So far, the Mineola Mustangs wrestling team has had an excellent comeback year this season with nine wins and five losses, qualifying to wrestle in the Nassau County Dual Meet Championship which is made up of the top 24 teams in Nassau County.
The Mustangs won its first round match in an upset over Conference 1 Team, East Meadow High School. The score ended up being tied at 42-42 with the Mustangs winning on the criteria of most bouts won. The Mustangs won eight bouts compared to East Meadow’s seven.
It was an exciting match with it coming down to 145-pound wrestler Vin Pomara, a junior at Mineola High School whose 9-5 victory sealed the win for the Mustangs. However, the Mustangs were defeated in the round of 16 by number two seed, Massapequa High School. Still, it was an excellent achievement by the Mustangs who finished as one of the top 16 Dual Meet teams within the county.
The Mustangs are comprised of a very young team who are led by the team’s only senior, Ryan Sullivan. Sullivan is a 126-pounder with a 16-1 record at this point in the season. Also on the team is junior and co-captain, Jack Duff (138 pounds) with a 19-6 record followed by Pomara who has won 10 matches so far and junior Juik Kim (132 pounds) with a 16-3 record.
The two sophomores on the team are Juan Flores (113 pounds) with a 22-7 record and co-captain Ericson Velasquez (160 pounds) with a 21-3 record.
Finishing up the team’s roster, are the following freshmen:
Mike McCormack (99 pounds) with a 16-7 record, Juan Echeverry (106 pounds) with a 21-7 record, Matheus Silva (120 pounds) with a 22-3 record, Ezequiel Claros (132 pounds) with a 18-8 record, Joe Acevedo (152 pounds) with a 10-2 record, Alex Molina (170 pounds) with a 14-8 record, Nick Iuvara (182 pounds) with a 8-4 record, John Shalumov (220 pounds) with a 5-5 record and substitute Dan Galan (160 pounds) with a 13-4 record.
The Mustangs also have an excellent junior varsity group, with the following wrestlers:
Emil Sabu (99 pounds), Melvin Fuente (113 pounds), Vin Ciminelli (113 pounds), Master Detres (126 pounds), John Haziri (126 pounds), Kieran Gilbert (126 pounds), Geovanny Morales (132 pounds), John Salcedo (132 pounds), Luis Goncalves (145 pounds), Justin Goncalves (160 pounds), Dave Huang (160 pounds), Rinoy Thomas (170 pounds) and James Anfolisi (220 pounds).
Some of the wrestlers on the team have won varsity tournaments as well with Velasquez and Duff winning the Valley Stream North Tournament.
Velasquez, Duff, Sullivan and Claros all won the Glen Cove Tournament with Claros winning the “Most Outstanding Wrestler” award for Mineola.
The Mineola Mustangs still have three matches left to go and will be up against Mepham High School, Calhoun High School and Great Neck South High School. After that, it is the Nassau County Qualifying Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 3, followed by the Nassau County Championships on Saturday, Feb. 10.
