Simons cops county title, places fifth at states
Joe Simons of Farmingdale is the latest Daler to earn a spot in the state wrestling tournament.
The junior, grappling at 138 pounds, won the Nassau County Division I wrestling title on Feb. 11 at Hofstra University. He beat Tyler DeSena of Garden City 14-8 in the final.
Two other wrestlers did well for the Dalers at the county championships. Josh DeSousa pinned Dan Morales (Plainview JFK), 1:46 in the 220-lb. consolation final to place third. Alex Almonte, at 113 lbs., lost the consolation finals to George Oroudjov of Syosset and placed fourth.
Wantagh, which went on to win the state Division I team title, outdistanced Massapequa 291.5 to 264.5 to garner the county championship. Farmingdale placed ninth with 100 points.
Simons went on to place fifth in his weight class at the New York State Wrestling Championships, held Feb. 23-24 in Albany. Here is Simons’ path to fifth place:
Opening Round
- Beat seventh-ranked Thomas Monacan of Niskayuna (Albany area) with a technical fall at 5:48.
- Lost a 10-1 decision to second-ranked and eventual state champ Chris Gomez of Patchogue Medford.
Consolation Round
- Beat Jacob DeWolf of Niagara Wheatfield via injury at 1:50.
- Beat third-ranked Mason Wesinger of Spencerport (Rochester area) with a pin at 1:00.
- Lost an 8-6 decision to fifth-ranked Garrett Bauer of Jamesville DeWitt (Albany area).
- Pinned Ty Raines of Churchville (Rochester area) at 1:57 in the fifth/sixth place match.
“Joe wrestled a strong tournament, and compiled a record of 4-2,” said coach Ken Garcia. “Joe used a perfectly executed step through cutback to secure the fall [against Wesinger], during the all-state round which is also known as the ‘blood round.’ Joe went on to win his last match by fall using a body lock suplex throw to secure the pin.”
County Qualifier
The following Farmingdale grapplers won the championship finals in their respective classes at the Nassau Division 1 Qualifier, held Feb. 3 at Plainedge High School. The qualifiers were held at six different sites and 42 schools participated as grapplers vied for a spot in the county tournament.
99: Sean Driscoll major decisioned Ryan Napadano (Plainedge), 12-0. Driscoll also won the Most Pins In Least Time award, pinning three opponents in a time span of two minutes and twenty seconds; 113: Alex Almonte decisioned Paul Wehr (Baldwin), 8-4; 138: Joe Simons defeated Mike Ciuffo (Plainedge) by default; 152: Jalees Briggs decisioned Antonino DiLeonardo (Plainedge), 6-2; 170: Nicholas Franco pinned Ademi Aderwale (Baldwin), 0:54; 220: Josh DeSousa pinned Francisco Cabrera (Herricks), 4:52; 285–Ryan Charleston (information was not available).
The following also placed at the qualifiers: Second place: 182–Chris Charleston; Third place: 106–Matthew Cestare, 120–Nicholas Demeri; Fourth place: 99–Matt Gallo, 106–Stephen Kessler, 132–Mark Bakich, 145–Bishop Wilkerson; Fifth place: 99–Tim Bazelewicz, 285–Victor Murillo.
Coach’s Comment
“The season was very successful and we finished with a dual meet record of 12-4,” said Garcia. “The team was led by senior captains Mark Bakich, Ryan Charleston and Victor Murillo. Other seniors include Sean Driscoll, Alison Solis and Josh DeSousa. The team finished as undefeated Conference I Champions (6-0) and made it to the “Elite 8” of the Nassau Dual Meet Championships. Both Ryan Charleston and Joe Simons reached the highly coveted ‘century mark’ with over 100 career wins each.”
