Thursday, March 20, 2025
It’s been a historic season for the Farmingdale wrestling team, but the Dalers aren’t done making noise.
Farmingdale captured a first-ever Nassau Division I dual meet championship and was runners-up at the state dual meet tournament.
Now the focus is on the upcoming Nassau Division I championships at Hofstra University this weekend.
Farmingdale can continue to make history this season. Coach Artie Weidler said the most all-county selections his program has had in one season is six. Currently, the Dalers have nine wrestlers ranked in the county and everyone in the starting lineup has a winning record.
That balance is a big reason for the Dalers’ success this year.
“They’re all having great seasons, and I guess when you have guys like that, that's why you're going to go as far as you do at the dual meet states, especially when they're all different weights,” Weidler said.
Weidler knew the talent he was bringing back from last year, but at what weights? That’s always so unpredictable, especially with growing high school kids. But when the season started, all the puzzle pieces fit perfectly.
The one variable Weidler had no question about was the work ethic, which was especially prevalent in the offseason.
That's directly correlated to success in a season that saw Farmingdale dramatically defeat Long Beach to win their first Nassau dual meet championship with junior Wilson Quintanilla defeating Liam Hastings by technical fall in the final match to clinch a come-from-behind 36-31 victory.
“After beating Long Beach, it gave us a little more confidence to be able to go upstate and have the run that we had,” Weidler said.
The Dalers beat Brockport and Shenendehowa in pool play and then knocked off Horseheads in the semifinals before their run ended against Minisink Valley.
That loss can help fuel Farmingdale in the Nassau Division I championships and there’s plenty of Dalers who could make another trip upstate.
At 108 pounds, junior Michael Perez is ranked No. 3 in the county, junior Jacob Estrada is ranked No. 6 at 116 pounds. A year ago, Estrada placed in qualifiers, but he was sidelined from the county tournament because of the flu.
Rich DeMarco was on the junior varsity team a year ago and, while not ranked, the junior has a 23-10 record at 124 after wrestling in 80 matches in the offseason.
At 131, junior Sal Migliaccio went from the junior varsity to being ranked No. 6 in the state. His older brother Nick is ranked No. 4 at 145. At 138, Cole Riddiough isn’t ranked, but the sophomore compiled wins over ranked opponents.
A year ago, Eric Wolf finished third in the county at 152 and this time the senior is ranked No. 1 at 160.
At 170, junior Jovens Theodate is ranked No. 2, while senior Rocco Martillotti is hoping to return from injury to make some noise.
Junior Josh Kama rebounded from early-season injuries suffered on the gridiron to being ranked No. 4 at 190, Quintanilla, who finished fifth in the county last year, is No. 1 at 215 and junior Mike Suwalski is ranked No. 6 at 285.
