Island Trees Wrestling Takes Fifth Place in Nassau County

Submitted by Island Trees Athletics.

The Island Trees Wrestling team recently took 5th place in the Nassau County Wrestling Championships held at Hofstra University.

The Bulldogs placed five wrestlers in the top six of their respective weight classes. The team was led by senior Thomas Sinclair, who became the first county champion for Island Trees since 1988. Over the past 25 years, the Bulldogs had sent 13 wrestlers to the finals without a victory.

On Tuesday, Feb. 12 Sinclair used a late 3rd period escape to clinch the victory and put his name in the history books at Island Trees. Joining Sinclair in the finals was sophomore Chris Donnelly, who used a third period takedown to earn a berth in the gold medal match.

In the finals, Donnelly lost a decision to eventual state champion Kyle Quinn of Wantagh. Donnelly, however, was awarded a wildcard to the state tournament.

Other place-winners for the Bulldogs were senior Brandon Cassar, who took 4th at 182 lbs. Brandon lost a tough 4-3 semifinal match to all-state wrestler Robert Ng of Plainedge. Junior Vinny Manna also placed 5th at 285 lbs. After two early wins, Vinny found himself in the semi-finals against Bryan Tenny of Farmingdale. After the match ended at 1-1 in regulation, Vinny lost on a late takedown in the first overtime.

Rounding out the place-winners for the Bulldogs was senior Lucas Panebianco. Lucas went to the semi-finals where he lost a tough decision to Mike Marrero of MacArthur. Lucas ends his career as a two- time place winner for the Bulldogs. Senior Kevin Strauss won a tough opening round match by pin. Unfortunately, Kevin lost a close 3-1 decision in the quarterfinals. 

Another wrestler of note was sophomore Matt Gund, who after winning his first match, lost a tough 4-3 decision to the number one seed. In the wrestlebacks, Matt lost a tough 7-6 decision to 4th place finisher Naquan Warren of Farmingdale. At 285 pounds, sophomore Paul Parada won his first bout by a pin before losing to 4th place finisher Mike Vitale of Garden City.

"A big thanks to all of the alumni that came out in full force and to all the of the student body that attended the event!" the Island Trees Wrestling coaches said. "It makes a big difference to our guys when they have the Island Trees wrestling family backing them. On behalf of the coaching staff and the wrestlers, thank you to everyone for your support this year."