Glen Cove bounced from playoffs

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Throughout the season, high school wrestling teams in Nassau’s Section VIII endure a grueling dual meet schedule en route to the dual meet playoffs. This path is usually paired with long sessions in the wrestling room, the weight room and on the road.

Glen Cove, according to head coach Chris McDonald, was taking all of those necessary steps and was peaking towards the end of the year. It had won three consecutive dual meets to qualify for the playoffs, before losing to Conference 3B-1 champions Plainedge by a score of 49-33 and Hicksville in a close 38-36 loss.

Prior to Glen Cove being eliminated from the playoffs by Plainedge, it gained momentum by winning a wrestling tournament they host, the McCullough tournament. The Big Red, who won the tournament in 2018, outlasted 12 other teams and was able to keep the trophy in Glen Cove. Isaiah Jackson, who is currently ranked first at 106 pounds in Nassau County, won the most outstanding wrestler award for the McCullough tournament.

Glen Cove then started a three-match win streak with a 46-31 win over cross-town rivals North Shore High School in Glen Head. It followed that up with a 45-31 win over Bethpage before finally peaking with a 63-13 victory over Roslyn. McDonald credits a lot of the team’s success to the group of wrestlers that have been with him the longest leading by example.

“The team has learned from the seniors,” McDonald said. “The underclassmen will be ready to take on leadership roles for next year.”

The head coach did not hold back his disappointment for being knocked out of the team playoffs, though. “Once the team is knocked out of the dual meet playoffs, it is tough in the moment,” McDonald said. “But then it becomes exciting thinking that the individual championships are just around the corner.”

Shifting focus to individual championships

Glen Cove has a lot of confidence in its senior wrestling class. Each member in this core group that McDonald has kept under his tutelage for years has been to the individual county championships before. Jackson has finished as high as third.

“Isaiah has been working hard chain wrestling and situation scrambling,” McDonald said. “He’s been working a lot with Edson Murillo, [who has been] his wrestling partner for four years.”

Jackson is a three-time county qualifier. He will walk into the county championships as the highest-ranked wrestler at his weight class, followed closely behind by MacArthur’s Matthew Huggard.

Edson Murillo (113 pounds) is also a three-time county qualifier, who finished in the top 10 in 2019. Eder Leiva, a quick 182-pounder, has qualified three times and also finished top then last year. 195-pounder RJ Alma has qualified twice and finished top eight a year ago, while 285-pound Brandon Varela Rivera qualified for counties for his first time last year and finished inside the top 10.

“A lot of the basics have been covered and practiced to muscle memory,” McDonald said. “Now, we are working on a specific game for each individual.”