Shoreham-Wading River's Gavin Mangano a standout at Eastern States wrestling
Shoreham-Wading River's Gavin Mangano gets the win over Comsewogue's Mason Mangiolino at 138 pounds in the Carl T. Korpi Scramble wrestling tournament on Dec. 14, 2024, at Miller Place. Credit: George A Faella
CLIFTON PARK — Shoreham-Wading River’s Gavin Mangano is familiar with the Eastern States Wrestling Classic.
The Wildcats sophomore is a two-time champion at the Eastern States, which is widely considered the most prestigious wrestling tournament in the Northeast. This year the tournament hosts over 500 wrestlers from 167 schools and nine states, per tournament director Jeff Cuilty.
After pinning both of his opponents Friday, Mangano advanced to Saturday’s 138-pound quarterfinals at Impact Athletic Center in Clifton Park, where his quest for a third straight title in the 45th Annual Eastern States Tournament will continue.
“It’s the best tournament in the northeastern U.S.,” Shoreham-Wading River coach Joe Condon said. “There’s a two-time Wyoming state champ. There are guys from New Jersey, kids from Wyoming Seminary in Pennsylvania, which is one of the top three teams in the country. State champs from Connecticut and all of New York, Division I and II mixed in together. It’s a chance to wrestle people you might never see.”
Mangano is 30-0 this season and boasts a career record of 147-3. He won the tournament at 124 pounds last season and at 110 pounds as an eighth grader. With three more wins on Saturday, Mangano would become Shoreham-Wading River’s first three-time Eastern States champion. Mangano is also the reigning Division II New York State champion at 131 pounds.
“It’s not like he’s a secret anymore. He’s approaching extremely elite status,” Condon said. “He’s still got work to do and he’s very grounded. He doesn’t talk like that, he’s a quiet kid. It’s very business-like with him.”
He’s joined by Long Beach junior and UNC commit Dunia-Sibomana Rodriguez as the only returning Eastern States champions from Long Island. Sibomana-Rodriguez defeated Newburgh’s Cooper Merli by a 9-2 decision to win last year’s Eastern States title at 108 pounds. Merli later defeated Sibomana-Rodriguez in the Division I state final in a 1-0 decision.
Merli and Sibomana-Rodriguez are the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, in this year’s 116-pound bracket. Sibomana-Rodriguez will face Luca Popolizio (Christian Brothers Academy) in the quarterfinals.
At 190 pounds, there’s the potential for a Nassau County showdown between Cold Spring Harbor’s Greyson Meak and Plainedge’s Devin Downes. Meak is the top seed and the reigning Division II state champion at 190 pounds and Downes is the No. 3 seed and won the Division I state title at 170 pounds last year. Southwestern’s Tavio Hoose, who Meak defeated in the state final, is the No. 2 seed. Meak is 1-2 against Hoose.
Downes would need to get past Hoose to reach the final — no easy task.
Cold Spring Harbor coach Mike Ferrugiari said Meak and Downes have never wrestled a competitive match against each other, but the two are friends and train together.
“To be honest, I don’t know how that match would go,” Ferrugiari said. “I certainly have the confidence in Greyson because he’s such a competitor, but it would be a battle.”
Along with the usual suspects, Austin Bronco Campsey is making a name for himself. The East Hampton sophomore entered the 108-pound bracket as the No. 23 seed and defeated No. 10 Peter Filli (Ichabod Crane) and No. 7 Colton Schmiesing (Oyster Bay), both by technical fall. He’ll face No. 2 Connor Sheridan of Hauppauge in the quarterfinal round Saturday morning.
Long Island advanced 18 wrestlers into the quarterfinals, which begin at 9:15 a.m. The all-girls tournament begins at 11:20 a.m.
Eastern States quarterfinal qualifiers by weight
101: Tyler Conzo, Smithtown West (5), Fr.; Trevor Patrovich, Hauppauge (11), So.; Xavier Seabury, North Babylon (10), Fr.
108: Connor Sheridan, Hauppauge (2), Sr.; Austin Campsey, EH/BH (23), Soph.
116: Andrew Poh, Valley Stream North (34), Sr.; Dylan Reinard, Smithtown East (19), Sr.; Dunia Sibomana, Long Beach (2), Jr.
124: Jake Strianese, Oceanside (9), Jr.; Will Russell, Manhasset (11), Jr.; Carlos Salazar, Hewlett (10), So.
138: Gavin Mangano, SWR (1), So.
145: Leo Mongiello, Sayville (4), Sr.
152: Luke Nieto, Plainedge (1), Sr.
160: Jason Kwaak, Brentwood (2), Sr.
190: Greyson Meak, Cold Spring Harbor (1), Sr.; Jared Marine, Long Beach (8), Sr.; Devin Downes, Plainedge (2), Jr.
285: Chase Frole, Lindenhurst (7), Sr.
With Gregg Sarra and Andy Slawson
