Rocky Point's Nick LaMorte leads four LI wrestlers to Eastern States championships

LOCH SHELDRAKE, N.Y. — Nick LaMorte doesn’t care what seed he is or what tournament he’s in.

He just wants to prove he’s the better wrestler.

The Rocky Point senior entered the Eastern States Classic as the third seed at 138 pounds. He walked out of the two-day tournament at Sullivan County Community College in first place Saturday.

LaMorte defeated top-seeded Nick Noto of Honeoye Falls-Lima via 5-1 decision to earn the top spot on the podium.

He entered the third period with a 2-0 lead and added some extra cushion with an escape and a takedown with 27 seconds remaining.

“Seeding doesn’t mean anything,” said LaMorte (27-0). “I watched a lot of film before the match with my dad, so I knew what to expect. I neutralized what he wanted to do and was able to get on the offensive.”

The Eastern States is regarded as one of the most prestigious wrestling tournaments in the Northeast, as it includes wrestlers from seven states.

After finishing fourth in last year’s New York state public schools tournament, LaMorte showed he’s ready to leave Albany with gold this February.

“He’s been a part of the Rocky Point wrestling program since he was about 4 years old,” head coach Darren Goldstein said. “He was really close at the state tournament last year, but he’s really dedicated 365 days to getting back there to try to claim his crown.”

The Oklahoma University-bound LaMorte defeated Jordan Brown of Monroe-Woodbury in the semifinals. Brown is currently the top-ranked wrestler in New York at 138 pounds and the two seem to be on a collision course for a rematch in the state tournament.

“Nick knows the work isn’t done,” Goldstein said. “Everyone close to him knows this is not the ultimate goal. He’s not someone who just sets a goal and talks about it, he makes sure to work toward it.”

LaMorte was one of four Long Island wrestlers to take first place this weekend. Shoreham-Wading River eighth-grader Gavin Mangano won at 110 pounds, Northport junior Matt Marlow took first at 118 and Brayden Fahrbach won at 132.

Fahrbach defeated Brentwood’s Jason Kwaak, 3-2. The Mount Sinai junior trailed 1-0 early in the second period but scored a takedown with 1:19 left in the period to take a 2-1 lead.

“Kwaak is hard to score off of on your feet. I was a little tentative earlier on but once I started shooting, I was able to score,” Fahrbach said.

Fahrbach was the runner-up at last year’s state tournament and like LaMorte, he’s ready to take the next step.

“Winning this tournament my first time here is really cool,” said Fahrbach (22-0). “It just shows that I’m capable of winning a tournament like this instead of coming in second or third like I have in the past.”

The more experienced upperclassmen naturally found success, but Mangano is just getting started.

The eighth-grader entered the tournament as the fourth seed at 110 pounds. He defeated the top two seeds on his way to an Eastern States championship.

Mangano earned a takedown in the final seconds of the first period to take a 2-0 lead in the championship match. He earned two escapes in the final two periods to secure a 4-2 decision over No. 2 Evin Gursoy from Midwood.

“It was a pretty tough first period, but those two points were huge,” Mangano said.

In his semifinal match, Mangano knocked off top-seeded Chris Noto of Honeoye Falls-Lima via 6-2 decision. He led 4-2 in the third period before scoring two nearfall points with 20 seconds remaining to advance to the final.

“He’s not your run-of-the-mill eighth-grader,” assistant coach Cory Dolson said. “I think he’s got a lot of confidence now that he’s going up against this level of competition and winning.”

“This was a really amazing experience,” said Mangano (34-0).  “I’m hoping the state tournament will go the same way.”