SWR wrestling team wins on the mats despite youth

In early December, Shoreham-Wading River’s wrestling coach Joe Condon was named to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Through his 20-plus years coaching the Wildcats, Condon has mentored more than 90 All-County wrestlers, 18 county champions, 23 All-State wrestlers, five New York State champions, 18 All-Americans, and three National champions. It was a momentous time in Condon’s life, giving back to the community that raised him.

“It’s special to be able to come back and coach where I wrestled as a kid and in a community that I continue to live in,” he said. “I got to coach my son, my nephews, all those kids I saw grow up in the community. I have teammates of mine whose kids are in the program. It’s really all full circle. All the personal stuff is great but I wouldn’t be able to do it without my coaching staff all these years. 

“It’s a collective thing, it’s coaches, it’s parents, it’s a full community effort to get success here,” he continued. “I wish I could take all the credit but if you surround yourself with like-minded people and get great support from the school district and the community, good things tend to happen.”

But even after all those years at the helm, there’s always a new challenge. This year, for instance, for the first time under Condon’s tenure at SWR, there are no seniors on the wrestling team.

“Being such a young team this year I don’t want to overdo it and overwork the kids,” Condon said. “You have to find a middle ground. But they train real hard and we still set the bar high and have high expectations. We’re going to have 90% of the team intact the next two years. We have no seniors and four juniors.”

The lack of seniors didn’t stop the team from hoisting the trophy for the third annual Don Jantzen Memorial Duals on Saturday at Shoreham-Wading River High School, a multi-team meet that featured Cold Spring Harbor, Mattituck, Harborfields, Huntington, Rocky Point, Comsewogue, and Centereach. The Wildcats stood atop the podium among them all. They defeated Rocky Point in the final, 38-34, to the roar of the home crowd.

The team this year is led by reigning state and national champion Gavin Mangano. The sophomore was unfazed in all his matchups during the tournament at the 145-pound weight class after wrestling around 126 last year. In his first matchup against Cold Spring Harbor, he pinned his opponent in 40 seconds. Against Harborfields, the pin came in just 36 seconds. In the Mattituck matchup, the opponent fell in 34 seconds. But Mangano saved the best for last, slamming Rocky Point’s Neil Dhingra in the championship and pinning him in only 19 seconds of wrestling time.

“Mangano has accomplished so much already, but he’s never satisfied,” Condon said. “The kid is just a phenom and everyone on the team feeds off of it. They see how hard he works and how committed he is to being great. He may only be a sophomore but he leads by example.”

In the final, the match started at the 131-pound weight class, moved through higher weight classes before coming back around and ending at 124 pounds. It was a back-and-forth match to that point and the winner of that final bout would determine the team win for either side. SWR earned points with pins by Mangano, Shane Hall (138), Jacob Conti (152), Bradley Brandt (101), Thomas Matias (108) and a major decision by Shane Cowan leading into the final matchup of the night. The Wildcats won three consecutive bouts to give themselves a chance at the title. It was down to Jake Davis and the 124-pounder did not disappoint. In the highest scoring match of the day, the back and forth battle saw both wrestlers rack up lots of points, until Davis emerged victorious over Finley Monahan, 24-16.

“It was a great moment for the kids,” Condon said. “The Don Jantzen Memorial Tournament is always a big hit in the community and I’m proud of the way the kids wrestled today. I’m sure Don was looking down from above and just smiling.”