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Photos by Kim Manetta
Video produced by Michael Lettich
This Is How We Roll
This Is How We Roll
By Riley Candreva
The Comsewogue boys' bowling team bowled their way through the 2022-2023 season this winter. The team consisted of three seniors, two juniors, two sophomores, four freshmen, and an eighth grader from JFK Middle school. Three members of the team, Bradyn Brogan, Loy Saponara, and Gabe Evans, don’t go to Comsewogue. This is possible because the team is shared between Comsewogue and Three Village. The team, led by Coach Romero, made it all the way to the county tournament this season.
Before practices, many members of the team would meet in Mr. Frimmer’s room to wait for the bus to take them to Port Jeff Bowl. Throughout the year, Coach Romero would do various things to make practice more fun, such as the chocolate tournament, which was a tournament between members of the team. Coach Romero would bring a variety of candies and the winner of the tournament would get the first pick at which candy they wanted, second place would get the second pick, and so on. Toward the end of the season, Coach Romero would pair the bowlers into teams of two and he would pair with Assistant Coach Manetta; then they would bowl three games and see if anyone could beat the coaches.
The season itself got off to a rocky start, as the team took two rough losses against Sachem and Middle Country. After the loss to Middle Country, the team caught fire. The Warriors would go on to win their next eight matches. This streak included big wins against Sachem, a win against Middle Country that essentially clinched the team’s spot in the county tournament, and a win against the eventual county champions, Longwood. The Warriors finished with an 11-3 record, which placed them 3rd in the division and secured them a place in the county tournament.
Counties weren’t the only tournament this season, there were also the Singles-Doubles tournament and the Wild Card tournament. The Singles-Doubles tournament was essentially two tournaments merged into one. There was the Singles tournament, during which bowlers would bowl individually and the doubles tournament, during which bowlers would get into teams of two. One bowler would only bowl the odd-numbered frames and the other would only bowl the even-numbered frames. Comsewogue bowler, Anthony Manetta, placed third in the singles tournament and won multiple awards for his performance.
Right before the County Tournament, there was the Wild Card Tournament. Since the Warriors had already secured a spot in the County Tournament, this was essentially a practice tournament for Counties. The Warriors had fallen out of contention for the tournament by the last game, so Coach decided to let some of the bench guys get in and bowl.
After the Wild Card Tournament, all that was left were Counties. The day before Counties, Rickey Rennard was asked what he was doing to prepare. He responded, “Well, we’ve got the entire team down at Sayville for the past couple of days. We’ve been practicing there. We bowled the entirety of the tournament at Sayville. We’ve been practicing shots and trying different things down there. All of the team is playing down there and we’re going to see how everyone does down there.” When asked what it is like to be the captain and lead the team to counties, he responded, “It’s definitely a different experience because, for the past three years, I’ve been just a regular player on the team, so being the captain of it [and] seeing all the different sides of being the captain of it and encouraging my teammates. It’s a different view and I’m excited to go to counties as captain.” The final question was: what emotions were going through his head now that he was a senior going to his last county tournament? He responded, “It’s definitely a bittersweet emotion. I love the sport, but it’s nice to have it be my final year of doing this. It’s definitely a bittersweet feeling.”
On the day of Counties, the team met in Mr. Frimmer’s room for a bagel breakfast in the morning and then left for Sayville. Once all of the teams were ready, it was time to begin. The Warriors were doing solid through the first three games, as the team averaged around 1000 pins per game. Unfortunately, solid didn’t cut it, as the Warriors were around 200 pins out of first place. The teams got a lunch break after the first three games, so the Warriors met on the bus to eat their Domino’s pan pizzas which were courtesy of team mom, Kim Manetta. The team took this time to let off some steam and joke around before getting back to bowling.
Unfortunately, the team wasn’t able to come back from their deficit, as the Warriors finished in a distant fourth place. After the tournament, the seniors were given bittersweet goodbyes from the team, they posed for some team photos, and then they all went their separate ways.
A few weeks after the tournament, I interviewed a freshman on the team, Brendan Rennard, and asked him what the team was like and if he had any fun with it. He responded, “It was really fun, we had some great people on the team, and I enjoyed the season a lot.” I then asked him what it was like to start most matches and bowl in counties as a freshman. He responded, “It was very stressful. It was a new experience, but not a bad one.”
While the 2022-23 season didn’t end the way the team wanted, the Warriors were in it until the bitter end and are ready for whatever next season may bring.
Images property of Comsewogue High School
Run fast or be last!
Run fast or be last!
By Jason Chen
What a season for the boys' winter track! Some of the runners broke school records this season. This is a huge accomplishment for the team, the school, and most importantly themselves!
All the runners faced different challenges this season. Some were returning runners and some were new runners, but as a team, they worked together and helped each other improve each and every day. As the season progressed, players got better and they started to enjoy the season.
