It all came down to this. Four teams vying for a Nassau County conference title. The host Port Washington Vikings welcomed the Carle Place Frogs, the Jericho Jayhawks and the Valley Stream North Spartans to Schreiber High School for the semifinals and finals of the Nassau Invitational Tournament (NIT).
In the semis, Port Washington went up against Carle Place, while Jericho and Valley Stream North duked it out on the other side of the gym. The Vikings' Anton Cataldi (125 pounds) started the match on the right note with a pin-fall victory. Luke Klumpp, who also won by a pin-fall in 1:43, achieved victory as well. But as the meet went on Carle Place took a hold of a commanding 37-12 lead. Mike O'Brien (215 pounds) and Mike Foccarro (103 pounds) each won their match in exciting fashion, but the Frogs advanced to the finals with 49-24 win.
"We didn't have a great showing," Coach Anthony Schettino said, "but we're going to hope we bounce back and take third place in the next match."
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And that they did, as Port Washington defeated Jericho, 36-30, to finish third in the tournament. Valley Stream North beat Carle Place, 37-22, to win the conference title.
Coach Schettino said that while the team did not take first, the Vikings fought hard and stood their ground in the last conference tournament of the season. "We've had our ups and downs," Schettino said. "We were stronger at the end of the year. It was a great season."
