Bellmore JFK County Qualifier – Feb. 4
The Herricks Highlanders competed in its county qualifier at Bellmore JFK High School on February 4. It was a very challenging qualifier 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 five 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 five 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 five Highlander place-winners from the previous week’s qualifier 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-finals. He lost in the semi-finals 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 finalist and state place winner, was first 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 finisher in the championship round and lost in the blood round to the eventual 6th place finisher. He was a top-eight finisher 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 first day.
Alex Cabrera, senior (285 lbs) – was eleventh seed in the weight class, went 3-2, losing to the 6th place finisher in the championship round and losing in the blood round to the eventual 5th place finisher. He was a top-eight finisher 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 finishers. He was a top twelve finisher 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 qualifiers 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 final. He had two wins by pin and another by decision before the finals loss. Mattei finished his high school career with 188 wins and 138 pins over five 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 Ghaffar (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. 11-13), 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)
