Wrestling: Debose, Matyka win in Riverhead loss
With wins hard to come by, the Riverhead High School wrestling team may have sensed an opportunity for a rare “W” when Newfield walked into its gym on Monday. The two teams shared the bottom of the Suffolk County League III standings and had drawn even on points when they met at a dual-meet tournament in Amityville earlier this season.
So, the Blue Waves may have thought, maybe, just maybe this would be their day.
If they did, they were wrong.
Newfield took a step out of the cellar, leaving the unwelcome distinction of last place solely to the Blue Waves.
Riverhead is both inexperienced and young, with 24 of the 30 team members being freshmen, said coach Tom Riccio. Adam Harnig is the team’s only senior.
Although Riccio said the team is making progress, he noted it has a long way to go. Riverhead’s lack of wrestling savvy was underlined with its 55-24 defeat to Newfield. Mark Matyka and Chris Debose brought Riverhead its only points from matches that were wrestled. Riverhead was awarded forfeits at two weight classes.
Newfield (6-11, 1-3) won the first six bouts, building a 25-0 lead before Riverhead (1-5, 0-4) finally got on the scoreboard, courtesy of Debose. Debose pinned his opponent at 170 pounds, Mohab Ali, in four minutes and 28 seconds.
Matyka also won on the strength of a pin. He stopped T.J. Wisnieski at 2:49 of their 99-pound contest.
But Newfield picked up pins of its own — six of them. They were recorded by Julien Vivas (106) over Zack Merker at 4:33; Hunter Hughes (120) over Dom Dossey at 3:07; Tim Troeber (126) over Jared Cawley at 1:20; Matt Myers (160) over Lawrence Bishop at 3:23; Paul Toscano (196) over Aiden Fitzpatrick at 2:27; and Will Luvera (285) over Carlos Perez at 1:07.
Newfield also gained wins by Nick Calderone (132), 3-2 over Harnig; Antonio Vaquez (138), 18-8 over Anthony Marcello; John LoGiudice (145), 11-5 over Ralph Gray; and Nick Cami (152), 4-1 over Sean Prunty.
Photo caption: Riverhead’s Mark Matyka after taking down Newfield’s Todd Wisnieski during their match at 99 pounds. (Credit: Robert O’Rourk)
