History

1955-1980
The First 25 years

Wrestling at Bethpage High School began in 1955.The first Bethpage High School graduating class was in 1956. In order to place our wrestling beginnings in a historical perspective on Long Island, it is important to understand a brief history of Nassau County wrestling as a whole.

1955 was not only our first year of competition but also coincidentally the first year that the North Shore Wrestling Tournament was introduced. This tournament was created to qualify individuals from the North Shore Schools in Nassau County to the Long Island Championships. Prior to that time the only qualifiers for the championships were held on  Long Island’s South Shore. The Long Island Championship tournament was held at Great Neck High School from 1931 until 1937 and at Mepham High School from 1938-1957. Prior to 1955 there was no need for a separate qualifying tournament on the North Shore of Nassau County Wrestling was only contested intermittently at a hand full of high schools in that area at that time. As the popularity of wrestling grew in the early 50’s more schools on the North Shore added on wrestling programs. This made it necessary to add another regional qualifier. In 1958 Long Island was officially divided into two sections by county. This marked the end of the Long Island Championships. From that point on both Nassau and Suffolk counties each contested their own sectional tournaments and it has remained that way until the present day.

As a side note the first state championship was not held until 1963.The state tournament allows for intersectional competition and has been held every year since its inception. The sectional tournaments evolved into qualifiers for the New York State High School Wrestling Championships The State Tournament will be held on Long Island in 2006 for the first time since 1966.  There are currently 13 sections throughout the state that participate in two divisions according to school size.

The North Shore Tournament remained a county qualifier until 1978. It is important to know about the North Shore Tournament for several reasons. First because you will see references made to it in this display regarding individual accomplishments. Also because our wrestlers finished third in the team standings in the first three years that the North Shore Tournament was held. This was a great accomplishment in itself since those were also the first three years of our program’s existence. It is also a tribute to our school’s first coach, Rene Curlew, who coached the team from 1955-1957. His teams also managed to crown at least one champion in each of those first three years. And finally, because of the dominance of the South Shore teams in the early years, it was the exception rather than the rule for the North Shore participants to place in the top four at the county level. This was mainly due to the influence of Sprig Gardner and his program at Mepham High School and the lasting legacy of his influence on South Shore wrestling. It is not until the mid 1960’s that North Shore wrestling begins to make its mark at the county level. In fact it is not until 1972 that a North Shore team, Farmingdale, wins the section 8, Nassau County Tournament.

Here is a list of Bethpage’s North Shore Tournament place winners by year:

Champions                     2nd Place                             
Don Schiavetta 1955,56’    Frank Melone 1955,56’57’58’    
Fred Ippolito 1956              Don Schiavetta 1957                   
Ed Daum 1957                                                                                                         
Joe Gritser 1975                                                                                                       
John Dukich 1978                                                                                                    
Tony Piccolo 1978                                                                                                   

3rd Place                                  4th Place
Chris Levano 1972                  Ken Maier 1970
Mark Levano 1973                  Mike Sanfillipo 1971
Howard Greenberg, 1977       Lou Candito 1971
                                                   Mark Levano 1972
                                                   Nick Candito 1973
                                                  Lou Piccirillo 1977
                                                  Gerald Levano 1978
                                                  Frank Piccirillo 1978

In the early years of the North Shore Tournament 1956-57 we had several other wrestlers place either 3rd or 4th. We know this because their names show up in the Long Island Championships but not in the North Shore finals. We also know this to be true because you needed to place top four in the North Shores to qualify for the Long Island Championships. Here are their names:
                                   
                1955- Pat Marrinuzzi, Sal Greco, Fred Ippolito ,Lou Agiesta
                1956- Tony Giantasio, Pat Marrinuzzi, Lou Agiesta ,Tom Viola, ? Warren
                1957- W. Mikol, Tom Viola

      Only a few years after the playing field was leveled due to the hard work of the coaches and wrestlers among the 28 teams that came to make up the North Shore contingency of Nassau County Wrestling, Bethpage made its mark at the county level. Under the tutelage of Coach Al Blau and Frank Melone, Chris Levano became our first county place winner when he placed 4th in the 1972 sectional tournament at 167lbs.The very next year his brother, Mark Levano, placed 3rd at the same weight class. It is important to note that in the early years of the sectional tournament, due to the absence of the wrestle-back system that is in place today, all county wrestlers were recognized only as top four place finishers in the county tournament. In 1974 Joe Gritser became our first county finalist finishing in 2nd place in the unlimited weight class. John Dukich accomplished the next significant milestone in 1978 when he won the 177lb. weight class and was crowned as Bethpage’s first county champion. He also became the first Bethpage wrestler to achieve “ All County “honors two times since he placed 3rd in 1977. Again, a special acknowledgement is due to both Frank Melone and Al Blau who were coaching at the time that these accomplishments were achieved. 

1978 also marked the last year of the North Shore Wrestling Tournament. In the final year of the North Shores Bethpage crowned two champions, John Dukich at 177lbs and Tony Piccolo, a freshman, at 167lbs. Its interesting to note that the last time Bethpage had a freshman finalist in the North Shore Tournament was in 1955, the first year it was held. His name was Frank Melone, who returned to coach at our school through the 60’s and 70’s as a freshman, J.V and Varsity coach. These were our first champions since 1957. We also finished 4th as a team our highest finish and the first time we finished in the top four since 1957. This was also the first time we finished in the top ten since the North Shore expanded to 28 teams.

In 1979 and 1980 Bethpage finished out its first 25 years with County place finishers in each of those years. Tony Piccolo and Bob Conroy both 4th in 1979. And in 1980 John Mulligan placed 4th and Tony Piccolo placed 3rd. 1980 marked both the end of our first twenty five years as well as the last year of coach Al Blau’s tenure as varsity wrestling coach at Bethpage. His 15 years as coach is the second longest tenure in Bethpage wrestling history and he should be commended for the many accomplishments achieved during his career as varsity coach.