Outdoor Wrestling Festival To Honor Late Walt Whitman HS Coach

SOUTH HUNTINGTON, NY — Wrestling mats will stretch end zone to end zone on the football field at Walt Whitman High School for the annual Vin Altebrando Outdoor Wrestling Festivalhosted by the school's wrestling program, the district announced.

The event is slated for 10 a.m. Saturday.

The tournament is the premier outdoor wrestling festival in New York, the school district wrote. Altebrando first came up with the idea, and after his sudden death, his family, friends and colleagues brought it to life. The event is presented in partnership with the Wildcat Booster Club.

The festival, first held in 2018, honors the life and legacy of Altebrando, a beloved Walt Whitman wrestling coach. Altebrando died in April 2018 at the age of 51 from a rare autoimmune disease.

This year's meet will raise money for Maggie’s Mission, an organization that supports families with children diagnosed with pediatric cancers. In addition to the outdoor wrestling matches, the festival will feature a DJ, raffles, and food.

Spectators can set up lawn chairs and blankets. In the past, the festival has had more than 300 wrestlers of all skill levels, male and female, competing for the Hammer Trophy.

Maggie's Mission, based in Greenlawn, was founded in September 2017 after the Schmidt family lost their daughter, Maggie, to cancer on June 1, 2017. She was 17.

Maggie was a healthy, vibrant 16-year-old when she was diagnosed with malignant rhabdoid tumors (MRT) in October 2016. The cancer is very rare and aggressive, the foundation wrote.

Maggie, her family, her oncologist, and a team of doctors and nurses at MSK Kids, Memorial Sloan Kettering pediatrics program, worked to battle the cancer with various chemotherapy treatments and surgeries.

"Cancer robbed her of a full life," the foundation wrote. "This was a difficult and painful journey for such a young person, yet Maggie faced her situation with courage and dignity. Maggie asked us before she died to help other children and young adults dealing with this devastating disease. It's a request we haven’t taken lightly."

Maggie's Mission has since raised more than $2 million, donating to fund MRT pediatric cancer research; assisting children and families affected; organizing a meal program; awarding scholarships; and giving to a food pantry.

The Walt Whitman High School Football Field is at 301 W. Hills Road, Huntington Station.