Winning states is a chief concern for Massapequa wrestling.
The Nassau County champions are gearing up for a date with destiny this weekend in Syracuse at New York’s Division I dual meet finals against 11 of the Empire State’s best programs.
“I think we’re in a good position,” Chiefs head coach Mike McCann told The Post.
“I’m predicting that we will battle and we will leave it all on the mat, empty the gas tank.”
McCann, whose group last won it all in 2019, said that depth is “our most special ingredient” on the 45-member strong Chiefs’ impressive campaign.
“We have second, third-tier guys who are potential podium guys,” he said.
“We never even wrestled the same lineup two times this year.”
Their senior leaders, like Luke Anderson (126 pounds), Joe Brooks (157), Mike Murphy (165), and James Mulhern (285), have also brought “great chemistry” to the Al Bevilacqua wrestling room on Massapequa’s campus.
Then there’s 110-pound freshman John Tutku, who won a state title as a middle schooler, along with former county champ Kai Tiringer, who wrestles at 150 pounds as a junior.
“I think we’re definitely in the conversation,” the coach added.
Trailing archrival Coast Guard 38-33 with just over a minute to go at Fenway Park, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy thrillingly sailed down the field in the dying seconds of the Secretaries’ Cup back in November to claim victory for the boys from Long Island.
USMMA’s last-second heroics, talked about from sea to shining sea for months, were ranked Tuesday in the top 100 college football games of the year by ESPN at No. 69.
The 70-yard, 6:26 drive was coming up short, and the Mariners faced fourth-and-1 on the Coast Guard 20-yard line in the DIII showdown with quarterback Bubba Mustain at the helm with about a minute to go.
Mustain called his own number and lunged forward for the first down on a sneak under center.
They kept moving the ball downfield to about the 7-yard line, but the clock became the Nassau County service academy’s enemy as the USMMA had just 20 seconds left to reach the end zone.
Mustain again kept the ball himself and plowed through defenders to reach the precious pay dirt, sealing a thrilling 39-38 win over the team’s bitter adversaries from Connecticut.
