Three North Fork wrestlers qualify for state tournament

When senior James Felakos returns to Albany for the New York State wrestling championships next weekend, he will have some welcome company.

Felakos, who captured the 190-pound title at the Suffolk County Division II finals for the second successive year at Shoreham-Wading River High School on Friday, will be joined by two Mattituck/Greenport/Southold teammates. Senior Luca Sirico won the 170-pound class, and junior Ryder Antonucci finished second at 138 to qualify for the states.

“I get to wrestle a little more, and the added benefit of having teammates, having my drill partner [Sirico], that’s just awesome,” Felakos said. “The last time I was very much alone up there. It’s cool to have a few people with me.”

The Feb. 28 to March 1 finals will feature the most Tuckers since 2020, when four wrestlers competed.

“We knew that we had an opportunity and a chance to send more than one guy this year,” head coach Ryan Grebe said. “I was really proud of them. They wrestled real tough.”

Felakos, who improved to 36-2 on the season, qualified for the states for the third time in four years. He defeated Port Jefferson’s Matthew Wengatz, 8-3, in the county final.

“I’m never going to wrestle a perfect match every time,” he said. “There were things, especially in the final match, to work on. I stuck to the game plan.”

Earning a first round bye was a mixed blessing. “It makes the day a little more boring, but you don’t get as much fatigue from wrestling,” Felakos said. “It wasn’t the best wrestling day I’ve ever had. It was very far from the worst.”

He called his final encounter with Wengatz “a trilogy match.” Wengatz won at the West Islip tournament earlier this season, but Felakos prevailed at Port Jefferson last month.

“I was expecting a good match,” he said. “The thing that I learned is I have to mostly manage my cardio, not gas out so quickly. That’s what I did the first [match.] It cost me because he’s a good wrestler.”

Felakos, whose goal last year was to win at least one match in Albany, wants to earn allstate honors this time around.

Minutes before Felakos’ title match, he watched Sirico emerge victorious, pinning Southampton’s Hudson-Fox Bathon in 35 seconds.

Sirico, who improved to 24-9, said that this was his first tournament win.

“It was surreal,” he said. “It was a weird feeling. It’s not what I thought it was going to be. I was zoned out almost. I’ve placed second a few times, but it was nice not losing.”

Until then, Sirico had never defeated Bathon.

“I felt like the more we wrestled, the closer I got,” he said. “I was definitely a little nervous. I’ve never wrestled by myself in front of that many people before. My coaches told me to enjoy the moment, stay focused, don’t go off on a tangent.”

It certainly didn’t hurt that Felakos is Sirico’s practice partner.

“He’s definitely been a big part of helping me get better,” Sirico said. “James is heavier than me and is just a very, very technically skilled wrestler. Wrestling him definitely brought me up to a new level. I got to scramble a little bit more. He put me in some uncomfortable positions, and I got used to wrestling people who are stronger than me. He’s an incredible wrestler.”

A tactical move by Grebe helped Antonucci, who had wrestled at 131 for the entire season. He was bumped up a weight class. It worked well, as Antonucci finished second, losing to Shoreham-Wading River’s reigning state champ Gavin Mangano on a pin. “We took a look at that [131] weight class before the county tournament, and saw that it was pretty stacked,” Grebe said. “We spoke to Ryder and thought his best chance of not going all-county but going upstate would probably be at 138 pounds. He wrestled unbelievably.”

Antonucci, whose record is 28-12, didn’t have to sweat making weight in a heavier division.

“He was eating whatever he wanted,” Grebe said. “Just going into practice and being focused on working hard. I think it takes a weight off your chest a little bit. He wrestled awesome.”

The Tuckers (160.5) finished fourth overall in the team competition. Elwood-John Glenn (358.5) won the Division II title.