Wrestling: Filipkowski cruises to title at North Fork Invitational
Mattituck junior Tomasz Filipkowski could sense the added pressure of wrestling in front of the home crowd.
“You want to show what you work hard all year for because no one really knows what wrestling is about,” Filipkowski said.
Filipkowski gave the hometown fans at Mattituck High School a lesson in wrestling efficiency. He won all four matches in dominant fashion Saturday to win the 170-pound title of the annual North Fork Invitational.
In the finals Filipkowski won by technical fall over Josh Blom of Riverhead. He led 14-1 before adding three near fall points to end the match.
In the semifinals Filipkowski faced Maleik Henry, a wrestler whom he had beaten a tight match earlier this season at a tournament. The second time around wasn’t as close as Filipkowski won a 13-5 major decision.
Filipkowski was the only champion for the host school. The Tuckers finished seventh out of 11 teams with 127 points. Riverhead finished third with 191 1/2 points.
Connetquot ran away with the team title with 347 1/2 points.
Riverhead had one champion. Freshman Ed Matyka won a 12-4 major decision in the finals against Sean Miller of Connetquot to win his second tournament title this season.
The Blue Waves had three wrestlers fall in the finals. Charles Bartlett lost 9-5 in the 160 finals to top-seeded Shaun Gillen of Connetquot.
At 182, Mike Von Bommel was pinned in the finals by Zeki Yazak of Rocky Point in 3 minutes 6 seconds.
At 220, Shawn Yarborough was pinned in the first period by Kenny Drew of Connetquot, who is ranked second in the county. Yarborough came into the tournament ranked fourth in the county.
Mattituck had one second place finisher at 138 in Andre Vega. He lost by technical fall in the finals to Joe Jackson of Harborfields.
Chris Baglivi placed third for Mattituck at 182. Kyle Helgans was third for Riverhead at 120.
Sean McCabe of Connetquot won the Champion of Champions award. Thomas Dutton of Rocky Point was the Most Outstanding Wrestler after his victory in the finals over Joey Gates of Connetquot.
