VSN crowns four wrestling champs

The third time was a charm for Valley Stream North’s Jesse Oppenheimer at the Nassau Division II wrestling championships Feb. 13 at Hofstra.

Oppenheimer, a junior and two-time county runner-up, captured the 125-pound title by pinning Joe Barcos of Mineola in 3:21. It was the third dominant match of the weekend for Oppenheimer, who has 24 victories heading into the New York State tournament at Albany’s Times Union Center this Friday and Saturday.

“It was great to see Jesse break through,” Spartans coach Tom Maddock said. “His last opponent was dangerous. Barcos catches a lot of kids in a headlock. He had Jesse for a few seconds but couldn’t sustain it.”

Oppenheimer, who pinned Nick Marino of Cold Spring Harbor in the quarterfinals and won a 9-0 major decision against Erik Rodriguez of Wheatley in the semis, was one of four county champions for North. Sophomores Rob Kishun (96 pounds), Justin Uslaner (112) and Nick Gonzalez (160) also brought home titles.

“We had a tough season with injuries, so this was a nice way to finish,” Maddock said.

Kishun, who spent the majority of the regular season competing a 103 and finished with more wins than losses, pinned Mineola’s Brenden Pusey in the county title bout in 5:28.

For Uslaner, it’s his second Nassau crown in as many seasons. He won at 103 last winter. To get the job done this time, he needed a last-second takedown of Oyster Bay’s Cassidy Exum to win a 5-4 thriller. “Justin had a strong stretch during the middle of the season and was the top seed in the tournament,” Maddock said. “He was losing the whole match until the big move at the very end.”

A win by pin was nothing new for Gonzalez, who now has 21 on the season. He defeated junior teammate John Rauert by technical fall in the final. Rauert and Gonzalez both earned semifinal pins. 

Sophomore Kyle Miller was second at 103, junior Shane Salzman was third at 125, sophomore Billy Patsos was third at 152, and junior Jason Chang was third at 215.

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