The two undefeated wresting teams in League VIII took the mats at Mattituck High School last night, where the Tuckers handed Port Jefferson its first loss of the season by the lopsided score of 54-9.
Mattituck/Greenport/Southold improved to 4-0 league in VII and 6-0 overall.
Tuckers head coach Corey Dolson paced up and down the side of the wrestling mat throughout the contest, screaming at the top of his lungs as he directed his players through every match, only taking brief breaks to take a sip of water as his voice deteriorated over time.
He could barely speak by the time he had to take interviews.
“This is nothing,” Dolson said. “I’m screaming every day of the week.”
Though he may have been screaming, there was never a negative word said. Each encouraging statement seemed to spark a fire in his wrestlers, who only lost three out of 15 matches on the night .
“I’m not trying to sound conceited but we’re at a level now that we’re supposed to win like this,” Dolson said. “No disrespect to Port Jeff, they’ve got a great team, they’ve got a great coach, and a tough bunch of kids, but the talent we have on our team is bound to bring results.”
Dolson, who is in his tenth year coaching at Mattituck, said this is one of the best teams to pass through his hands. He expects them to be competitive through the end of the season and hopefully, to send more wrestlers to the state championships than last year.
“We’ve only had one wrestler to win states in our history,” Dolson said. “This year we’re hoping to change that.”
Last year, Jack Bokina (106 lbs), James Hoeg (160 lbs) and Adam Hoode (195 lbs) went to states. Dolson expects them to return and advance further.
“We don’t want to just send a bunch of guys to states anymore, we want guys to go to the states and finish on the podium,” Dolson said. “We had a few others place second in the league tournament — we expect to send more than a handful to states. I don’t like making predictions but we should definitely have a bunch of guys in the running.”
106 lbs – Jack Bokina (MTK) defeats Vin Miceli (PJ), 5-4
113 lbs – Joe Evangelista (PJ) defeats Thomas Hoeg (MTK), 5-2
120 lbs – Mateo Devineezo (PJ) defeats TJ Beebe (MTK), 5-2
126 lbs – Tyler Webb (MTK) defeats Sterling Nenninger (PJ), 12-2
132 lbs – Tim Pelan (MTK) defeats David Altimirono (PJ), 7-2
138 lbs – Tristin DeVincenzo (PJ) defeats Jake Skrezel (MTK), 6-0
152 lbs – Tim Schmitt (MTK) defeats Alex Frohner (PJ), 17-2
182 lbs – Dylan Marbolo (MTK) pins Martin Genao (PJ), 3rd period
195 lbs – Adam Goode (MTK) defeats Jake Myer (PJ), 3-2
Mattituck/Greenport/Southold returns to action at home on Wednesday against Stony Brook. The contest will start at 4:30 p.m.
SoutholdLOCAL photos by Emil Breitenbach Jr.
