Seaford earns wrestling crown

Vikings win D2 team title

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Seaford wrestling made history in more ways than one during the individual county championships last Saturday.
The Vikings tied a program record in qualifying six wrestlers for the New York State Championships during the Nassau’s Division 2 tournament at Cold Spring Harbor High School and for the first time since 2004 finished as the top team on the county finals stage.
Seaford produced one county champ, Karl Leudesdorff at 215 pounds, along with five runner-up finishes, which included Ashley Diaz becoming the first female wrestler on Long Island to advance to a county finals match.
Seaford finished as county champions with 358 points to finish 75 points ahead of second place Island Trees. It marked the first Division 2 title since the Vikings ended a decade-long stretch competing in Division I seven years ago.
“This is a goal that we have had since day one and we’re excited to get it done,” said 10th-year Seaford coach Dave Takseraas, who was an assistant coach on the 2004 championship team. 

Leudesdorff seized a county title one year after falling in the 215-pound finals. The senior reached the top of the podium in dramatic fashion with a 4-2 decision against North Shore’s Issac Bratter in the championship bout after recording a late takedown to break a 2-2 tie against a wrestler he fell to earlier in the season.
The semifinals also featured Leudesdorff conquering adversity when he responded from early deficit to pin Locust Valley’s Angelo Cotroneo.
Matt Martorana also nearly became a county champion when he grabbed a late lead against North Shore’s Kristos Vlahopoulos in the 189-pound championship before getting reversed in the final 10 seconds in a 5-4 defeat.
Diaz, a junior, made history reaching the county finals at 115 pounds starting with a 10-4 win against Wheatley’s Aiden Zavlunov before knocking off two-seeded Sonny Consolazio of Locust Valley in the semis, 8-4, after previously losing twice to him this season. Carle Place’s Jack Parise ended Diaz’s trailblazing run with a pin 1:10 into the finals match, but the second place finish was enough to send her to the state championships in Albany.
“She just won the girls state tournament and now she proves she can compete with the boys winning some tough matches,” said Takseraas of Diaz, who last year as a sophomore finish in fifth place at 118. “She outworked her opponents.”
Also placing second for Seaford were Max Addiego (152) and Jack Godoy (132). Goodoy ,who won counties last year at 118, faced a tough finals matchup this time around against Locust Valley’s Evan Shriberg, the defending 126–pound champion.
“Jack won two matches at state’s last year and I think he is one of the best wrestlers in the state,” Takseraas said. “It is his senior year so we are hoping he can become All-State.”
The New York State Championships are scheduled for Feb. 24-25 at MVP Arena in Albany. The six Vikings who qualified for states will be making their second long-distance trip in a matter of weeks on the heels of Seaford capturing the state duals in Syracuse on Jan 28.