Athlete of the Week is Half Holllow Hills East wrestler Jon Spadafora

Jon Spadafora’s training goes beyond the mat.

Growing up in a wrestling household, Jon and his older brothers, James and Phil, would constantly train together at Half Hollow Hills East practice. But occasionally, the competition would spill over to the household.

“There have been some fights over who's the best and we always battled it out,” Jon Spadafora said. “Sometimes it got a little too crazy.”

The work with his older brothers, who are currently sophomores at the University of Maryland, helped develop Jon into a standout wrestler as he enters his senior season, winning his first 14 matches of the season. Spadafora had four pins in a total time of 2:44 to win the 145-pound title at the Sal DiFazio Tournament at Hills East Dec. 28, and be named Newsday’s Athlete of the Week.

Spadafora also won the Rocky Gilmore Tournament on Saturday with a 17-0 win by technical fall over Matt Campo of Mount Sinai at 152 pounds.

“My mindset is to either wrestle as short as possible or if I am going to wrestle without pinning the kid, get as many points as I can and go for the tech fall,” Spadafora said. “Mentally break them.”

Hills East coach Bill Davey, who has coached Spadafora on varsity since the eighth grade, said he can sometimes be on “cruise control” watching his experienced wrestler on the mat.

“He was on his game, he looked good, he was feeling good,” Davey said. “Every time we go into a tournament, his goal is to try to be the most outstanding wrestler, so it’s kind of nice to be on his level of wrestling and knowing he has that capability of doing it every time.”

Spadafora, who started as an eighth grader wrestling at 99 pounds, has matured to a 145 pounder. He will occasionally wrestle up to 152 pounds, either to face a tougher opponent or for the good of the team.

“Sometimes at 145, it won't be as good competition as 152,” Spadafora said. “I’ll get these close matches and that will help because when I do get to a close match, I’ll know I can close it out. So when I wrestle kids my own weight, I know I can be stronger than them.”

After a 38-2 season last year and finishing third in the county, Spadafora is looking to take the next step as a senior, bringing home a county title with hopes of competing for a state crown.

And during the holiday break, Spadafora had a special trainer, working with Phil, who is competing at Maryland and Spadafora hopes join his brother next year.

“I have an advantage because college wrestling and high school wrestling is a totally different level,” Spadafora said. “So I get to know what works on really good guys.”