Seaford aims for county title

After a second place finish in the county championships last season, Seaford wrestling is gunning for a stronger podium finish this winter.

 Locust Valley edged Seaford out by 27.5 points as the top finisher in the Nassau County Division II wrestling championships with no Vikings brining home individual titles. Seaford brings back a motivated team eager to get over the top this winter and have a presence at the New York State Championships in Albany.

“We feel good about our chances at winning counties this year,” said fifth-year Seaford head coach David Takseraas, a former standout Viking wrestler in the mid-1990s. “Last year we had lots of guys place and it was a good stepping down, but this year we want to produce some champions.”

Leading Seaford’s championship charge are senior tri-captains Andrew Schutzman (132 pounds), Tyler Volpi (152) and Mike Silipo (170), who all received All-County honors as juniors. Volpi, who led Seaford to a Long Island football title in the fall, finished second in the counties last year after falling to Cold Spring Harbor’s Christian Tartaglia in the 145-pound finals. Schutzman placed third at 126 a year after a second place county showing and Silipo finished fourth at 160.

A strong underclassmen unit balances Seaford’s senior experience. Freshman Jake Murphy was runner-up at 99-pounds as an eighth grader and is eager to get over the top in the same weight class this season. Sophomore Tom Lynch placed second at 106 pounds and is prepared to battle the county’s best grapplers at 120 this winter. Junior Shane McClemon (126) and sophomores Nick Brandi (220) and Andrew Volpi (113) are all back after third-place county finishes.

Takseraas also has high hopes for freshman Brendan O’Hagan, who is off to strong start at 160 pounds. The first year-varsity wrestler is younger brother of Seaford’s last state champion, Brendan O’Hagan.

“He wants to do some big things for us,” Takseraas said of O’Hagan. “He’s already ahead of where his brother was as a freshman so he is on his way.”

Seaford will host its 24th annual Bob Gerbino Night Friday against North Shore at 7 p.m. The match will honor the memory of Gerbino, who founded Seaford’s wrestling program in 1956 and was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2008.

Last weekend Seaford hosted the annual Patrick Butler Duals in tribute to former Viking standout wrestler Patrick Butler, who was killed in a car accident as a sophomore in 2004 just hours after his team won a county title. The event drew some of Long Island’s top wrestling programs including Wantagh, Long Beach, Sachem East and Uniondale, which Takseraas said should prepare the team well for clutch county matches. Seaford edged Uniondale 32-31 thanks to a last second takedown by Brandi and tied Sachem East 34-34.

“We want to wrestle the best and make sure the guys get the best competition for the counties and state tourney,” he said. “It’s a necessary thing to get us where we want to go.”