Rocky Point's LaMorte couldn't have written a more perfect ending
Nick LaMorte Rocky Point defeats Jordan Brown of Monroe-Woodbury in the 138 lb division 1 finals match at the 2023 NYSPHSAA wrestling championships on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, at the MVP Arena in Albany, N.Y. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Salute To The Champs: Rocky Point's Nick LaMorte
Rocky Point senior Nick LaMorte had the perfect season.
He cruised to his third straight Suffolk Division I title.
He earned his first state championship.
He finished with a 44-0 record.
LaMorte captured the Division I state title with a 6-1 win over Jordan Brown of Monroe-Woodbury in the 138-pound final. The kid grew up watching some of Rocky Point’s all-time best wrestlers: Thomas Dutton, Steven Dutton, Billy Coggins and Anthony Volpe. He dreamed of being mentioned in the same breath as the great ones.
“I had one last shot at a state championship, and it means so much to me to finish the job,” said LaMorte, who will attend Oklahoma on a wrestling scholarship. “I finished fourth in the state tournament as a junior.”
LaMorte compiled a 175-34 career record.
“He lost an entire year because of the pandemic,” Rocky Point coach Darren Goldstein said. “He would have joined an elite club of wrestlers with 200 wins.”
Goldstein said he started working with LaMorte in the wrestling room when he was 4 years old.
“He worked his way through our KID program and to the state title,” he said. “It’s beautiful.”
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
