But, after the Shoreham-Wading River phenom won the national wrestling championship at the National High School Coaches Association in Virginia Beach, there was no doubt in every major wrestling rankings website that Mangano was undoubtedly the No. 1 recruit in all of New York in the 2027 class. 

When he won his second consecutive New York State title at the end of his sophomore season, a title which he literally won on one leg, fighting through a broken ankle, the Iron Man performance vaulted him up to the national rankings. According to Flowrestling.org, Mangano is now the No. 17-ranked recruit regardless of weight class in all of the country within the 2027 class.

“I was running on adrenaline at the time,” Mangano told the Riverhead-News Review after the New York State championship win. “Yeah, I was in pain, but honestly, I wanted to win more than anything else. I was going to wrestle until I saw a bone sticking out of my body.”

But based on the recruiting guidelines, no college was able to reach out to the wrestling phenom until this summer — the summer of his incoming junior season.

“As soon as they could they started calling him,” SWR head coach Joe Condon said. “The recruiting period opened at midnight and his phone immediately started buzzing.”

Every elite wrestling Division I school showed tremendous interest. Schools like Oklahoma State, West Virginia and Penn State clamored for his verbal commitment. But Penn State stood out among the pack. Mangano announced his verbal commitment to Penn State on his Instagram on Sept. 28. 

“I feel there is no better place for me to continue my progress and success than Penn State with their amazing coaching staff,” Mangano wrote on his Instagram post. “Thank you to all the coaches that have reached out to me throughout this process.”

Penn State University is the wrestling powerhouse in all of college athletics. They’ve won the last four NCAA Men’s Wrestling Championships and have 13 championships overall. Every world-class wrestler wants to be developed by Penn State. Led by head coach Cael Sanderson, the former Iowa State wrestler, who won an Olympic gold medal, four NCAA Division I championships and never lost a match in college (159-0), Penn State is simply an elite training facility to be the best in the world.

“All Gavin has ever wanted was to be the best,” Condon said. “What better place to be the best than to train with the best. We’re all so proud of him. He’s a staple of hard work and dedication.”

Sanderson came to visit Mangano in school at the end of September, which eventually sealed the deal. It’s not often you have the head coach of a program come to visit a recruit in person, but they clearly wanted to show their commitment. 

“With a blue-chip recruit like Gavin, these coaches have to separate themselves,” Condon said. “I think when a guy like Sanderson comes and meets with you in person, it really makes a massive difference. He wants to be the guy at Penn State, and Sanderson assured him he wouldn’t be going after him if he felt like he wouldn’t be able to do that.”

Mangano only spent two months rehabbing after his surgery — he made his debut after training all summer in the Journeymen Fall Classic Championship this weekend. The junior won the 140-lb weight class and was also named Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Classic. He won in the final by technical fall (16-1).  

Looks like Mangano hasn’t skipped a beat. Penn State is getting a winner.

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After taking care of his first three opponents by a pin and two technical falls, Mangano matched up against Ashten Haley of Cobleskill-Richmondville. Haley (46-2) came into the matchup already losing to Mangano once in the Eastern States semifinals, so he knew he needed a big performance to come out on top. Mangano was the only undefeated wrestler in all of Division II with a 49-0 record.

Shortly after the match started, Mangano took control and earned a takedown, getting credited with three points. Once he hit the ground however, he felt something was off.

“As soon as I took him down, my lower right leg felt like jello,” Mangano said. “I knew something was wrong but I didn’t want to stop the match right there for an injury until there was a reset.”

There was still 90 seconds left in the period. Mangano started to hobble around, trying to keep his opponent on the ground so he didn’t need to put pressure on his leg. With 30 seconds left in the first, the referee called a restart and Mangano got up, took two more steps to the center and collapsed. Coaches rushed up to him and taped up his ankle and asked if he was still good to go. What he didn’t know at the time was that he broke his fibula and his ankle was hanging on by a thread.

“I was running on adrenaline at the time,” Mangano said. “Yeah, I was in pain, but honestly I wanted to win more than anything else. I was going to wrestle until I saw a bone sticking out of my body.”

The last 30 seconds of that first period set the tone for the rest of the match. Though Haley was able to snag two points right away, Magano maneuvered on the ground and outclassed Haley grabbing those two points right back with just seconds left on the clock. Once the period whistle blew, Haley laid on the mat for an extra second or two after Mangano instantly jumped up to his feet — or rather his foot.

