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Fair Young wrestlers of all ages thriving in Lynbrook
Three Lynbrook Titans Program wrestlers recently competed in the NY-USA wrestling state championships.
Bryce Boccio, 8, Lucas Cortazar, 11, and Dylan Vanegas, 12, traveled to Johnson City, N.Y., near Binghamton University, to participate in the tournament on March 11. Boccio and Vanegas earned silver medals, while Cortazar placed fifth.
“They had extremely, extremely tough matches with their opponents,” coach Andres Vanegas, who is Dylan’s father, said of the trio. “They wrestled their hearts out.”
The three boys earned their way to the state competition after competing at the NY-USA Youth Wrestling Southern Super Regional on March 4.
“I trained very hard this year and I’m happy that I was able to win lots of tournaments,” Boccio said. “I’m also happy that I qualified for the state championship and won a silver medal because my goal at the beginning of the year was to qualify and then place at states.”
“Our program has so much talent and has just grown immensely in recent years,” he said. “The kids come along amazingly. They’re growing as athletes and as students.” He added that parents have sent letters to the coaches, informing them about how their children have become more disciplined students after joining the program.
Lynbrook Owls wrestlers have bright futures
The Lynbrook Titans tournament team was honored by the village board along with the seniors from the high school wrestling team on March 19. Tyler Heaney was also awarded a citation because he was the only All-County junior on the Owls.
After another successful year on the mat, many of the seniors will look to continue to thrive academically and athletically in college.
Senior captains Matt Renz (two-time All-County wrestler) and Tommy Urena (All-County) have committed to the New York Institute of Technology on full scholarships to play lacrosse. Senior captain Joe Becker, a two-time All-County wrestler and 2017 county champion, will wrestle at Castleton University in Vermont; senior captain Matt Ferrante committed to wrestle at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania; and Justin Harvin will compete at Pennsylvania State University.
