Uvena Back At Walt Whitman Wrestling Helm
By M ic h a e l R u b in
Brian Uvena is back. And the Walt Whit­
man wrestling program is hoping that the
coach has brought with him another league
title.
Under Uvena's guidance, the Wildcats won
three straight league III championships, a
reign that was brought to an end last year.
Last season, Uvena did not coach because
he had been excessed by the district and had
to take a nine-to-five job. Nine-to-fivers simply
do not liavc the time to coach high school
sports.
So under coach Omero Caton, Whitman
struggled. It struggled to win lyii), and it
struggled to keep a team.
"W e had 6okids and then ended up with
14 otK attheendoftheyeat," said senior Demond Betts.
Now chat Uvena has re tu rn e d to the
teaching world — this lime at North Babylon
Higli School — he has m ade it back to the
coaching tanks. But the V%lcWhitman ranks
have changed a bit since he left.
"It’sgolngbackto square one," Uvena said.
"It just kind o f fell apart. There's probably a
lot of reasons why I t happened, but the main
reason was that I wasn't there.
"Wrestling's one of those sports where a
coach has to be on the ball all the time. Fotcunaiely, I have some kids who were [with
the] program w hen I was there"
Betts is the m ain kid. The All-County
wrestler finished fifth at the Suffolk cham­
pionships last year at 152 pounds. This year
he Will likely go at 12b.
Then there’s Gerald Odom, a junior who
finished third In the county tw o years ago.
DEMOND BETTS, shown in control o f le a n iin a te Neil M arkowitz d u rin g a p ra c tic e Iasi
week, is e x p ected to lift th e W ildcals th is year.
Photo By M ichael Rubin
After jumping out to a 7-2 record last year including a first-place finish at the Sachem
Tournament — Odom chose not to continue
with the ptogtam.
"Once [Uvena] left, everybody thought
they could Eoolaioundy said Odom, who will
wrestle at 119 this year. "Now that h e’s back,
everybody's back Into it"
Senior Nell Markowitz (i?2) returns after
eaminga league championship at ij8 last year.
Other returning league place-winners in­
clude seniors Marlon Richardson fthlrd.i^S)
and Mike McGinnis [third, 145).
"We have a big hole in ninth- and loih
gradets," Uvena said. "The coaches have to
go back to wotk. It’s just like our rookie year.’’
The wrestlers are hoping that It wili be a
belter year than b s t year.
"I lost a lot of technique," Betts said. ”Lasi
year, it seemed like 1wasn’t half the wrestler
I was the year before."
"I think we learned a lot o f bad habits,’’
Markowitz said. "We had to teach ourselves.
Basically, w e just helped each other and got
each other through the year ”
Uvena, who led Whitman to No. 12 state
and No 7 county rankings two years ago, feels
that his club will excel at tournaments, but
not at dual meets. Only 19wrestlers make up
the Wildcats’varsity and junior varsity teams.
"The numbers I don’t have," Uvena said,
"but I’rri planning on the guys 1 have to do
well."
In a pteseason coaches poll, Betts and
Odom w ere b oth ranked second in their
respective weight classes.
"If [Uvena] was here lastyeatE' Odom said,
"it would have been much different [this
year]."
Hills East Looking Forward To ‘Interesting’ Year
B y M ic h a e l R u b in
Half Hollow Hills East wrestling coach |oe
Pennacchlo doesn't get overly excited when
talking about the prospects of his team.
"It should be a nice, interesting year," is
about the extent of Pennacchio’s emotional
response to the question, "What kind of year
do you think It will be?’’ And this Is a h a the
Thunderbirds buried Deer Park, 6o-), in their
first dual m eet of the season.
W ith senior co-captains |o e Farina and
Howard Hain leading th e way. It could
become an extremely interesting and ex­
tremely nice year.
Hain, who wasalsoa captain last year, went
29-2 last season and won the league II title.
Farina finished sixth in the county last year.
As a team, the Thundetbirds w ent 9-4 a
yeat ago, But a couple of key injuries
hampered their efforts. Senior captain Jason
Ciaramella missed m ost of the season with
mononucleosis, and senior Kirk Strong miss­
ed 2 'A weeks with an ankle injury.
o f an injury last season.
"We'd hire to win the league — that’s out
goal," said Pennacchio, a second-year coach.
"They’ve all worked hard. They’ve put a lot
of time In. They’ve paid thepilce, so to speak.
Now it's time for rewards."
It IS worth noting that Hills East entered
three tournaments last year and came away
team champions each time.
C om m ack S till A Year
A w a y F ielding Tough Team
Asidefiom Haln(i58ori45)andFatina(i77
or Hvy) — the obvious backbone of this team
— Pennacchlo returnssenlotsChris Papa (119
or 126), [ohn Hughes (142) and Scott Marano
(145). Papa placed second in the league last
year, Hughesis a foutth-yeat varsity wrestler
and Marano did not see any action because
HA LF IlOLIXyW HILLS EA ST is expecting good things th is y e a r
fro m scm o rsS co ltM a ra n o ilo p la n d C h risP a p a.M ara n o in isse d la st
Commack coach Bob Schuster feels con­
fident chat his program Is close to regaining
its winning ways.
Lascyear was the first time that Commack
ficldeci a freshmen team, and Schuscet was
delighted with the results.
"1 think w e’re only a year away from
season with an in ju ry , while Pap a Look second p lace a t th e league II
cliam |iionsliip lo u rn a m en t.
Photo By M ichael Kubin
reinstituting chat tough Commack wrestling
team " Schuster said. "Ifwe have another real
good year with the ninth-gtadeis, w e could
get back to the awesome category.’’
"rheCougais loneretumingleague II placewinner Is senior co-capta In AJex Pollina [i;8),
who finished fourth in th e league. Pollina
started this year by caking first place at East
Hampton’s Sprig Gatdnei Tournament.
Junior co-captain Brian Sharenow [izb),
wlio took third at East Hampton, should also
enjoy a good yeat for Commack.
St. A n th o n y 'sHas TbRebuild
A fte r R ecen t Successes
After winning three state Catholic League
titles In th e past four years, St. Anthony’s is
looking at somev.hac of a rebuilding year
The Friars ate young. In winning the states
last yeat, St. Anthony’s had eight seniots In
the starting lineup. That number has been
reduced to one this season.
Chaminade figures to repeat astheNassauSuffolk Catholic League champion. St. An­
thony’s coach Kevin Smith said that "taking
second In the league would bean accomplish­
m ent"
Smith will look to accomplish chat goal
with three key returnees.
Peter Smith, still only a sophomore, returns
from his successful freshman campaign In
which he won the Statetitleat9i pounds. He’B
go at 9! this yeat.
lumor Chtls TUcci (126) is back from hisstate
runner-up yeat, and senior Joe McKinley [U9),
who finished second in the league last year
and won th e slates as a sophomore, also
returns.
In their first showing of the season, the
Fria ts finished fifth out of eight teams at the
Patchogue-Medfoid Tbumamenc.