6 Northport High School wrestlers ruled ineligible for exceeding maximum number of tournaments
Six Northport High School wrestlers have been ruled ineligible for postseason competition because the wrestlers exceeded the regular-season allowance of participation in tournaments, according to Tom Combs, the executive director of Section XI, Suffolk County's governing body of scholastic sports.
The six wrestlers competed in seven tournaments, but the maximum is six. They will not be allowed to participate in the Suffolk League III tournament on Saturday at Smithtown East High School. They also would be ineligible to compete in the county and state tournaments.
“We are following the New York State Public High School Athletic Association policy,” Combs said. “We’re given rules to follow, and we enforce them. It’s a clear-cut policy.”
According to the NYSPHSAA handbook, a wrestler who exceeds the maximum number of tournaments is ineligible for the remainder of the season and the coach of the wrestler is suspended from the team's next two scheduled competitions.
Northport coach Thad Alberti, who has been the coach for 11 years, did not return multiple calls for comment. The school's athletic director, Mark Dantuono, also did not return calls.
Senior Kingston Strouse is among the six wrestlers declared ineligible along with underclassmen Ryan Muller, Sebastian Stabile, Tyler Naughton, Lucas Rivera and Peyton Hamada.
"I was looking forward to the league tournament," said Naughton, a 138-pound sophomore. "This is an awful experience. The opportunity to wrestle in the league tournament was taken away from us."
Strouse, the League III defending champion at 145, is the top-ranked wrestler in Suffolk Division I at 152 pounds. He has a record of 30-3, including 20-0 against Long Island opponents.
“My son is a senior and has worked his whole life to wrestle for league, county and state championships,” Lori Strouse said. “He doesn’t eat during the holidays, works out twice a day and sacrifices so much for the sport he loves. He lives and breathes to wrestle. Through no fault of his own, my son wrestled in one too many tournaments and now we’re told he’s ineligible.”
Northport participated in a total of eight tournaments, two of which were on the same date, where the squad was split up. The Tigers were in the Northport Holiday Duals, Commack Classic, Battle at the Harbor at CSH, Michael O’Connell Tournament at Pearl River High School, Battle for the Belt at Syosset, Eastern States Classic at Clifton Park, or Cougar Pride Tournament and the Putnam Valley Duals.
"I'm being punished over something I had no control over," said Muller, a 131-pound freshman. "I've practiced nine times a week for three months and worked all season for this moment and now the opportunity is gone ."
According to Lori Strouse, a letter of appeal was sent from Northport superintendent David Moyer to Betty A. Rosa, the New York State Commissioner of Education.
“I was shown a letter to the commissioner from Dr. Moyer,” Lori Strauss said. “The response from the state commissioner’s office read, in part, ‘The commissioner is only authorized to act in this situation if she receives a petition under New York Education Law 310. Alternatively, families may seek to pursue a lawsuit in state supreme court.’ Basically, it wasn’t a formal appeal and not enough for the commissioner to look at our situation.
Kingston Strouse was informed by Alberti late Wednesday of the ineligibility.
“I wrote the coach a letter because I know how bad he feels,” Strouse said. “It said, ‘We wouldn’t be who we are without you in our lives. You’re an amazing coach and one mistake doesn’t outshine all the positive work you’ve done for our program.' ”
Stable, a sophomore who wrestles at 124 pounds, said he and his teammates are missing out on valuable experience and that they feel bad for Strouse.
"He's our team leader," Stabile said. "It's so unfair because he doesn't get another shot. This is his last year."
With Andy Slawson
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
