Cyclones Qualify Five Wrestlers for County Tournament

South Side High School held its own in a seven-team tournament at MacArthur High School on Saturday, finishing fifth with a total of 141 team points. The team qualified five of its wrestlers for a Feb. 12 county tourney at Nassau Community College, and had two wrestlers compete in the finals, both taking second place. 

Wrestlers who finished in the top four of each weight class in each tournament qualify for the county tourney.

James Rodriguez at 140 pounds and Christian Lethbridge at 171 pounds both brought home silver medals and put on impressive performances for their head coach.

“We have had a lot of ups and downs this year,” Coach Jason Washington said. “Our guys worked really well.”

Lethbridge has come a long way in the eyes of his coach, from a struggling freshman who had trouble winning matches, to one of the top wrestlers in the county at 171.

“He told me he just wanted to have fun wrestling and he has done very well ever since,” Washington said. “It is great to see him rise up and do well.”

South Side Qualifying Wrestlers

• 96 pounds, Thomas Cozier, Third
• 103 pounds, Ryan Holzgruber, Third
• 140 pounds, James Rodriguez, Second
• 171 pounds, Christian Lethbridge, Second
• 215  pounds, Steve Meoli, Second

Clarke

The Clarke Rams finished in the middle of the pack in fourth place with 158.5 team points, and qualified eight of its own for the county tournament.

Coach Mike Leonard said he was proud of his team's hard work, and felt there was one key that got his guys over the hump. “Hustle,” coach Leonard said. “Our guys showed a lot of it out there today.”

Mike Leonard, son of the Clarke coach, took first place at 125 pounds and earned the designation of Most Outstanding Wrestler. Despite his success, the victory is just one step for the senior who has finished third the last two years in the county tournament.

“I’ve finished third twice, and I'm sick of losing. I want to win it all this year,” Leonard said. Clarke's other finalist Vinny Lombardo (152) and Mo Muzzamai (285) each took second in the tournament.

MacArthur

The Generals won yet another tournament with a total of 382 team points. The team qualified 17 wrestlers with seven of them taking home gold.

“We worked hard all year,” head coach Rob Paletta said. “This is the time of year that we have all been working for.”

Senior Frank Medeiros at 152 pounds was one of the first-place winners for MacArthur. He took home the award for most pins with four in a total time of seven minutes and 10 seconds combined over four matches.

Were you at the qualifiers?