Sports

Wrestling: Fabian bounces back to place third

ROBERT O’ROURK PHOTO | Shoreham-Wading River senior T.J. Fabian placed third at 126 pounds in the county tournament Wednesday.

T.J. Fabian’s hopes for a state title remain alive.

After losing in the quarterfinals of the Section XI county tournament, the Shoreham-Wading River senior rallied to place third at 126 pounds to give himself a chance at earning a wild card bid to the state championship in Albany.

To earn a third-place finish, Fabian needed to defeat the wrestler who knocked him off earlier in the tournament for his first and only loss of the season. Huntington junior Corey Jamison narrowly defeated Fabian in the quarterfinals Tuesday before losing in the semifinals. That sent him on a collision course to meet Fabian again in the consolation round Wednesday.

Fabian wasn’t about to lose twice.

Fabian edged Jamison 2-0 in the consolation final, a huge victory that all but assures him a return trip to states. Last year Fabian was fourth in New York after earning a wild card bid.

The wild card bids won’t be determined until all the section tournaments are completed.

Fabian needed to win one match Wednesday at Walt Whitman High School to advance to the consolation final against Jamison. As it turned out, he earned a forfeit win, leaving only one match to wrestle. He was supposed to wrestle Brad Wade of Islip in his first match but Wade suffered an ankle injury that ended his tournament.

Two other Shoreham wrestlers competed Wednesday in the second day of the county tournament. Dom Pirraglia at 182 won his first consolation match, 8-2, before losing via pin in the consolation final for fourth place.

James Szymanski at 106 lost his first match, 6-4, to drop to the fifth/sixth match. He won via forfeit for fifth place.