The last two rounds were uneventful for a typical Mangano match, as he continued to wrestle on one leg. His mentality had to be more on the defensive. Haley knew that Mangano was compromised and tried to attack that leg in hopes of earning points but he never got close. Only two reversals by each wrestler were scored in the final two periods, and the match ended at 6-3.

“All I could think of doing is sitting down at that point,” Mangano said. “I wasn’t even thinking about how cool it was to win my second state title. I was in so much pain, I’m glad I was carried off.”

Mangano had to get his medal in a wheelchair — something you don’t really see much on the grand stage. Dealing with an injury is normal as a wrestler but literally breaking a bone and still winning puts you in elite territory. Mangano refused to be denied. There’s a reason the wrestling phenom hasn’t lost in two years. For his efforts, he was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.

Now Mangano has to begrudgingly take a break from the sport he loves the most. He’s going to have to miss the Nationals in Virginia Beach — an event he won last year.

“I’m very disappointed and frustrated with the break I have to take now,” Mangano said. “The doctor told me it’s going to take like eight to 12 weeks to heal. But honestly after this week, I want to start working out again. Obviously not with my legs but with my upper body, so I can stay in some shape.”

Spoken like a true warrior. He’ll be back.

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Reigning state champion Gavin Mangano is at the forefront of that conversation having already won nearly every tournament he’s set foot in since he was a varsity wrestler. Last year, not only did he win the New York State championship but he also won the NHSCA High School Nationals, the most prestigious tournament in high school wrestling, later in the year. He’s won the Eastern States Classic title three years in a row, including this year in January.

But this year also brought new challenges. He stepped into a new weight division at 138 pounds. It’s hard to say it’s been much of a challenge to Mangano, though. He skated through the Suffolk County tournament, pinning every opponent along the way in 40 seconds or less. He’s posted an undefeated record this year and has lost only three times ever on a varsity stage — and that was before he even stepped into a high school hallway. The sophomore is poised to bring home another state championship.

“Mangano never leaves any question to who is the best wrestler on the mat,” Condon said. “He just dominates. Can’t say it any simpler than that. He is the best wrestler in the county and he’s continually proving he’s one of the best in nation.”

Shoreham-Wading River earned two other first-place medals back to back when Thomas Matias won at 101 pounds and Shane Cowan did the same at 108 pounds. 

Matias, who came in as the No. 2 seed in the tournament, ripped through the bracket and proved that he should have been seeded No. 1. After two pins to start out his bracket, he earned a technical fall (15-0) in the semifinal before shutting out Parker Menechino of Mt. Sinai, the No. 1 seed, 8-0 to hoist the trophy.

“We knew Matias had a shot to win it all,” Condon said. “He’s a very dedicated wrestler that’s committed to his craft. He’s put in his time to getting better every day and it showed on the mat.”

Cowan, who was one of Shoreham-Wading River’s 101-pound wrestlers last year, moved up to 108 and earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament. Cowan barely broke a sweat in the bracket, pinning every opponent in his way en route to the title.

“They both paid their dues,” Condon said. “They didn’t reach their goals in the tournament last year. It was a learning experience for them. Matias is a freshman and Cowan is an eighth-grader. They have the world ahead of them still.”

Rounding out the state-bound wrestlers was SWR’s 152-pounder Jacob Conti. Though he finished third in the tournament, the 152-pound weight division sent two wrestlers into the states and they hosted a “true second” match, where the second- and third-place wrestlers face off against each other. He pinned Chris Lotten of Port Jefferson in the third period to advance to states.

“Conti has had a great season so far; I believe he has gone 39-8 this year,” Condon said. “We knew he had it in him. He’s young as well but he’s made huge improvements year over year. We expect him to win every time he’s out there. He’s got that ability.”

With four representatives heading to Albany, Condon believes they can make some serious noise on the grand stage.

“I love that my whole team returns next year,” Condon said. “I have no seniors. But they have a chance now to wrestle with the best of the best in the state and get better. We have a lot of work to do in the lead-up. We want them all to place in Albany and build off what they did this year and bring it into next year. But I truly feel that we have a very good chance to do well up there, even with how young we are.”

