Hswrestling Timeline
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LONG ISLAND HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING TIMELINE 192??? *The Stony Brook School forms the first high school wrestling team in Suffolk County. 1931 *Oceanside became the first public school on Long Island with a wrestling team. 1932 *Bay Shore had the first public school wrestling team in Suffolk County with Clifton LaPlatney as its first coach. 1933 *The first “Great Neck Tournament” is held (at what is now Great Neck North High School). The tournament was an invitational open to all teams from Long Island, Queens, and Brooklyn. The host school won the tournament in a field of 13 teams. Eight weight classes were contested starting at 115 pounds and ending at 185 with increments every 10 pounds. *This was the first high school wrestling tournament ever held on Long Island. *The Nassau South Shore League held its first championship tournament. There were 10 weight classes ranging from 95-185 with 10-pound increments. Eight teams competed in the tournament. Oceanside won the tournament. *Henry “Lonnie” Kittle started the wrestling program at Amityville. 1934 *The first Suffolk County Championship Tournament is held. It was at the old Patchogue High School. Seven teams competed. The Stony Brook School won the tournament. This was the first ever high school wrestling tournament in Suffolk. There were nine weight classes: 105, 115, 125, 135, 145, 155, 165, 175 and heavyweight (unlimited.) 1935 *The Great Neck Tournament was not held this year. Only nine weights were contested in the Suffolk Tournament. There was no heavyweight class due to a lack of entries. 1936 *The Great Neck Tournament was held after a one-year hiatus. There were 10 weight classes: 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145, 155, 165, 175, and 185. *Nassau formed the South Shore League which had a dual meet schedule and a formal League Tournament at the end of the season. This lasted for three years. *Suffolk also had 10 weight classes including 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145, 155, 165, 175, and heavyweight. 1937 *The Great Neck Invitational was held for the fourth and final time. Sprig Gardner started a JV wrestling team at Mepham High School. *The Suffolk Tournament had only nine weight classes including 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145, 155, 165, and 185. *From 1937-1941 the first two rounds of the Suffolk tournament were held at regional sites, in what was known as the Eastern and Western preliminaries of the Suffolk County Tournament. The semifinals and finals were then held the following weekend. 1938 *Mepham became a full-fledged varsity team. In its first dual meet, Mepham tied Amityville. *The Pirates hosted the first Mepham Invitational at the end of the season which was considered the unofficial Long Island championships. Mepham won five of the 10 weight classes to win the tournament. *Westhampton Beach captured its only Suffolk title with Carl A. Hansen as its coach. 1939 *A total of 14 teams competed in the Suffolk Tournaments in the 1930’s, but not more than 11 in any one year. Some schools had teams for only several years before disbanding. LONG ISLAND HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING TIMELINE 1941 *Again the upper weights were changed slightly in the Suffolk Tournament. The weight classes included 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145, 165, 175, and heavyweight. 1942 *Because of the influence of Sprig Gardner, the weights in Nassau were changed to the following: 104, 113, 121, 128, 134, 139, 146, 155, 166, and heavyweight. *The weights in Suffolk were slightly different: 103, 112, 120, 127, 133, 138, 145, 154, 165, and heavyweight. *In August, Sprig Gardner was inducted into the US Navy as a Lieutenant. 1943 *The Suffolk Tournament wasn’t held due to gas rationing during World War II. The coaches were given a choice to either hold the Suffolk Championships or attend the Mepham Invitational. The Suffolk coaches voted to compete in the Mepham Invitational. 1944 *The weights in Suffolk changed slightly again, this time to exactly match Nassau. 1945 *The Mepham Invitational officially became the Section VIII championship Tournament 1946 *Sprig Gardner returned as the coach of Mepham after three years as a commander in the US Navy. *Mepham saw its undefeated streak of 98-0-2 (81-0-1 in dual meets and 17-0-1 tournaments) end at 100 in the last match of the season against Baldwin, 21-15, on January 30, 1946. The Pirates would, however, win both the South Shore League Tournament and the Mepham Invitational for the ninth consecutive year. 1949 *The Suffolk Tournament was restarted by Bay Shore coach Cliff Clark and new Amityville coach Joe Valla after a six-year stoppage. The tournament was called the “Eastern Long Island Championships”. *Suffolk had only three public school teams left at that point: Amityville, Bay Shore, and Riverhead. Farmingdale competed in the “Easterns” for the first of six straight years. 