Wilson Quintanilla sparks Farmingdale to victory in the Nassau dual meet final

Wilson Quintanilla’s teammates had just rattled off four straight wins to erase a 19-point deficit.

With the score tied and the Nassau Division I dual meet title on the line, the gym at Clarke was rocking.

Quintanilla, the top ranked wrestler in Nassau at 215 pounds, oozed confidence as he stepped onto the mat.

“If I had to put anybody out there at 215 pounds in the county final, Wilson’s the guy I would put out there every time,” Farmingdale coach Artie Weidler said.

Quintanilla delivered. The junior dominated from the opening whistle and defeated Liam Hastings, 17-2, by technical fall in the third period of the final match of top-seeded Farmingdale’s 36-31 win over No. 2 Long Beach in the Nassau Division I dual meet final Saturday evening.

“I’m ranked number one in the county right now, but those are just rankings,” Quintanilla said. “I want to prove that I am. It started long ago, but this was another chance to keep proving it.”

Everyone in the gym knew that Long Beach’s strength is in its lighter weights and that Farmingdale’s heavyweights are as good as any on Long Island. With the match starting at 285 pounds, Mike Suwalski gave the Dalers a 6-0 lead with a pin over Rafael Almonte.

Then the Marines strung together five straight wins.

“Our lighter weights are really tough, despite that match,” Farmingdale senior Eric Wolf said. “I guess it was the heavyweights’ chance to step up today.”

Trailing 31-12, Nick Migliaccio started the comeback with a 15-6 major decision over Ari Kaye at 152 pounds. Jovens Theodate followed with a 16-1 technical fall over Jahmel Isaac at 160.

Wolf’s 18-3 technical fall over Jeremy Ogando brought the Dalers within five points and Josh Kama defeated Gavyn Vicente, 16-1, by technical fall at 190 to tie the meet at 31. Then, Quintanilla completed the comeback.

“Our team has a lot of heart,” Quintanilla said. “No one knows how hard we work in the room. We knew we were gonna have to fight against a team like that.”

It’s Farmingdale’s first dual meet county title, with the Dalers’ last appearance in the final a loss to Long Beach in 2015.

“Our school is starting to put more attention to the wrestling team,” Wolf said. “To prove that we’re the number one team in the county instead of just saying it is big for us.”

Farmingdale (11-0) advances to the state dual meet tournament at SRC Arena and Events Center in Syracuse next Saturday.

Long Beach (14-1) took a 37-20 win over No. 6 Massapequa in the semifinals. The Dalers defeated No. 4 Oceanside, 28-25, to advance to the final.

“I feel like we have one of the best teams in the state, if not the best team,” Weidler said. “We’re ready to wrestle anyone.”

Plainedge wins Division II title

A lot has changed in the last year for Plainedge. The reigning state Division I dual meet champions found themselves in Division II this season with several changes to their lineup.

But the Red Devils are still dominant.

No. 1 Plainedge defeated No. 2 Seaford, 42-17, to win the Nassau Division II title.

It’s Plainedge’s first county title since 2007 and third overall. The Red Devils were last year’s Nassau D I runner-ups and entered the state tournament as a wild card.

“Knowing how much improvement we’ve made throughout the season and that we earned it with our work makes it feel even better,” Kyle Carter said.

When Plainedge met Seaford on Jan. 8, the meet ended in a tie at 29, but the Vikings won on criteria, having won seven individual matches.

Plainedge led 15-14 with six matches to go on Saturday before Carter and Luke Nieto broke the meet open.

Carter pinned Jaxon Addiego in 1:49 at 145 pounds and Nieto pinned Brandon Morris in 2:23 at 152 pounds to give Plainedge a 27-14 lead.

“We had some struggles earlier in the season. We weren’t cheering for each other. We lost to Seaford earlier,” Nieto said. “We had a long talk with the team and the message was that it’s just another match. All the work is already done. We went out there, we cheered for each other and we were just ready to win.”

Jake DePhillips followed Nieto with a 5-2 decision over Brock Conway at 160 pounds. Dylan Fella clinched the title by pinning Thomas Mirenda in 2:48 at 170 pounds to give Plainedge a 36-14 lead with two matches to go.

Plainedge (16-4) advanced to the final with a 43-22 win over No. 4 Cold Spring Harbor. Seaford (10-6) defeated No. 3 Island Trees, 44-30, in the semifinals.