Promising start for Oceanside

Posted

Last season, the Oceanside varsity wrestling team, which had struggled in years past, took a significant step forward. They won six dual meets and sent six of their wrestlers to compete at county championships. Now with this season just underway, second-year head coach Julio Flores has set high goals for his team.

“We’re looking to be conference champions,” Flores said. “We know we got what it takes to do that. We’re preparing to not let anybody stand in the way of that.”

Oceanside has met its coach’s lofty expectations in the early going, winning its first two dual meets of the season. The Sailors began their campaign with a 51-16 victory over Plainview JFK.

Then on Dec. 12 the team was able to defeat Westbury by the score of 41-36. During that meet 126-pound Kash Calderon took on Westbury’s Raeco Jackson, who was last season’s Nassau County champion at the 120-pound level, and defeated him 2-1.

The meet was also special, because Oceanside got the chance to pay tribute to one of its own. Marine Sgt. Julian M. Arechaga was a former wrestler for the school, and was also a teammate and good friend of Flores. After graduation he joined the military service, and in 2006 was killed in Iraq. A ceremony was held at the Dec. 12 match to honor Arechaga. Members of his family were presented with a plaque in his honor, as well as his high school diploma, which he had never picked up after graduating. 

Flores said he and his team were inspired by the ceremony, and that winning the meet afterwards was a great way to honor his late friend. 

“The team knew that Julian was a good friend of mined growing up. They were really fired up about everything that was going on,” Flores said. “(Winning the meet) meant the world to me.”

Oceanside has started off its season on a positive note, and Flores believes that there is enough talent on the roster to help take the program to new heights.

One wrestler who will be expected to come up large this year is 170-pound J.T. D’Angelo. Last season D’Angelo took third place in qualifiers. “He’s been really solid in our lineup,” Flores said. “We actually call him the hulk, because he’s such a strong kid.”

Flores also expects big things from 138-pound Johnny Cannella. “He’s only in tenth grade and he’s already wrestling varsity,” Flores said. “He looked very promising ever since he was a freshman.”

The coach is also looking for strong seasons from Jarron Koretz, Vinny Candela, Michael Fishman and Quinn O’Rourke. 

Oceanside will have its first conference dual meet Jan. 7 when it hosts East Meadow. Flores believes the matchup will be an important test for his group.

“They are probably the team in our conference that can give us the best competition,” he said. “We want to take that W and just run away with it.”