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The snow pushed the event back one day but Miiko Foster would not be stopped in reaching her goals. Foster, who battled her way through the tough competition in the 185-pound weight division, made history by being one of the first Suffolk County girls wrestling champions ever. With the win, she earned a ticket to the New York State championships on Feb. 27 at MVP Arena in Albany.

It was an incredible performance from the 15-year-old, who was actually considering quitting midway through the season. 

“Wrestling is hard,” Foster said. “It’s a lot of hard work. Any wrestler will tell you the same. You need to have the will to push forward and the motivation to want to be great. There’s so much that goes into it and confidence is a big part of it. I didn’t have the confidence I have today at the beginning of the season.”

The nerves were kicking in for Foster as she moved up in the bracket, only to find that in order to win, she would have to defeat two of her Bellport teammates — Gabby Barret and then Kyleigh Kershner — in the final. To go against an opponent you’ve never wrestled is one thing, but having to beat your teammate brings another world of emotions. 

“I told both of the girls that, yeah, you’re friends now, but when you shake each other’s hand before the match that all has to go away,” Bellport/Riverhead co-head coach Edwin Perry said. “Once it’s over you can go back to being friends but you have to put all that aside for those six minutes.”

After battling Barret neck and neck in the semifinals for the whole first period, with neither girl scoring many points, Foster finally came up with a crucial takedown and earned the pin after 1:23 into the second period. It would solidify her spot in the finals.

It was familiar territory for Foster, who won the Steven Mally Tournament at the end of January. The stage was bigger but the execution and thought process were the same.

“She’s been wrestling better and better ever time we see her,” Perry said, all business, rocking a full suit on the sidelines. “I told all our girls that this is your time to shine and put on your best performance. We saw one of Miiko’s best performances last tournament, beating a bunch of quality girls, so I knew she had a chance today.”

As Foster warmed up for the finals, her teammate Kershner was right by her side, keeping the vibes high. There was no animosity between the two. The better wrestler would win and that was that. 

“Wrestling against one of my best friends on the team definitely does hurt,” Foster said. “Especially someone I learned so much from. It’s an emotional moment. But Coach Perry really pumped me up before the match, and I felt like I had a good shot to win.”

There was also a little added motivation from her parents before the tournament.

“They said if I win states I’d get a puppy,” Foster said. “I’m not going to lie, I really want that puppy. It was definitely one of the motivating factors today.”

After a tightly contested first minute with Kershner, Foster caught her opponent in a disadvantageous position and threw her down to the ground, earning a pin with a minute left on the clock. She was suddenly all alone with no one else to beat. She was a champion. 

“We’ve been working on the other parts of her game,” Perry said. “She loves to headlock but to win you can’t be one-dimensional. I think with the two pins today you saw what she is capable of doing.”

Throughout the tournament, the announcers kept pronouncing Miiko’s name as “Mike-o” so before the podium winners were announced, her coaches and family made sure they would pronounce her name correctly as “Me-ko.” Safe to say they’ll know her name going forward. 

“I wanted to get known,” Foster said. “I wanted to get my name on the wall. I wanted to make Riverhead proud. I think I did that. Now I just want that puppy.”

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SWR’s head coach, Joe Condon, did everything he could to get them to this place. He flooded the schedule with tournaments and meets against some of the best schools in the state. With virtually a brand-new team from last year and without a single senior, the team soared to a 19-5 overall record, beating two teams ranked ahead of them in New York State.

So when the Wildcats eventually lost to John Glenn, 43-29, in the Suffolk County championship at Bay Shore High School Saturday, Condon went immediately to the officials’ table hoping his team might still earn a wildcard bid based on their solid season record.

“No chance for it,” Condon said immediately after meeting with the tournament officials. “The wildcard entry is a joke. It’s only based on how many returning all-county wrestlers you have coming back. But we’re ranked 7th in the state and John Glenn is ranked second. Out of the 16 teams making it, we won’t be one of them. We beat the fourth-ranked team in the state, so head-to-head wins apparently don’t matter. The state has to change the formula and, unfortunately, they haven’t looked into doing it.”

The Wildcats had no chance because they mostly have first-year varsity wrestlers this year — aside from reigning New York State champion Gavin Mangano — as most of last year’s starting lineup graduated. They didn’t have enough all-county wrestlers because most of them were on JV last year. The only way SWR could make it to states as a team was to beat John Glenn — and they fought to do it.

