The way he wrestled in his first ever match at the Suffolk County Division I Championships on Saturday, one would have thought that East Hampton freshman Santiago Maya had been there before. He showed the poise and calmness of a veteran wrestler in a 14-1 major decision over Comsewogue’s Jake Wacholder.
While the rest of the tournament didn’t go as swimmingly, Maya still had a solid showing and it was the first of what his head coach Jim Stewart hopes to be many opportunities to win a county title.
“For a freshman he’s definitely poised,” he said. “He’s right on the cusp of turning a corner to place in the county.”
Following his win over Wacholder, the 106-pound Maya ran into Ward Melville’s Matthew Cracchiola, whom he lost to at East Hampton’s Sprig Gardner tournament that opened the season back in December, and suffered a 13-0 loss. Maya defeated Islip’s Sean Miller, 6-2, to keep his day going, but then suffered a tight 4-0 loss to Commack’s Luke D’Angelo, falling a win short of the placement rounds, otherwise known as the “blood round.” D’Angelo, the younger brother of three-time All-American and three-time All-State wrestler Mike D’Angelo, who now wrestles at Princeton, wound up defeating Cracchiola to place fifth in the county.
“That’s just indicative of how good the kids really are at counties,” Stewart said.
Maya wound up finishing the season 21-9, a big improvement over his 13-win season a year ago, and Stewart expects him to only improve and make another jump next season after a busy offseason. Maya, Caleb Peralta and a number of the young Bonac wrestlers will attend a number of camps and tournaments to continue to improve. The middle school wrestling season just began on Monday, and East Hampton competed against teams such as Port Jefferson, Mattituck and host ESM. Stewart said there are 36 kids on the team who are taking to the sport pretty well, so the future looks bright.
Staff Writer on Feb 10, 2019