Kennedy wrestles to eighth in county

Kennedy junior Robert Person sought out to defend his Nassau County Wrestling Championship at Hofstra University and did everything but walk away as a two-time champion.

Despite falling behind by seven points to Long Beach senior Mark Raghunandan in the title bout at 113 pounds the night of Feb. 12, Person still put himself in position to win in the closing seconds of the match. A foot sweep kicked off a flurry of six points in the final 30 seconds that nearly included a pin of Raghunandan in what was ultimately an 8-7 defeat. “It came out of nowhere,” Cougars coach Brian DeGaetano said. “He was wrestling great even though he was losing 8-1.

“[Raghunandan] was the first guy to hold [Person] down the entire season and he was not able to score from the bottom. It was an unbelievable foot sweep that put him to his back and as close as you can get to a pin without winning. When [Robert] has a guy like that, it’s usually over.”

Person was one of three Cougars to earn All-County honors, with senior John Luxmore also advancing to the finals at 182, where he dropped a 9-1 major decision to Plainedge’s Andrew Jones. As a team, Kennedy finished eighth among the 42 schools that competed, capping a season that also included a 20-3 mark in dual meets and a run to the quarterfinals of the Nassau dual meet championships.

Based on his sixth place finish in last year’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association Wrestling Championships, a 2010-11 county title and a 36-2 mark this season, DeGaetano was hopeful that Person would earn one of the four statewide wild-card slots in the 113-pound weight class for this year’s tournament at the Times Union Center in Albany this Friday and Saturday. Person’s road to the finals included victories over a pair of returning All-County performers, one of whom he beat for the third time this season, Lawrence junior Pankil Chandler.

Luxmore ripped off three wins to advance to his championship bout. “He wrestled three great matches,” DeGaetano said. “In the finals, [Jones] played really good defense and beat him.”

Kennedy senior Matt Accetta capped a rapid rise up the wrestling ranks with his second consecutive All-County finish. He took fourth place at 220 pounds, getting pinned by Calhoun junior Jenard Rosemand at the 4:46 mark of the consolation round. “He had success last year and he really worked hard,” DeGaetano said.