After losing to John Glenn, 46-19, during the regular season, Condon moved some wrestlers around, having a few guys compete at a higher weight class to give them a better chance at winning the overall match. Mangano, Thomas Matias and Shane Cowan were among those to move up a weight class. 

Mangano wrestled at 145-pounds and still won handily with a pin in the first period. Matias, at 108 pounds, defeated his opponent by technical fall, 18-1. Cowan had the job of going against all-state John Glenn wrestler Tommy Aiello and got pinned but went down fighting. 

“Any of these guys will do what is best for the team,” Condon said. “They’ll wrestle anyone and that’s why I have such a great group of kids. They want what’s best for the team.”

This match was much closer than the first time around and, had a few bouts gone the other way, the result could have been much different. One of the closest matches of the night featured SWR’s Jer’Shawn Coffey and John Glenn’s David Rafiq in the 190-pound division. The score was tied 1-1 until literally the final second in the third period before Rafiq earned a takedown and the victory. There was some controversy about whether he got the takedown in time but after officials discussed it, the result stood. 

“I’m super proud of this team,” Condon said. “We’re just scratching the surface of what we’re going to be. Most of the guys out there were freshman and sophomores. They’re battling it out on the big stage against seasoned varsity senior wrestlers. Yes, we’re disappointed that we lost but this entire team returns next year. We’re only going to get better.”

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JAN. 14: RIVERHEAD 76, PATCHOGUE/MEDFORD 48

After getting a massive victory over Whitman earlier in the week, Riverhead put on a show against Patchogue-Medford to earn their fifth league win, leaving just one win to earn a playoff berth in their final six games. Deshawn Watkins was an absolute maniac on the court, scoring a career-high 40 points for the Blue Waves. He hit six triples and simply could not miss. Liam Lennon scored nine and Peter Lagnena added eight. Riverhead improved to 5-1 in League I and 8-6 overall.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Jan. 21: Brentwood at Riverhead, 4 p.m.

JAN. 13: MT. SINAI 69, SHOREHAM-WADING RIVER 43

The Wildcats have cooled off tremendously after their hot start which featured five consecutive wins. The loss against Mt. Sinai now marks three losses in a row for Shoreham-Wading River.

Skewing young at their skill positions, the Wildcats haven’t been able to score as much as they did in the beginning of the season. In the past three games, 43 has been the most they’ve scored. Max Boerum led the way against Mt. Sinai, netting 11. The Wildcats have a 8-5 overall record and a 3-4 split in League VI.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Jan. 17: Kings Park at SWR, 4 p.m.; Jan. 28: Hampton Bays at SWR, 4 p.m.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

JAN. 14: RIVERHEAD 41, PATCHOGUEMEDFORD 27

Riverhead got back on track against Patchogue-Medford in a game they had to have following two straight losses that severely damaged their playoff hopes.

Through the first half of the league season, Riverhead posted a 2-4 record after starting the non-league schedule out 4-0. Tuesday’s win brings them back into the playoff conversation needing three more wins before the season’s end to earn a spot. The Blue Waves had three double digit scorers with Adriana Martinez and Logan Pilon both scoring 11 and Kyleigh Lennon adding 10 more.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Jan. 21: Riverhead at Brentwood, 4 p.m.

WRESTLING

JAN. 9: JOHN GLENN 46, SHOREHAM-WADING RIVER 19

After a strong start to the season, Shoreham-Wading River fell in a matchup that essentially decided the league winner. The two top dogs in the league went at it and John Glenn emerged victorious.

The Wildcats earned victories at 101 lbs with Thomas Matias winning in a technical fall, at 108 lbs with Shane Cowan winning in a major decision, at 138 lbs with Gavin Mangano earning a pin, and at 152 lbs with Jacob Conti earning a major decision.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Jan. 30: SWR at Southampton, 5:30 p.m.

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Riverhead lax alum Goodale training with Team USA

Growing up on her family farm in Riverhead shaped who Katie Goodale is as she blossomed into a prized Division I recruit. Being a natural defender vaulted her up the depth chart at Syracuse University and she left the school with a few records, including being the all-time leader in caused turnovers. Having graduated, she’s now onto a new goal: making Team USA’s roster. 

