Teemer repeats as county champ

Long Beach freshman takes 106-pound title

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Freshman Jacori Teemer led Long Beach’s wrestling team to a runner-up finish behind Wantagh in the Nassau County Division I championships, which concluded last Sunday night at Hofstra University.

Teemer, who last winter became the first eighth-grader in Nassau history to win a state wrestling title, repeated as a county champion by pinning Oceanside’s Quinn O’Rourke in the 106-pound title bout.

“Jacori’s at another level,” Marines coach Ray Adams said of Teemer, who is undefeated this season in 40 contested matches. “His main goal is state-related. I’ve been very happy with how he’s performed and carried himself all season.”

Teemer, who is expected to be the No. 1 seed in his weight class for the state championships set for Feb. 27-28 at the Times Union Center in Albany, also pinned Sewanhaka East’s Daniel Kerner, Wantagh’s Charles Maier, and Garden City’s Dylan Hughes in the county tournament. “I wrestled Quinn in the finals of the qualifier last week, and we were teammates with the Gladiators when we were younger,” Teemer said of O’Rourke. “He’s a strong wrestler so I wanted to change my approach so he wouldn’t know what to expect.”

Teemer was one of eight Marines to earn All-County honors, which go to the top six finishers in each weight class. The number was one shy of tying the school record, according to Adams. “Overall, we wrestled great,” Adams said. “All the kids brought energy and enthusiasm. I’m very proud of them. Many of them responded from a loss and battled in the wrestlebacks to place in the top three of four.

“There’s some level of disappointment in not winning the team title,” he added. “We had a good chance, but give Wantagh the credit it deserves.”

Sophomores Tyrese Byron (145 pounds) and Tyreek Bromley (182) both reached the finals. Sophomores Matt Maquet, Charlie Spada and Mark Rivera, as well as juniors Josh Bourne and Marc Paez all worked their way to the All-County podium. 

Byron avenged a pair of regular-season defeats to Division’s Francis Alexander by winning a 15-5 major decision in the semifinals. “He was smart and aggressive,” Adams said of Byron, who was stopped by Bethpage’s Jake Einbinder in the finals.

Bromley was dominant leading up to his setback to Garden City’s Tom Lane in the finals, registering two wins by major decision and one by technical fall. 

Maquet and Bourne finished third and fifth, respectively, at 113. Maquet went 4-1 in the tournament, losing only in overtime in the semifinals to Mepham’s Joel Zambrano. Bourne won three of five bouts.

Spada won four matches and placed fourth at 138. Three of his wins came in wrestlebacks, including a 1-0 decision over Westbury’s Kevin Gutierrez in the All-County round.

Paez also thrived in the wrestlebacks, beating all three of his opponents to snag third place at 152. Beaten in overtime by Plainedge’s John Gullo in the quarterfinals last Friday, Paez avenged the loss Sunday morning with a 6-2 decision. Rivera reached the semis at 220 with a hard-fought 3-2 decision over Farmingdale’s Ryan Charleston, and finished fourth.