Bulldogs make their presence felt

A once-dormant Hewlett wrestling program is not only alive and well, but on the verge of something special.

The Bulldogs capped a record-setting 2011-12 campaign with 11 participants in last weekend’s Nassau Division I championships at Hofstra and had a pair earn All-County honors.

First-year coach Stephen Jones, who took over from friend and fellow Long Beach High School alum Mike Jiminez, said seniors Troy Smith and Abner Sanchez will be missed but the future is extremely bright. “The team has been progressing for years and accomplished some great things this season,” Jones said. “We’re young, but we had 16 All-Conference kids, six qualifier finalists, and 10 get to Hofstra.”

Smith, who along with junior Rob Rosenberg led Hewlett (9-9 in dual meets) on the season with 34 wins, including the 100th of his career, finish runner-up in the county at 152 pounds. He blew past his first two opponents, Vinny Lombardo of Clarke and Justin Eufemia of Clarke, 10-0 and 8-0, respectively, then knocked off East Meadow’s Michael Tropiano in the quarterfinals (8-6) and Mepham’s Steven Lambert in the semis, 7-3. In the finals, Smith came up short against Mepham’s Danny Tracy. “Troy helped put the program back on the map and was dominant all season,” Jones said.

Smith wasn’t the only member of the Bulldogs to dominate and register more than 30 victories. Juniors Rosenberg (134 pounds) and Simon Greebel (106) went 34-6 and 30-6, respectively. Five of Rosenberg’s wins came in the county tournament, and he placed fourth. “Rob is tough as nails and attacks for all six minutes,” Jones noted. “He likes to be the aggressor.”

Greebel went 1-2 at Hofstra. “Simon made major strides during the offseason and was tremendous,” Jones said of Greebel, who was ranked atop his weight class for a portion of the season. “He’s a very good technical wrestler and toughest when he’s on top.”