Blue Waves win PAL football titles

In the midst of the worst stretch in Riverhead high school football history, help is on the way. Both the 10u and 11u football teams won PAL championships under the leadership of two championship coaches. Rasheen Moore and Mike Heigh both won championships as members of the Blue Waves and now they’re trying to instill that old-school culture into the youth.

Freshman Wildcat Mangano wins national tourney

After winning his first state title during the school season, Gavin Mangano took it a step further and brought home a national title in April after wrestling at the National High School Coaches Association tournament in Virginia Beach. Eighty wrestlers from all over the country were in his weight class and Mangano stood above them all. It was a perfect cap to his freshman season at SWR.

Riverhead alum Julia Morrow earns Hall of Fame honors

After being one of the best pitchers in school history on the softball circle at Riverhead, Morrow continued her domination at the University of Tampa. She is the only pitcher ever to throw a perfect game at Riverhead — and produced two more in college. The two-time All-American was inducted into the University of Tampa Hall of Fame on Oct. 17.

Blue Wave alums make it to The Show

Two brothers from Riverhead’s graduating class of 2013 worked their way up from the lowest ranks of MLB back offices to now being prominent staff members for the Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies. Tyler Carroll is tasked with scouting for Texas and Connor Carroll works on the player development side for the Rockies. 

Softball: Blue Waves cap historic season

For the first time in school history, Riverhead’s varsity softball team went a perfect 18-0 after defeating Half Hollow Hills West in the last game of the regular season. The game went into extra innings and the Blue Waves came out on top 5-6 after Mya Marelli smashed the game-winning hit. Marelli also won Big Schools Pitcher of the Year before Riverhead lost in the Suffolk County semifinal.

Riverhead boys lax squad among school’s best ever

After taking its lumps as a young team for a few seasons, the Blue Waves lacrosse team finally emerged with a strong senior class this year, taking the program to levels it hasn’t seen before. Griffin Sumwalt finished his career as the all-time leader in goals and points scored. The team ended up posting a 11-3 division record — the best in school history.

SWR girls soccer win another title

For the second year in a row, Shoreham-Wading River’s girls soccer team won the Class A Long Island championship, sending the team to play in the New York State Final Four in Cortland. The Wildcats accomplished this feat without their star player last year, Grace Hillis, which made this year’s run that much more remarkable. Mia Mangano scored the opening goal as the Wildcats prevailed over Wantagh, 2-0.

Riverhead alum takes over fledgling track program

Ryan Budd has been a champion at every level. He won a first-ever Long Island championship as a member of Riverhead’s football team. Then,  at Central Connecticut State, he helped the team win its first title in history. He went on to coach at Wagner College and that team also won their first-ever championship. Now he’s up for a new challenge: Budd recently took the head track and field coaching job at Western Connecticut State University – a team that never existed before.

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“Small numbers but a lot more fight,” Riverhead varsity wrestling coach Jake Benedetto said. “This is the toughest group of kids that I’ve had in my nine years here. They’re gritty, they’re tough, and they want to get better. They’re really putting their all into the sport and I can’t ask for more than that as the coach.”

Riverhead dropped its second consecutive league match Friday in a 53-13 defeat to Brentwood, but there were moments that showed the team’s true quality. Wrestling at Brentwood High School, the opposing fans were loud and even unruly at times, but that didn’t stop the Blue Waves from coming up with a few victories. At the beginning of the match, they were actually ahead.

“I told the kids, don’t look at the scoreboard,” Benedetto said. “We’re a team but with the forfeits we just can’t compete as a team. This season is about getting better individually. There’s no pressure to get the team a pin for the points; we just want to prepare the guys we have for the postseason.”

After forfeiting the 101-weight class, Liam MacGray flipped the tables and put some points on the board with a 10-3 victory in the 108-pound division. MacGray slammed his opponent in the opening minutes of the match, earning a takedown, and didn’t look back from there. Brentwood’s lead of 6-0 due to the forfeit was cut down to 6-3.

“We’ve been looking forward to getting MacGray on the varsity level,” Benedetto said. “His brother wrestled here and he’s got wrestling in his blood. Liam’s got big shoes to fill and he’s doing a great job of it. He works hard, he listens and is very coachable. He’s athletic and very savvy out there.”

