Tough Season for Finley Wrestlers
It might have been the toughest season ever for the J. Taylor Finley Middle School wrestling team. The 22-wrestler squad compiled a 2-8 mark.
Finley opened as a junior high school in September 1965 and for most of its history has been one of the best teams in the county. This year’s team was led by head coach Mike Marinello, who was assisted by Louis R. Giani. The squad was captained by eighth graders Kevin Lynch and Chris Martin.
Finley’s wrestling corps included 15 eighth graders and seven seventh graders. Marinello said Finley’s top two wrestlers were Lynch and eighth grader Dylan Uvena. “Kevin is a hard worker who improved a great deal this year,” the coach said.
Marinello called Uvena a “good wrestler with plenty of experience and talent.” The roster also included seventh graders Anthony Baltera, Henry Cartwright, Timothy Lefebvre, Edward Maleszewski, Anthony Martin, Kevin Saravia-Moreira and Daniel Thompson and eighth graders Zaivar Butts, Ethan Copp, Keny Flores, Ryan Glazier, Jose Luis Granados, Timothy Low, Mariano Luna, Aidan McCooey, Quentin McIntosh, William Mejia, Isiah Rodriquez and John Rowbo.
Finley defeated Kings Park (55-28) and Northport (43-42), but dropped meets to East Northport (63-21), West Hollow (42-18), Elwood (78-6), Oldfield (52-20), Commack (60-30), Candlewood (78-17), Hauppauge (39-12) and Stimson (31-24).
Since the small group of seventh graders on this year’s team could quite possibly translate into a relatively small number of eighth graders on next winter’s squad, Marinello is hoping for a large turnout of seventh graders in January 2015 to replenish Finley’s ranks.
“Next year looks like a rebuilding year,” Marinello said.