SWR’s Gavin Mangano wins third straight state wrestling title

Shoreham-Wading River junior Gavin Mangano captured his third straight state title, leading three Wildcats to the Division II podium at MVP Arena in Albany last weekend.

“I don’t know it offhand exactly but I think this has only happened two or three times in our history that we had three wrestlers place in the states,” SWR head coach Joe Condon said. “It’s very difficult to do. It’s one thing to get there and it’s a whole different thing to get to the podium. So proud of our boys.”

Exactly a year ago, on this same stage, Mangano provided an ironman performance in the championship final, wrestling on a broken leg to win the match. His return to the spotlight featured nothing but utter dominance.

The No. 1-ranked wrestler in the 144-pound weight division — who has committed to Penn State, one of the most prestigious wrestling schools in the country — cruised through the opening rounds. He knocked off Jonathan Swartwout of Fonda/Johnstown by technical fall, 17-1 all in the first period. Then took down a familiar face in Alex Southworth of Miller Place by technical fall, 21-5. In the semifinals, he earned another technical fall, 16-0, against Evan Sheils of Lansing .

In the finals he faced No. 2 seed Ashten Haley of Cobleskill/Richmondville, the same opponent he took down last year in the final on a broken leg. And that’s when adversity struck.

“There was some very questionable officiating in that match,” Condon said. “The crowd was booing. The other wrestler came out extremely defensive and didn’t really want to engage. Moved away a lot. Gavin got the first takedown and I thought he should have two or three sets of back points and the officials just slowly moved into position and counted very slowly, not awarding any. The kid was poking Gavin in the eye, head butting him, just trying to do anything to get into his head.”

But Mangano stayed the course, earning another takedown in the second period before giving a few points up in the third to grab a 7-5 decision and hoist the crown.

“He’s built for this,” Condon said. “He wanted to beat him by more but to win his third state title is immensely hard to do. I think only 13 wrestlers in New York state history have ever done it.”

It was freshman sensation Andrew Dolson‘s first time wrestling under the bright lights at Albany and the committee awarded him the No. 1 seed in the 103-pound division based on how he wrestled this year against the best of the best.

In the opening round, it was an instant rematch of the Suffolk County finals, as Dolson defeated Parker Menechino of Mount Sinai in a tightly contested match, 4-2. Dolson then earned a 5-0 victory over Brennon Egan of Broadalbin-Perth in the quarterfinals. Wrestling in the semifinals, however, against Drew Telesky of Sherburne-Earlville, Dolson’s shoulder was injured.

“The guy he was facing did an illegal slam,” Condon said. “It’s called a trapped arm slam. When your arm is trapped like that, you can’t post out or anything so he slammed him on the shoulder and he ended up separating his shoulder.”

Dolson forfeited his next two matches, finishing in sixth place.

“We could have taken the win in that semifinal because an illegal move caused an injury but everyone on the coaching staff agreed, including his dad, that we didn’t want to win that way,” Condon said. “We didn’t feel like the kid did it on purpose so we just let it go.”

Thomas Matias had a rough time at the state tournament last year, barely missing out on a podium space, so the Shoreham-Wading River sophomore had everything to prove this time around — and he delivered.

“Thomas was in top form,” Condon said. “Best I’ve ever seen him. He’s a kid that is so focused on his craft and committed to the sport he just continually surprises us.”

After a first round win in a back-and-forth match, 7-6, over Jack Gallagher of Nanuet, Matias was sent to the consolation bracket after falling short in the quarterfinal against Adrian Torres, a senior from Southwestern High School.

Matias knew that in order to place, he had to be flawless the rest of the tournament. The experience of the blood round last year came fully into play. The 110-pound Matias went to work. He knocked off Carmello Massey of Red Hook, 9-4, in the fourth round of the consolation bracket and then defeated Lucas Barberi of Homer to earn a spot in the podium contests.

“He peaked at the right time,” Condon said. “He’s one of the hardest workers on the team. So he deserved this, without a doubt.”

After losing to Wyatt Santori of Dansville/Wayland-Cohocton 5-3 for a chance to make it to the third place bout, he instead had to wrestle for fifth place and completely dominated. Matias earned an 11-2 major decision over Arlo Brouilette of Vernon/Verona/Sherrill to make it to the state podium for the first time in his career.

“The best part is all three guys return next year,” Condon said. “If all goes to plan we all should be back here again showing everyone what Shoreham-Wading River is all about.”