1950 *Suffolk had only five schools with wrestling teams. 1953 *Suffolk awarded an MOW trophy at its championships for the first time. The award was named after former Amityville coach Lonnie Kittle. The first recipient was Bay Shore’s Jumper Leggio. 1955 *Nassau started the North League Tournament. *Amityville ended Mepham’s winning streak of 130 consecutive contests (112 dual meets and 18 tournaments) in a thrilling 17-16 dual meet on January 14, 1955. *Later that season Amityville also ended Mepham’s streak of 17 consecutive Section VIII titles by finishing five points ahead of the Pirates (43-38) at the Mepham Invitational. 1957 *Suffolk held Class tournaments, Class “A” (large schools) and Class “B” (small schools) as a way of qualifying for the Suffolk Championships. This lasted for two years. *The last Mepham Invitational was held with the Pirates capturing their 18 th title in 20 years. (1938-1957). LONG ISLAND HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING TIMELINE 1958 *Long Island split into two sections as Suffolk became “Section XI” of the NYSPHSAA (New York State Public High School Athletic Association). *Nassau held its first Nassau Tournament and Mepham won a record nine of the 12 individual weight classes. *Both Nassau and Suffolk expanded from 10 to 12 weight classes including 106, 112, 119, 126, 131, 136, 141, 148, 157, 168, 178, and heavyweight. *Sprig Gardner retired as the Mepham coach at season’s end after 21 years with an astonishing record of 254-5-1 in dual meets and a tournament record of 41 titles, one co-title, and three runner-up finishes in 44 tournaments. *The Mepham Invitational was replaced by the Long Island Intersectional Tournament. It was held at Clarke High School. Mepham won the tournament. 1959 *Suffolk started formal leagues with a full dual meet schedule and league tournaments as the qualifier to the Suffolk Tournament. *Both Nassau and Suffolk dropped a weight class to now have only 11: 104, 110, 116, 122, 128, 134, 140, 148, 158, 168, and heavyweight. 1960 *Nassau had about 40 schools with wrestling teams and Suffolk had 21. *Bay Shore won the last Long Island Intersectional Tournament and crowned six individual champions in the Suffolk Tournament. 1961 *Suffolk again added a 12 th weight class with the addition of the 178-pound class. Nassau remained at 11 weights. 1963 *The first New York State Intersectional Tournament was held at Cornell University in Ithaca. Nassau dominated the competition and won five individual titles. Suffolk won two titles. *Pete Henning of Wantagh became the first state champion in New York by winning the 95-pound title. *Again the weights were changed throughout New York State to include the following weight classes: 95, 103, 112, 120, 127, 133, 138, 145, 154, 165, 180, and heavyweight. *Bay Shore KID Wrestling became the first of its kind in the Eastern United States of America. Jumper Leggio and Bill Knapp founded the program and ran it at the Fifth Avenue School in Bay Shore. 1964 *Suffolk again added another weight class to bring it its total to 13: 98, 106, 115, 123, 130, 136, 141, 148, 157, 168183, 235, and Unlimited. *Mepham had four state finalists including three state champions. *The state tournament was held at Walt Whitman High School in Suffolk County on Long Island. *450-pound Frank Patterson of Niagara-Wheatfield won the state unlimited weight class, 2-1, over Brian Lucas of Scarsdale (315 pounds). Patterson is the heaviest wrestler to ever win a New York State title. 1965 *Sidney-IV had five state place-winners including four finalists (two champions) and one third- place finisher. 1966 *Joe Campo Sr. Became the head coach at Brentwood. *The state tournament was again held at Walt Whitman High School on Long Island. It was the last time the state tournament would be held in a high school. LONG ISLAND HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING TIMELINE 1967 *Lindenhurst crowned a record seven champions as the Bulldogs won their fourth straight Suffolk title. 1969 *Bill Proios of Port Jefferson was the Section XI runner-up at 154 pounds. He got a chance to go to the state tournament when the Section XI champion, Jim Cisek of Sayville, opted to go to his sister’s wedding instead. Proios made the most of his opportunity by winning the state tournament. 1970 *Almost every school on Long Island had a wrestling program. *The MOW trophy was given at the state tournament for the first time. Cooperstown’s Mike Phillips (215 pounds) received the inaugural award. 1971 *Brentwood crowned six Suffolk Champions and all of them earned all-state status. The Indians had three state champions, one runner-up, one third place finisher, and one fourth place finisher. *Lou Giani became the head coach at Huntington. *The weights again were changed throughout the state: 98, 105, 112, 119, 126, 132, 138, 145, 155, 167, 177, 215, and 250.