New York State wrestling tournament preview: Northport's Matt Marlow eyes his third Division I title
Matt Marlow of Northport wins at 124 pounds during the Suffolk Division I wrestling championships at Stony Brook on Feb. 11. Credit: Neil Miller
ALBANY — Northport’s Matt Marlow will make the MVP Arena in Albany his office this weekend.
The senior, a two-time defending state wrestling champion, is here to do work. He will attempt to join an elite group of Long Island wrestlers that have captured three Division I state titles. He could be the 10th of all time.
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association will hold the state tournament Friday and Saturday in the MVP Arena in downtown Albany. There are 133 wrestlers qualified from the Long Island area who will descend upon this venue for a shot at a state title.
“Some people look at my record and think it’s an off year,” said Marlow, who is 39-5 and will wrestle in college at the University of Pittsburgh. “It’s all about the process. I’ve traveled everywhere to find the toughest competition to get ready for the end of the season and the state tournament. It’s important to grind through the toughest competition and be ready when you face an opponent that challenges you deep into the match.”
Marlow, who earned last year’s state crown at 118 pounds, is the top seed and ready for the state grind in the 124-pound weight class. He churned his way through the Suffolk sectional tournament with four straight wins, including two by technical fall. He has been a target since he won his first state crown as a sophomore. And this trek won’t be easy. Junior Luke Satriano of Valley Central is the No. 2 seed and the defending state champion at 110 pounds.
“You take each bout one at a time and never look ahead,” Marlow said. “You have to focus on what’s in front of you, not what lies ahead.”
A Marlow run to the title would allow him to etch his name alongside Long Island’s other three-time Division I state champions. The list includes five-time state champions Adam Busiello of Eastport-South Manor (2015-2019) and Jacori Teemer of Long Beach (2014-2018); four-time state champs Jesse Jantzen of Shoreham-Wading River (1997-2000), Nick Piccininni of Ward Melville (2012-2015), Vito Arujau of Syosset (2014-2017), and three-timers Bob Bury of Calhoun (1978-1980), Al Palacio of Long Beach (1980-1982), John Lange of Longwood (1992-1994) and Nick Arujau of Syosset (2008-2010).
Marlow is the only Long Island wrestler returning to defend a Division I state crown.
Three-time Nassau champion Dunia Sibomana-Rodriguez of Long Beach won the state championship as an eighth grader in 2022. Sibomana-Rodriguez (39-2), now a sophomore, has lost once in New York in two years, a heartbreaking 3-2 decision in last year’s state semifinal round to Satriano. He finished third in the tournament.
“He’s had a year to think about it,” Long Beach coach Ray Adams said.
Sibomana-Rodriguez is the top seed at 108 pounds and has a difficult road to the top. He has found his toughest test within his own county against Manhasset sophomore Will Russell. He edged Russell, 6-3, for the county crown and beat him, 10-7, earlier this season.
Russell is 38-3 and seeded eighth, putting the two of them in the same half bracket for a potential meeting in a quarterfinal bout Friday evening. A win there by either wrestler could set up an all-Long Island semifinal with Suffolk champion Connor Sheridan.
“The weight class is brutal,” Adams said. “You have to be on your ‘A’ game every time you step on the mat — or it’s over.”
The gauntlet concludes with a bottom half of the bracket that includes the undefeated No. 2 seed, Cooper Merli of Newburgh, the state’s defending champion at 102 pounds.
In Division II, Long Island has two defending state champions, Mount Sinai senior Brayden Fahrbach and Glenn junior Tommy Aiello. Fahrbach is having a terrific senior season and earned the top seed at 138 pounds. The Appalachian State-bound wrestler is 39-0 but has two undefeated defending state champions in his weight class.
Aiello has battled this season with a 32-6 record and finds himself as the No. 5 seed at 108 pounds.
Long Beach eighth-grader Nathan Andreula became the third eighth-grader to win a Nassau D-I title. He was the first seventh-grader to win a Nassau crown a year ago and finished seventh in the state. He’s a threat to win a state crown at 101 pounds.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.