Friday, March 28, 2025
Of the 26 finalists in Sunday’s Nassau County Division 1 Wrestling Championships, sophomores Kai Tiringer of Massapequa and Harlan Chugerman of Bellmore-JFK were two of the biggest surprises to battle under the spotlight at Hofstra University.
Tiringer, the No. 8 seed, defeated sixth-seeded Chugerman, 13-6, in a Cinderella 138-pound title match. Both advance to the state championships Feb. 28 and March 1 at MVP Arena in Albany.
“Kai has unbelievable hips and is one of the most athletic kids I’ve ever coached in 25 years,” Massapequa coach Mike McCann said. “It was a wide-open bracket and he could care less where he was seeded. He’s been a star all season.”
Tiringer, who last season came within one win of earning All-County, turned the bracket upside down last Saturday when he advanced past top-seeded Matthew Lichter of MacArthur due to injury default a little over three minutes into their quarterfinal matchup.
Tiringer had two pins leading up to the quarterfinals and kept his momentum going Sunday morning in the semis with a 12-4 major decision over East Meadow’s Matthew Motamedian, the No. 13 seed who made a similar stunning run to the second day of the tournament.
“I just went out and had fun all weekend,” Tiringer said. “My goal was to be All-County and it was great to achieve more than that and win it all.”
Chugerman beat another darkhorse, Farmingdale’s Cole Riddiough, the No. 7 seed, in thrilling fashion in the semis taking a 12-11 decision. Riddiough pinned second-seeded Luke Armendariz of Manhasset in the quarterfinals.
“Harlan was losing 11-2 in the quarters and won and was down 7-0 in the semis and won,” Kennedy coach Brian DeGaetano said. “He has a short memory and does a lot of things to give opponents fits. He has a second gear of no other. He’s never out of a match no matter the score.”
Chugerman and Tiringer weren’t the only feel-good stories to emerge from the Kennedy and Massapequa programs.
Massapequa eighth-grader Jon Tutko captured the 101-pound title with a 9-2 decision over Calhoun’s Zachary Gubba and will take a record of 43-1 to Albany. Chiefs junior James Mulhern was county runner-up at 285.
Joining Chugerman in Albany for the Cougars will be freshman Peter Mikedis, who took second at 152 with his lone defeat of the tournament coming to Farmingdale standout Eric Wolf in the final. Seeded third, Mikedis had four wins, including a pin of Clarke’s Sebastian Mejia in the semis.
“We were hoping our guys would do well, but Harlan and Peter both had outstanding tournaments,” DeGaetano said. “The thing about both of these kids is they wrestle the full six minutes. Peter is a very experienced wrestler who had the match of his life in the semifinals.”
Another Kennedy freshman, Jason Brodack, earned All-County honors by finishing fourth at 101 pounds. He went 5-2 on the weekend with both defeats coming to Long Beach’s Casey Powers.
Cougars senior Vasilios Katranis was also All-County, placing fourth at 138 in the same bracket as Chugerman.
“With the exception of Vasilios, we’ll have the whole starting lineup back next season,” DeGaetano said. “It’s pretty exciting.”
