Aiden Morin's final-bout win gives Patchogue-Medford Suffolk League I title
Aiden Morin of Patchogue-Medford beats Whitman's Lucas Tonna in the 101-pound matchup to win their dual meet 31-27 at Whitman on Wednesday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Aiden Morin was set to wrestle the final bout of the dual meet between Patchogue-Medford and Whitman. The 101-pounder was the final of 13 bouts that would settle first place in Suffolk’s League I.
His Raiders had won six of the first seven weight classes and were comfortably ahead of host Whitman in a battle of unbeaten teams. Early on, it didn’t look like Morin would be needed for late heroics to determine a winner. There would be no pressure, just another bout, a piece of cake, right? Not so fast.
In a flurry of four consecutive Whitman pins that ignited the standing-room only crowd the Wildcats erased an 18-point deficit to take a six-point lead with two bouts remaining. And all those pins came in the first period, boom, boom, boom, and boom. The atmosphere was electric, the spotlight over the center of the mat seemed even brighter. The crowd roared louder.
And now, Morin found himself in ‘get ready mode’ for the biggest bout of his life. His moment was made more intense when Patchogue-Medford’s 285-pounder Hamza Ibn pinned Daniel Bozic in 1:12 to tie the team score at 27.
And now Morin’s bout mattered more than ever.
“I was like, ‘this is really happening,” Morin said. “It’s coming down to me. I always have some self-doubt about taking the mat. My teammates were great, telling me ‘you got this’.”
Morin went out and executed the first takedown and cruised to an 11-2 win over freshman Lucas Tonna to win and give Patchogue-Medford a 31-27 victory over Whitman Wednesday night in South Huntington. The win allowed Patchogue-Medford (4-0, 13-3) to clinch the league championship.
“I needed that first takedown to take off the edge and relax,” Morin said. “This is amazing — the greatest feeling ever.”
It was all made possible when Ibn halted Whitman’s run of four straight first-period pins. Ibn came out of a scramble and broke Bozic down flat. He came out to the side and ran a deep half-Nelson for the first period pin.
“There was a lot of pressure and I was just doing my part,” said Ibn, who’s been wrestling for two years. “And I had faith in Morin to finish the job.”
Whitman (3-1, 8-1) suffered its first dual meet loss of the season. The Wildcats, which captured three tournament titles, showed team resilience after falling behind early in the dual.
“We felt it would come down to one bout,” said Whitman coach Chris Cardella. “We knew we were stronger in the heavier weights. It’s really a tough one to lose so close.”
Whitman’s Luis Navarro made it four first-period pins in a row when he pinned Hazard Perry in 1:53 at 215 pounds as the Wildcats forged their first lead at 27-21.
“We had to avoid giving up pins or bonus points,” Patchogue-Medford coach Tom Anello said. “They got back in it with the pins. It’s a big win.”
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
