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A trio of former Wantagh High School wrestlers are now making their mark at the college level. Rich Grillo, Matt Langan and Vinny Turano comprise one-seventh of LIU Post's wrestling squad, which is only in its second year of existence.
Turano and Grillo are both 2013 Wantagh graduates who attended Nassau Community College for a year. They wrestled at Nassau before transferring when Post re-established its program after a 26-year absence. Langan graduated from Wantagh in 2014, making all three original members of the new squad.
The trio proudly wear the green and gold for the Division II Pioneers after successful high school careers. Turano wrestled for Wantagh for six years, including five on the varsity team, and was the county champion in his senior year in the 132-pound weight class, with a third-place finish at the state level. He now wrestles at 141.
"I feel a lot more comfortable in my weight class," Turano said, citing his offseason conditioning. "I just feel really good this year."
Langan was on Wantagh's varsity squad for three years and was county champion in 2014 at 145 pounds. That year, he learned that Post was bringing back its wrestling program, and wanted to go to school close to home, so it was the logical choice. "This was perfect for me," he said. "It's great. I'm really close with most people on the team. I've made a lot of new friends."
He is now wrestling in the 149-pound weight class. His family often comes to his matches, and he also goes to watch his brother, James, wrestle for Wantagh. Langan said he works with his brother on technique and how to make weight. "I think I could definitely be helpful to him," he said, "because I've been through it."
Grillo spent four years on Wantagh's varsity squad and was state champion in 2012 and 2013, a two-time All-Conference wrestler, and was a conference finalist his senior year. At Wantagh, he wrestled at 160 and 170, and is now in the 184 weight class.
He said he wanted to go to Post to follow in the footsteps of his sister, but the school did not have wrestling when he graduated from Wantagh. A year later, the program was back, and the new coach just happened to be Joe Patrovich, whom his father, Mark, had coached and who was a family friend. "I'll always work hard for a guy like that," Grillo said.
Of coming to Post, with a familiar coach and a familiar teammate in Turano, who is also his roommate this year, Grillo said it was "the easiest transition ever."
He said he got his start wrestling in second grade, when his dad coached a program for children at Wantagh High School that was run by a group of fathers. After winning his first ever match, he was hooked.
"All three of them wrestled for a great program, obviously, and we wanted guys who knew how to wrestle, win and go about it the right way," Patrovich said. "Bringing the program back was huge, and we needed good people and good wrestlers, and those three guys represent that. Two of them start for us right now and the other helps out a lot. It's all about people and working hard, and those guys do that all the time."
Wantagh isn't the only high school with three graduates on the team: Patchogue-Medford shares that distinction. On the roster of 21, all but two are from Long Island.
Grillo is majoring in Psychology with a minor in Journalism, Langan hopes to become a physical therapist and Turano is studying information technology.
The three Wantagh grads say they are pleased with the direction of the program, and all are looking to do their part to build its reputation. They know that while wrestling is about individual matches, it still takes a team effort to succeed.
"I really like it because I feel really close to my teammates," said Turano, whose goal is to be a national champion. "The coaching we have is awesome. It just feels like a family here."
Post's next match is this Thursday against American International College at the Pratt Recreation Center in Brookville, and the season ends with the NCAA Super Region I Tournament on Feb. 26 and 27 in Erie, Pa.