Long Beach produces early results

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Long Beach kicked off the wrestling season with its annual Battle at the Beach Tournament, which was forced to take a hiatus last winter due to the pandemic as Nassau County conducted a dual-meet only condensed campaign.
The Marines, who went 8-1 in dual meets last season, finished a solid third in the 12-team event held Dec. 4 and followed with a runner-up finish in Hewlett’s King of the Mat one week later and then captured the Frank Giampaolo Tournament at South Side on Dec. 18.
“We’re off to a pretty good start wrestling some of the best competition out there,” Long Beach coach Ray Adams said. “The kids put in as much work as they could during the offseason. We traveled to Pennsylvania numerous times and also New Jersey, Virginia, Oklahoma and North Dakota.”
Massapequa, with four finalists including two champions, won the Battle at the Beach with 228.5 points. Wantagh had three champs and was runner-up with 221. The Marines had 204.5.
Long Beach teammates Dunia Sibomana (8th grade) and Mason Franklin (senior) met in the 102-pound final at the Battle at the Beach, with the latter coming away with a hard-fought 5-2 decision. Both then captured tournament titles at South Side with pins in the finals as Franklin bumped up to 110.

Franklin was runner-up at King of the Mat as well. “He’s been competing for many years undersized but he’s primed to make a run in the county tournament,” Adams said.
Sibomana won the Hewlett tournament and is “immensely talented,” Adams said.
Sophomore Maceo Eramo (118) placed second in the South Side tourney after a fourth-place finish in the Battle at the Beach. He’s competing with sophomore Konnor Rosenzweig for the starting role in dual meets.
At 126, junior Michael Berube is eyeing an All-County finish after falling just short two seasons ago. He was runner-up at South Side.
Senior Wyatt Parker and sophomore Greg Milone are both making noise at 132. Parker captured the Hewlett tournament and was third at South Side. Milone brings a rugged style and was second to Parker in the King of the Mat.
Adams said junior Jack Valentin (138) is seeing his “astronomical amount of work” pay off, and his run to the Battle at the Beach finals out of the gate is proof.
Senior Oscar Davila won his first-ever tournament, taking the South Side event at 145. Junior Freedom Excel, also at 145, took third in the Battle at the Beach.
The Marines have no shortage of depth in the upper weights. Juniors Luke Anfossi, Jack Wachs and Hector Morrobel, and senior Yehuda Bitton are all between 152 and 160. Senior Martin Webster and junior Hayden Sofield handle 172, junior Jack Miller and sophomore John Sofield are at 189, sophomore Tyler Colclough has a pair of dual meet pins at 215, and junior Ben Shapiro and sophomore Charles Rosenthal compete at 285.
“We have some nice depth for sure,” Adams said. “Figuring out who’s going to start dual meets is a good problem to have.”