This year’s J. Taylor Finley Middle School wrestling team introduced the sport to a new era of Huntington athletes, many of whom have real potential for success in the eyes of the squad’s coaches.
Finley closed out its winter season with about two dozen seventh and eighth graders on the wrestling roster. It’s a challenging sport and it’s not necessarily for everyone, but the teenagers who lasted through the two month season have embraced it.
Finley featured a new coaching staff in Dr. Jonathan Oliveri and Jose Alfaro. The team was captained by eighth graders Tommy Nicotra and Jonathan Morales.
There was no middle school winter season in 2021 so none of the wrestlers on this year’s team had no prior scholastic wrestling experience. Many had never wrestled before anywhere, so the coaches had to start from scratch with most of the team.
Nictora and Morales and eighth grade teammates Gueniel Elysee and Kenneth Gilhuley were the top four wrestlers on the team, although many others showed talent.
“Tommy Nicotra is a great leader and is coachable and always eager to learn,” Oliveri said. “Jonathan Morales is also a great leader and someone who wants to the best he possibly can on the mat. Guenil Elysee is hardworking and Ken Gilhuley is the most improved wrestler on the team.”
The team’s full roster included seventh graders Blake Bender, Joseph Conklin, Steven Contreras Moreira, Jude Creegan, Braedan Kline, Jack Larson and Nico Meloni; and eighth graders Brandon Canas, Sean Egan, Gueniel Elysee, Angel Flores Flores, Xavier Garcia Granados, Dago Garcia Lazo, Kenneth Gilhuley, Milton Maldonado, Justin Manzanares Quintanilla, Jason Mejia, Jonathan Morales Salguero, Thomas Nicotra, Williams Peters, Jose Rodriquez Alvarez and Rudis Villatoro Benitez.
The Finley wrestlers saw some highs along with a few lows. Losing is never fun, but it makes winning all the more exhilarating. “Kids who were brand new to the sport developed quickly,” Oliveri said. “They were a hardworking group with great personalities and camaraderie.”
The goals for the off-season and next year? “To continue to build on the skills we developed this season and to increase the team’s roster size as well as to develop more interest throughout the school community in order to build a strong feeder program for the high school,” Oliveri said.