Baldwin's Bonsu captures county title

If the Long Island high school wrestling world didn’t know who Kwasi Bonsu was before this season, it certainly does now.
A week after capturing the Nassau Qualifying Tournament with four pinfalls in a combined six minutes, the Baldwin grappler won the 189-pound weight class at the Division I championships at Nassau Community College on Feb. 13 to earn a spot in the New York State tournament in Albany last weekend.
As the No. 2 seed in Nassau, Bonsu had a bye in the first round before pinning Oceanside’s Christian Scarlata in three minutes to advance to the quarterfinals. The junior bested Nico Tsoumpatiortis of Manhasset 8-2 and advanced to the finals after Lawrence’s Yasser Jiminez defaulted due to injury before pinning top-seeded Eric Carlson of Manhasset in 2 minutes, 27 seconds.
Bonsu scored the first two points with a take down 11 seconds into the match, but Carlson tied it with a reversal 12 seconds later. The score remained the same when Carlson chose the bottom to start the second period, but Bonsu used his athleticism to pin him 27 seconds into the session.
“It was the most exhilarating thing ever,” he said. “It was electrifying because I knew all of my work paid off, all my goals paid off and I was just so excited saying I made history for my team, my school [and] my coach.”

He also earned the Most Outstanding Wrestler and Champion of Champions awards in addition to the trip to Albany.
Bonsu was 37-1 entering the state tournament, but he was pinned in the opening round by Jake Trovato of Lindenhurst after taking a 5-2 lead. Bonsu still had a chance to place in the consolation bracket and won his first two matches there before a heartbreaking 8-7 decision loss to Mamaroneck’s John Mcgowan to end his run.
Despite the outcome, Bonsu is determined to prove that this season was no fluke.
“People think they should count me out now because of what happened in that tournament,” he said. “But that was the past and this is the future, and no one can ever count me out of anything because that’s what this sport is. It’s coming back after you’re down and getting up after you’ve been beaten and broken. No one can count me out after the season I had.”
Bruins coach Jim Murphy said earlier this season that Bonsu was “running under the radar” while piling up his wins. That’s certainly not the case anymore.
“With his performance last week and two weeks ago in the county tournament, he went from being virtually unknown to one of the most popular guys on the team,” he said. “It was a big two weeks for him.”