After being asked how they thought their season was senior Richie Russo said, “Overall it was really good, I was happy to meet all my new teammates and a lot of my teammates broke school records this year and I was really proud of them for that,”Christian Scholl said, “As a whole, I think we did really well, the team had a lot of success,”
When asked what got them into running track, some just liked the idea and started to run “something I just started for fun," Terrance Degnan confessed. In addition, others were influenced by people they knew who loved the sport “ I’d say my mom did because she was a big runner,” Richie Russo said.
It's looking good for the future of the Comsewogue Winter Track as the underclassmen also make big improvements during the season. “I think down the road 2-3 years from now I think this team is going to be solid, '' senior Christian Scholl says.
This winter track season at Comsewogue was overall a huge success. All the runners' hard work had paid off making great achievements for themselves.
That's all for the 2022-2023 Comsewogue Winter Track and Field Season.
Video by Maeve Micheline
"Big Trust"
By Lucia Simonetti
Comsewogue’s Boys' Basketball team has shown that with communication and a lot of dedication, it is possible to have a great season. Time after time, these hard-working athletes brought their A-game. With all the recognition from the community and the constant motivation from their coaches, the boys had the best support system that followed them into the playoffs.
Successful teams are the ones that create bonds between each and every team member which is exactly what Coach Sully aims for, stating “It’s not one thing you do, it’s everything you do.” Coach Sully constantly motivates his team to do their best and use the bonds they share to perform better on the court.
The theme for the team this year is “Big Trust” as Coach Sully puts it, “You have to really focus on just trusting the guy next to you.” A part of the team's success roots in their strong communication skills.
Photo property of Comsewogue High School
Video produced by: Lucia Simonetti
Like any other sport, basketball has its ups and downs. The downs are rough on the players and it can be difficult to keep motivated but that isn’t an issue for Comsewogue’s basketball team. Each player helps their fellow teammates and Coach Sully continuously motivates his team. “You’re not going to win every game, you’re not going to win every battle, and how you handle that- that’s what makes you the person you are, ” Coach Sully said when asked how he motivates his team during bad games.
Not only does the team have multiple wins during the season, but they also have gotten a lot of recognition from news outlets such as Newsday. Hayden Morris-Gray shared his thoughts on this new spotlight and how it can affect the team’s performance, “I don’t think so since we know how good we are and what we can accomplish.” Instead of shying away, players like Daimler Valerio see it as encouragement, “It brings more energy.” Valerio said.
All the seniors have big plans for their future. One of the senior players is Colin Strohm, who is continuing both his academic and athletic career, “I plan on going to Farmingdale State College next year to play basketball and study business, ” says Strohm. Each and every player has a bright future ahead of them and Coach Sully has many more seasons of greatness ahead of him.
Images property of Comsewogue High School.
Video Produced by Ryan Flaherty
Warriors Shine on the mats
Warriors Shine on the mats
By Jake Sokolowski
Comsewogue Wrestling has been on the upcoming teams to look out for here in Wogue’ for the past couple of years. Veteran Coach Brian Fitzgerald and assistant Brian Leetch, both with life experience in wrestling, have made some great decisions lately making a couple of wrestlers contenders for a state championship every year. The team broke many school records in the 2022 season including breaking the previous record of 11 team wins now with 12 in a season, being the most in our school's Wrestling program history.
The first wrestler we will be focusing on today is Sophomore wrestler Mason Mangialino, a varsity wrestler of 4 seasons now. Mason has always been looked upon as one of the most skillful and winningest wrestlers in school history. Mason, who still has 2 full seasons to his high school wrestling career, hit 100 individual wins this past season, broke the school record for most individual wins in a season, and placed 7th at the NYSPHSAA State championship.
We asked Mason, “How did it feel to accomplish such high standards so early in your career, especially 100 career wins?” to which he replied, “Yea, it felt great. Finally got to see all the hard work I’ve been putting in for years pay off.” The all-state wrestler has completed so much over the course of his career and still has much more left in the tank.
Next up is Frankie Oliveto. Frankie, another seasoned wrestler since 7th grade, will be looked upon next year as he will be a senior with a lot of experience. Frankie had an individual record of 41-17 last season. He also made the All-County tournament. We asked Frankie, “What positives has Wrestling had in your life?” to which he says, “It’s tough discipline and work ethic.”
Our 3rd wrestler is another incoming senior Devin Order. Devin, wrestling since 7th grade, will also be looked upon for his experience over the past couple of years reaching the All-County championship multiple times. Devin had an individual record of 36-12 this past season. When asked if he has a pre-meet routine, he answered, “I just listen to music, and get ready to go out there.”
The expectations are very high for this team going into the 2023-24’ season next year. We wish all our wrestlers the best of luck and Go Wogue’.
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