MacArthur shines in qualifier tourney

MacArthur’s wrestling team has battled through an assortment of injuries this winter, but several Generals have qualified to compete on the championship stage this coming weekend.

MacArthur qualified 17 wrestlers for the Nassau County individual championships at Hofstra during its qualifier event held at Hewlett High School last Saturday. Four Generals placed first to earn seeds in the county finals. The solid tournament showing followed a 1-6 season before bouncing back to place reach the quarterfinals of the county dual meet championships on Jan. 31.

“We’re a blue-collar team that has taken our lumps this year,” MacArthur coach Rob Paletta said. “We’re now starting to peak.”

Shining in the qualifiers was 132-pound senior Michael Brown, who earned most outstanding wrestling honors after going 4-0 and winning his championship match against Hewlett’s Lucas Pincus. Brown finished fourth in the counties last year and is also a standout on MacArthur’s football and baseball teams. 

“He’s a tremendous athlete,” Paletta said of Brown. “He’s a competitor.”

Also winning championship for qualifiers for MacArthur were Jake Thompson (113), Troy Ellers (120) and Travis Cooksey (126.) Placing second after reaching the qualifier finals were Nick Goodleman (99), Anthony Gatt (132), Sal DeLuca (170) and Ryan O’Shea. Others who qualified for the county championships included Christian Dougherty (99), Dan Steinman (113), Jake Huggard (120), Noah Weisberg (138), Andrew Streppone (145), CJ Louie (145), John Bachas (152), Jeremy Hughes (160) and Ryan O’Shea (220.)

A few of MacArthur’s qualifying matches featured Generals battling each other for the right to advance. This included the 132 finals where Brown defeated Gatt.

“It’s good a problem to have,” said Paletta of having his wrestlers compete against each other for seeding.