After losing in the 116-pound weight class, Christopher Ramos stepped onto the mat for the 124-pound bout and simply put on a show. From the opening whistle, Ramos was in attack mode, earning points and controlling the entire match. He jumped out to a 5-0 lead before earning the team’s only pin in the first period, with 19 seconds remaining on the clock. The pin earned the Blue Waves six points and cut the Brentwood lead to 10-9.

“For Christopher Ramos, I know it’s cliche to say but you have to trust the process,” Benedetto said. “Last year in the first match against Mattituck, he’ll never forget it because he lost by one point. He lost because he got tired. We talked about getting tired requires no wrestling ability, that’s on you. And he became such a hard worker after that loss and it’s snowballing now. He put in a strong offseason, wrestling with some clubs, and this is the result.”

After Ramos silenced the crowd, sophomore Kamel Coaxum in the 131-pound division left spectators scratching their heads. The Blue Waves weren’t just competing, they were winning. Coaxum jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a takedown in the first and extended his lead to 7-2 by the end of the second period. He closed out the third period, leading 11-3 and put Riverhead ahead 13-10.

“Coaxum is another guy that came around as a freshman and we saw potential and a ceiling in him.” Benedetto said. “I told him that doing the right things 99 percent of the time is going to make you good but that extra 1 percent is going to make you great. If he continues to grind and put 100 percent into everything he does, he’s going to be a special wrestler. His ceiling is incredibly high. He’s a year away from being a star.”

The Blue Waves didn’t win any other matches the rest of the way and had to forfeit the 170 and 190 weight divisions. 

Perhaps Riverhead’s best wrestler didn’t even step on the mat against Brentwood. Zachary Gevinski, the team’s 101-pound wrestler and only All-League medalist last year, has been put on a weight loss program by Suffolk County. Wrestlers can lose only a small amount of weight week-over-week and Gevinski was over the limit therefore needing to sit out one match. But the sophomore, when in action, is among the league’s, if not the county’s, best. The matches he’s wrestled this year haven’t lasted a minute before the opponent was pinned.

“We feel like Gevinski will be all-county this year,” Benedetto said. “He comes from a lineage of Riverhead wrestlers. He’s been doing it since he could walk. I just feel like it’s his time. He knows what it’s going to take to win. Last year he was small for the weight class and now he’s filled in and will be able to compete with anyone. Every piece that was missing is now connected.”

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Mangano took part in the National High School Coaches Association wrestling tournament in Virginia Beach from April 5 to 7. More than 800 wrestlers compete in the tournament every year, hailing from almost every state. 

“All the best kids in the country enter this tournament,” SWR head coach Joe Condon said. “There’s kids from all over the country, even as far as Hawaii, California and Arizona. Pennsylvania historically produces some of the top wrestlers in the country and they had a ton of kids there.”

Mangano entered the freshman bracket in the 126-pound weight class after wrestling mostly in the 131- or 133-pound division during the school season, when he won the Division II New York State Championship. 

“I figured most of these guys were going to cut [weight] so I did as well,” Mangano said. “I was about 136 to 138 before the tournament, so I felt like going down to 126 pounds was a smart choice given the high level of competition.”

More than 80 wrestlers were in Mangano’s weight class, but one stood above them all. Mangano defeated Zachary Murphy of Tennessee by pin in only 47 seconds after leading 5-0 in the first round of the tournament. After a pair of near falls in the opening period against Kai McKinney of Texas, Mangano sealed the deal with a pin early in the second period to start the tournament 2-0. The competition is technically double-elimination, but after a loss, the best a wrestler can place is third.

“He was smooth out there,” Condon said. “Nothing bothered him. He is confident in his technique and he just executes. It’s hard to believe how composed he is considering there’s nobody easy in that tournament.”

But Mangano did make it look easy. He pinned Christopher Greene of Florida in the first 30 seconds to make it to the quarterfinals before defeating Billy Hamilton of Georgia, 10-4, to advance to the semis. 

“I just kept wrestling,” Mangano said. “It’s a long grueling tournament. I was happy with how things were going at that point but you have to stay focused. Anyone can come out and beat you. But I always go into every tournament thinking I could win it.”

As the opponents got tougher, it only elevated Mangano’s game. He put forth perhaps his best performance in the semifinals against Kayden McDonald of West Virginia with a flawless 16-0 effort en route to a technical fall and a spot in the final match.

