Hey everyone, even though it's the beginning of April, we've got wrestling news for you. Here is a link to Newsday's All Long Island team and by clicking below, you can read my feature on Wrestler of the Year Stephen Bonanno of Wantagh.
Also, here is a link to the brackets for the national tournaments in each class. There were numerous Long Island wrestlers in each grade, so browse away to see if your favorite grappler from your town was there!
See you all on the mats next season!!
When Wantagh’s Stephen Bonanno is out on the mat, dancing circles around his opponents, it seems like he was born to be a champion wrestler. His hands are like a vice around his opponents’ wrists, his legs like two malleable pieces of steel, and just before he’s ready to shoot, he crouches down low on one knee like a tiger ready to attack its prey.
His acute wrestling sense and perfectly sculpted body stem from a dedication to the sport that few have the perseverance to achieve. For Bonanno, that effort has resulted in two Section XIII titles, a New York state crown, a perfect 43-0 record this season, acceptance into Brown, where he will wrestle next season, and being named Newsday’s Wrestler of the Year.
“It was just a story of hard work,” he said. “Each year I felt like I was really trying to reach my potential.”
But as a youngster, Bonanno wasn’t sure if striving for a state championship was an endeavor he wanted to embark on.
“I tried [wrestling] in middle school and didn’t like it,” said Bonanno, who admitted he wasn’t too keen on the spandex uniforms at first. “I got my lumps freshman year.”
That rookie season he got his first taste of competition at the Nassau tournament—it would be the last time he didn’t place at the event.
He finished third as a sophomore, and then underwent a maturation process the following summer at various camps he attended—not so much physically, but rather in sharpening his wrestling acumen.
“Every time I got on the mat I saw improvement,” he said.
Bonanno’s junior year, he won his first of two county titles and placed fifth at states. This season ended with Bonanno’s right arm raised after a thrilling double-overtime final victory in Rochester—the idyllic culmination to a fine career.
“It was a dream season for everybody,” said Wantagh coach Jim Murphy.
Bonanno also got to revel in the successes of his teammates—fellow state champ John Greisheimer, third place winner Paul Liguori, and county runner-up Matt Loew. Bonanno, the lone senior in the group, led the group of Warriors with his infectious love for the sport.
“When you’ve got a hard worker like that, it’s contagious,” Murphy said. “He’s going to be missed in the [wrestling] room.”
The feeling is mutual.
“I really started to enjoy myself these past two seasons,” Bonanno said. “[Wrestling] was something fun. I didn’t want it to end.”
But like all good things, it did.
Later this year, the skeptical middle-schooler who grew to be a champion will be thrust back into the role of a budding talent when he arrives in Providence.
“I’m starting new all over again,” Bonanno said about joining the Bears. “I expect it to be a lot like my freshman year of high school. I know I’m going to get beat up next year.”
But, according to Murphy, with his instincts and heart, it won’t be long until Bonanno reaches the top.
After all, he has that look of a champion.