Glen Cove eyes qualifier success

The Glen Cove Big Red wrestling team looks forward to this Saturday as the county qualifiers arrive.

Unfortunately, the talented but young Big Red team was not able to make the dual meet playoffs this winter. But head coach Chris MacDonald is sure his kids are focused and ready for the county qualifying meet hosted by Hewlett this weekend.

“The kids are mentally focused and are taking this one match at a time,” MacDonald said. “Everyone wants to go to Hofstra (for the county championships). That’s the mentality.”

Glen Cove will look to send upwards of 20 grapplers to the qualifier, looking to have Big Red representation run deep in the tournament.

Of those representatives will be the fifth-ranked 99-pounder in the county, Isaiah Jackson. He finished the regular season with a strong 23-5 record, all while showing his versatility and willingness to move up and down weight classes as he competed at both 113 and 120 pounds as well. He has settled in to the 99-pound division role and will competing there in the county qualifiers.

Another Big Red hopeful is Edson Murillo, a 106-pounder with a 16-8 record who was ranked in the county at certain points of the season. He enters the county qualifiers unranked, yet as a dark horse looking to impose his will and skill on his opponents.

“Everyone is taking it one match at a time, not to get ahead of themselves and think past an opponent,” MacDonald said.

Finally, Glen Cove will look to possibly its best wrestler this season in No. 3 ranked Sal Guastella. He will square off in the 160-pound division, where he currently holds a 26-3 record. “Guastella is looking very good right now in preparation for the qualifiers,” MacDonald said.

Guastella has made a few appearances at 170 pounds in league tournaments, but settles down at the lower weight class where he looks for a distinct strength advantage over his opponents.

“All three of these guys are really physically strong for their weight class,” MacDonald said. “They were willing to go up and down in weight during the year, but now they’re settled in their best weight classes.”

Other highlights of this season include a few of the younger wrestlers making great strides to increase their potential going forward.

One such athlete is eighth-grader Eamon Doyle, an exciting halfback in football and a budding talent on the mats, finished 11-8 at the varsity level. Doyle performed so well at his first two JV meets, that he was promoted to varsity by MacDonald for the remainder of the season.

Freshman grader and first-year wrestler Anderson Velasquez finished the regular season 13-10, while Eder Leiva finished 13-9 with 12 pins.

The Big Red look to have a promising future with some very capable up-and-coming wrestlers on the horizon, but the focus right now is the county qualifiers this Saturday. The action begins at 9:30 a.m.

“We’re working really hard to get prepared. We’ve had a big week doing scrimmages and now we’re mentally focusing,” MacDonald said. “Everyone wants to win; everyone is working to win.”