The championship would feature a match against one of the best talents in the country, Greyson Music of Pennsylvania.

“I watched as much film about him as I could before the match,” Mangano said. “I wanted to see any tendencies or any moves I should look out for. He was the only one I actually spent some time preparing for. I wanted to wrestle my style and stay on the offensive. I wasn’t going to let him dictate the match.”

Mangano recorded a takedown in the first period and another in the second after giving away a point on an escape. Leading 4-1 going into the third period, Mangano earned an escape point in the final minute to win the championship, 5-1.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Mangano said. “It was really similar to how it was winning the state championship this year but on a bigger stage. It was the hardest tournament I have been in during my high school career.”

Although previous SWR wrestlers have won the nationals in Virginia Beach before, none have won it as a freshman — and none have ever won it twice. With three years of high school wrestling left — barring an injury — it’s hard to imagine Mangano doesn’t set a new standard.

“I really want to be considered one of the greatest from New York,” Mangano said, after rescheduling an initial interview to make time for more wrestling practice. “You can’t not put the work in and expect to be the best. Even if that means wrestling the day after winning a huge tournament.”

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On the biggest stage, under the brightest lights, in front of thousands of spectators, Mangano brought home a Division II New York State title Saturday night at MVP Arena in Albany. One year removed from losing in the finals by a mere point, Mangano, in a new weight class, dominated the field and left no doubt that he could be the man of the mat for the years to come.

Entering into the tournament as the No. 1 seed in the 131-pound division, the pressure was on. But for Mangano, this was just another tournament. He’s been wrestling since kindergarten and he’s won major titles before, including the Eastern States tournament twice.

“This is the only sport where you can literally show that you’re better than the other person,” Mangano said. “I like the ability to dominate on an individual level. I like to win and be in control of my own destiny.”

Mangano opened up the tournament with a 15-0 technical fall victory against Port Jefferson’s Frankie D’elia (39-4) just two minutes into the match. Then he defeated Abdul-Ja Zaggout (39-13) from Unatego/Unadilla Valley with a 6-4 decision in a match where Mangano ended up hurting his wrist.

“I wouldn’t really call it an injury,” Mangano said. “I jammed it a little bit. It affected me somewhat but I just wanted it more than everyone else.”

Mangano then took down Justin Mullis (42-11) of Hudson Valley with a 12-2 majority decision to cement a spot in the finals against Jayden Duncanson (31-2) of Tioga. 

“Duncanson won most of his matches by first round pin during the season,” SWR head coach Joe Condon said. “He’s a dangerous wrestler. His brother is a three-time state champ and he comes from the best team in the state. So we knew he would be tough.”

Until he met the man. Mangano got offensive early and kept scoring points. He was in complete control. Takedown after takedown, with some near falls mixed in, Mangano jumped ahead 14-3 going into the final minute of the third round where he finished the victory with a pin in the waning seconds. 

“This was my second time on such a big stage,” Mangano said. “I lived in the moment. I wasn’t nervous like I was last year. I had confidence that I could get it done. I know I belong here. It felt good to end the match with a pin.”

“Mangano’s one of those rare wrestlers that just continues to score points throughout the match,” Condon said. “He can score points in all positions: top, bottom, neutral, it doesn’t matter. There’s not a lot of things you can do against him to score. And not only that, the 131-pound weight division is one of the most talented divisions in the nation.”

When the referee called the match, Mangano got up and made a bow and arrow sign with his arms, shooting two imaginary arrows into the stands.

“Those were for my parents,” he said. “They’ve believed in me and pushed me to the point that I am now. I owe it all to them.”

Only four SWR wrestlers have won state titles in the school’s history, and Mangano’s win as a freshman puts him on an historic career trajectory. Jesse Jantzen is the only SWR wrestler to win four New York state titles, and was the first to accomplish that feat on Long Island. Jantzen posted high school career record was 221-3, and Mangano is currently 117-3. Jantzen, who graduated from SWR in 2000, went on to win the 149-pound NCAA crown for Harvard in 2004.

“Mangano is absolutely in the conversation for one of the best to ever wrestle here,” Condon said. “I don’t like comparing wrestlers, but Jantzen was the best to ever do it. Can Mangano get there? He definitely has the talent. He still has three years left to prove himself.”

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