The Port Washington Viking wrestlers had a busy and successful month in January.
On Jan. 10, the Vikings headed to Jericho High School to compete in the Jericho Duals. After defeating three teams, Port finished as tournament champion.
Next was a trip to top ranked Long Beach. Port entered the match down a number of starters due to injury and illness but had a few outstanding performances. At 126 Sam Goldman led the charge by dismantling one of Long Beach’s tougher opponents by a score of 13-0. Next, Teddy Tanenbaum had a rematch of last year’s 4-3 victory in the Nassau Qualifying Finals against John Colletti. This time Tanenbaum shut down his opponent by 3-0. At 195 lbs., Elmer Mendez would match his teammate Goldman by downing his opponent, also by a score of 13-0. In perhaps the most exciting match of the night, senior Michael Petty defeated one of the top wrestlers in both the county and nation while upending Charlie Spada by a close score of 9-7.
On Jan. 16, the Vikings were in front of a large home crowd for their annual Family, Friends, & Alumni Night. This was a special night due to the fact the Viking wrestling program chose to dedicate and rename the event in honor of the late Mr. AJ Gober, who was and always will be known as an amazing teacher, as well as the “Voice of the Vikings” at sporting events, including all home wrestling matches. His booming voice could be heard by all as he sent the Viking wrestlers out onto the mat for battle. For his dedication to the student-athletes and sports programs at Schreiber this event will now forever be known as the AJ Gober “Voice of the Vikings” night. To cap off an already terrific and emotional evening, the Vikings’ new announcer Mr. CJ Gober, AJ’s son, sent the Vikings onto the mat to see them crush conference rival Herricks High School by a score of 55-24. Highlights included pins by Sam Goldman, Teddy Tanenbaum, and Zach Avasis, plus big wins by freshman Brandon Liu 18-4, and senior Jonny Greenblatt 8-5.
The following morning the Vikings took a bus to Kellenberg High School to compete in one of the toughest tournaments on the island that weekend. While the Vikings only brought a handful of seasoned wrestlers to this event, many brought home hardware. No. 2 ranked wrestler in Nassau County Elmer Mendez finished in first place after pinning the No. 1 ranked wrestler in Nassau from Massapequa. Elmer continues his high level of training and is looking forward to the post-season. Senior Michael Petty finished a strong fourth and Jonny Greenblatt fifth in a field consisting of some of the best wrestlers in Nassau and Suffolk counties. Junior Teddy Tanenbaum, currently ranked sixth in Nassau County, finished third after losing to last season’s state champion from Locust Valley. Sophomore Mikey Nahas took home second place after fighting his way into the finals of yet another tough tournament and freshman Brandon Liu again showed that off-season training makes a difference while taking home a well-earned third place.
To cap off a terrific regular season of wrestling, Port finished at home while hosting the 14th Annual Busby Classic Tournament. This tournament is named after former longtime coach and National Wrestling Hall of Fame member Robert Busby. With Coach “Buzz” in attendance, the Vikings went 4-0 and were crowned tournament champions, defeating North Shore, Bellmore JFK, Mineola, and Mt. Hope high schools. Mt. Hope, one of the best schools competing in New England, joined the classic last season, coming all the way from Rhode Island. Former Viking wrestler and assistant coach Anthony Coccarelli happens to be a friend and former teammate of the Mt. Hope coach, having both wrestled for Roger Williams University. The Vikings are fortunate that Coach Coccarelli was able to use his longtime connection to bring such a great out-of-state team to Schreiber High School.
With the leadership of longtime Head Coach Anthony Schettino and his great staff of coaches: Dave Foxen, Dean Zenie, Anthony Coccarelli and Joe Doria, the Viking wrestlers are in great hands, and in great shape to make a run during the post-season. Who knows how high our Viking’s will finish the season, but what we do know is this program is a successful, caring and thriving program that consists of many extremely hardworking young men and women.
Congratulations and good luck to our Viking coaches and wrestlers during the post-season.
Current top Nassau County ranked Viking wrestlers:
106 Mike Nahas, 126 Sam Goldman, 132 Teddy Tanenbaum,
195 Anton Livshin, 220 Elmer Mendez.
Honorable Mention: 106 Brandon Liu, 126 Jonny Greenblatt, 145 Michael Petty, 152 Brian Carstens, 285 Diego Alvarez
Next up:
Feb. 13-15: Nassau County Championships at Hofstra University
Feb. 27-28: State Championships
at Albany
