Baldwin wrestlers make strides

    Baldwin was well represented at the Nassau Division I wrestling championships last weekend at Hofstra’s Mack Sports Complex. Seven Bruins competed in the two-day event after finishing in the top four in their respective weight class in the qualifying tournament held at home on Feb. 5, and two more made the field as alternates.
 
  “We met expectations,” Baldwin coach Mike Robinson said. “I was pretty happy with how we competed in the qualifier and battled at the county tournament. I believe we set the tone for next season.”

    Of Baldwin's qualifiers, a handful won at least one match on Nassau's biggest stage. That includes senior Gil Hermes, who won the 145-pound qualifying title, and sophomore Dylan Cohen, who led the team in victories.

    Hermes, who won a thrilling 5-4 decision over East Meadow's Rob Bianco in the final of the qualifier, lost a county quarterfinal match to Adam D'Auguste of Long Beach and a wrestleback to Pierce Janssen of North Shore. Hermes opened the tournament by knocking off Jun Yoo of Jericho. "Gil had his share of achievements and was one of our senior leaders," Robinson said. "He wants to continue wrestling at the college level, and we're going to see what opportunities are out there for him."

    Cohen, fourth in the qualifier at 130 pounds, topped James Ferrall of Lynbrook in last Saturday's opening round but then lost to eventual champion Dan Gewolb of Syosset and Christian Castillo of Port Washington. "Dylan was a big-time leader as a sophomore and worked really hard all season," Robinson said of Cohen, who lost 9-8 to Castillo. "I'm confident that next season he'll be on the opposite side of the close matches."

    Baldwin had two qualifiers at 112. Freshman Quinn Knauer, with qualifying championship in tow, got a tough draw and was pinned by MacArthur's Tom Manning in the first round. When Manning was upset by Long Beach's Oral Allen in the second round, Knauer's season came to an end. "Quinn accomplished his main goal of winning the qualifier," Robinson said. "He's already got two All-Conference seasons under his belt." Sophomore Austin Valenti, runner-up to Knauer in the qualifier, won his only match at Hofstra. A prior commitment kept Valenti from advancing, but the experience will serve him well down the road.

    Two other freshmen, Sal Trigona (96) and John Robinson (140), got through to the county tournament, and the former managed to win a match. Sophomore Kenny Yeh (103), third in the qualifier, came on strong down the stretch, while senior Peter Guarneiri (125) and junior Kyle Clarke (285) made it to the mat as alternates. Clarke lost in triple overtime to Brandon Passano of Garden City.

    In addition to each of Baldwin's nine county tournament participants, sophomore Patrick Dillon and freshmen Victor Robinson and Enriquez Dejesus earned All-Conference honors by finishing at least sixth in the qualifier.