Glenn, Seaford and Port Jefferson win first round at state dual meet championships but lose second

SYRACUSE — The last time Jack Godoy was at the dual meet wrestling state championships, he was a nervous eighth grader.

He was in a new environment, a bit scared of the stage on which he’d have to wrestle. Godoy returned to that stage Saturday, this time as an experienced senior at Seaford.

“Yeah, there are always nerves involved with it,” Godoy said. “But it’s not like I haven’t done this before. It’s kind of just a normal basis now.”

Seaford was joined by Glenn and Port Jefferson as the three Long Island teams participating in the Division II dual meet state wrestling championships at the SRC Arena and Events Center. Each team would win their first respective matchup in the opening round.

Patrick McClernon, Godoy and Louis Cannata led Seaford (8-10) with consecutive first round pins to open the meet against Saugerties (21-7), giving them an 18-0 advantage. Godoy pinned Jonathan Hernandez, one of his two pins on the day, in 1:24 at 132 pounds to set the tempo moving forward.

“That’s really everything,” Godoy said. “It determines how the rest of the match is going to go. If you get started off at a hot pace, you're going to keep it rolling. But it’s vice versa, so realistically if we don’t start off hot, we’re not going to win.”

Seaford’s lead peaked at 28-9 after Matt Martorana defeated Ezra Cafaldo in a 13-0 major decision at 172 pounds. However, Saugerties briefly took control, leading 30-28 going into the final two matches.

Both resulted in major decisions. Anthony Paradiso defeated Gavin Ingrassia 17-9 at 110 pounds, and Ashley Diaz beat Savannah Tittelback at 118 pounds to give Seaford the 36-28 win. 

“I knew that she does throws … [and] I have an issue to travel too high, so I had to be mindful to lower my level and stay back and not rush into things,” Diaz said. “There were many moments where I almost had the pin, but I wasn’t going to force it because we needed the points anyway. And I didn’t want to accidentally give up a poor position for a forced pin.”

Diaz, a junior, was named the unofficial New York State champion at the girls wrestling invitational on Friday, so she was quite tired entering the dual meet. She said she was full of adrenaline and didn’t sleep much after winning. Nonetheless, she was prepared.

“I’ve been having issues with my confidence and calming down,” Diaz said. “But [Friday] I was able to gain my confidence, chill out and realize that it doesn’t have to be fast paced as long as it’s aggressive and deliberate.”

Like Seaford, Glenn (14-7) started off strong against Saranac (14-6), earning a 30-0 lead that included pins from Anthony Mirando, Karahn King, Dylan Bulger, Kevin Vides and Anthony Bell at 132, 138, 145, 152 and 160 pounds, respectively.

Head coach T.J. Brocking bumped Mirando up to 132 pounds from 126 to take on Alex Clancy, one of Saranac’s best wrestlers, in the opening match. He acknowledged it put Mirando in a tougher spot, but it was something he could count on his best player to do.

“He’s been one of our best guys since he’s been in kindergarten,” Brocking said. “He’s come through our program, and this has always been the goal for him to be our best guy.”

Mirando enjoyed going first, even if it was against a tough opponent, since it wasn’t a pressure-filled closing role. Glenn went on to win 57-14 with eight total pins.

Despite not securing the county title, Port Jefferson (7-3) earned a trip to Syracuse as a wild card.

“We lost a heartbreaker last Saturday,” Port Jefferson head coach Mike Maletta said. “Sunday morning I get a call that we’re possibly are in. Sunday afternoon, we’re moving forward with getting ready to come upstate. We had to pivot and start talking about how we’re going to win this tournament.”

Port Jefferson started down 6-19 to Pearl River (13-15), but Anthony Pipia’s pin on Kevin Torres in 51 seconds at 189 pounds began a run for the Royals. They went on to win 42-25.

Each Division II Long Island representative lost its second dual meet, however. Port Jefferson lost 39-21 to Central Valley Academy (28-2), Glenn lost 36-32 to Canisteo-Greenwood (35-3) and Seaford lost 43-26 to Gouverneur (11-3).

Tioga (13-0) defeated Central Valley Academy 49-18 to win the Division II state title.