls from brothers Joe Manfredi (99) and Michael Manfredi (106), a major decision from Aaron Cho (120), decisions by Joe Mattei (126), Captain Sal Puliafico (132), and Marcus Osieczkowski (138), and a win by forfeit for Amr Ibrahm (285).

Wrestling well but losing included Kevin Chan (145), Justin Chin (152), Captain Daniel Mattei (182), Cooper LaRock (195) and Nate Dowd (285).

Herricks New Year’s Tournament
On Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020, Herricks hosted their annual New Year’s tournament in the mecca of wrestling, the Herricks Community Center. Teams that entered the tournament included Nassau squads from Hempstead and Sewanhaka West, Huntington and St. John the Baptist from Suffolk and PSAL schools Edward R Murrow and Baruch.

Coaches Goldberg, LaMaida and Bianco had their team prepared. It was a long fruitful day for all grapplers in the tournament wrestling on three mats with each wrestler getting four-five matches each. The Highlanders competed fiercely all day and came away with the following place winners:

Varsity
99 lbs. (1st) – Joseph Manfredi
106 lbs. (2nd) – Kumel Arif
106 lbs. (4th) – Michael Manfredi
113 lbs. (5th) – Daniel Dunn
120 lbs. (5th) – John Pappas
126 lbs. (2nd) – Aaron Cho
126 lbs. (2nd) – Sal Puliafico
132 lbs. (1st) – Joseph Mattei
138 lbs. (5th) – Marcus Osieczkowski
160 lbs. (1st) – Ruiz Kamaruszaman
160 lbs. (2nd) – Georgious Tsoumpariotis
170 lbs. (1st) – Daniel Mattei
170 lbs. (3rd) – Franco Dimilta
182 lbs. (2nd) – Cooper Larock
220 lbs. (2nd)- Matt Polo
220 lbs. (5th) – Nate Dowd
285 lbs. (5th) – Amr Ibrahim

Junior Varsity
113 lbs. (3rd) – Asim Ebrahim
138 lbs. (4th) – Kevin Chan
138 lbs. (6th) – Alex Espinosa

South Side/East Rockaway
On Jan. 8, 2020 the Herricks Highlanders (overall 4-1, conf 2-1) hosted South Side/East Rockaway for another conference match. The competition was fierce and the Highlanders won the match 48-25 and secured a berth in the County dual meet championships. Everyone contributed to this impressive conference win.

Captain Cole LaRock (152) started the match with a win by pin in the first period, which was followed by two losses by pin at 160 lbs. (Ruiz Kamaruszaman) and 170 lbs (Ali Shahid). Herricks got these points right back by forfeit wins at 182 lbs (Captain Daniel Mattei) and 195 lbs. (Krish Patel). Matt Polo (220) won a close match by decision and Nate Dowd (285) pinned his opponent in the second period. Joe Manfredi, currently ranked No.1 in the county at 99 lbs., wrestled the No. 2 ranked wrestler and won a close 5-2 decision. Herricks then dropped the next three matches at 106 lbs 6-0 (Michael Manfredi), 113 lbs. 12-3 (Kumel Arif) and 120 lbs. 6-5 (Aaron Cho), but turned it around with three wins by pin at 126 lbs. (Captain Sal Puliafico), 132 lbs. (Joseph Mattei) and 138lbs (Kailen McCauley). The final match of the evening was a hard-fought loss by Marcus Osieczkowski at 145 lbs. 14-6.

In second man matches, Herricks got victories from Danny Dunn (113), Kevin Chan (138), Alex Espinoza (145), Zach Montalbano (160), Avinash Chopra (160), Franco Dimilta (170) and Amr Ibrahim (285). Wrestling well but coming up short were Orlando Salinas (120) and Ploy Timpanee (126).

Baldwin Tournament and the Eastern States
On Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, Herricks entered a very competitive Baldwin tournament along with fourteen other teams from Nassau and Suffolk: Baldwin, Carle Place, East Meadow, Lindenhurst, Locust Valley, MacArthur, Massapequa, Roslyn, Sewanhaka East, Valley Stream South, Connetquot, Miller Place, and Westhampton Beach. There were many elite and top-ranked wrestlers from both counties spread throughout the brackets.

Coaches Goldberg, LaMaida and Bianco entered 11 of their varsity wrestlers in the tournament producing five place winners:
120 lbs. (5th)– Aaron Cho
126 lbs. (4th)- Sal Puliafico
132 lbs. (3rd)- Joseph Mattei
145 lbs. (3rd)- Marcus Osieczkowski
220 lbs. (4th)- Matthew Polo

On Jan. 10 and 11, three wrestlers: Joseph Manfredi 99 lbs., Michael Manfredi 106 lbs., and Ploy Tipmanee 126 lbs. in girls division, traveled to SUNY Sullivan in Loch Sheldrake, NY to wrestle in the highly competitive Eastern States Classic. Joseph Manfredi earned a 4th place finish while brother Michael and Ploy wrestled well but did not place in the tournament.

Submitted by Susan Mattei

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