A Legend Is Born, Matt Leshinger

Sayville High School senior Matt Leshinger walked into the Stony Brook University field house for the county tournament already an accomplished wrestler; he walked out a Long Island Wrestling legend. 

The three-time All League, All County (2010, 2011) and All American (2009) competed among 270 of the best wrestlers in Suffolk County in front of more than 4,000 wrestling fans, a proverbial packed house. Suffolk County, one of the hotbeds of wrestling in the USA, witnessed something that only Leshinger knew was going to happen. "Win this tournament, and you punch a winning ticket to the State Championships in Albany by way of a Suffolk County title. Come July 1, your phone will ring off the hook once college recruiting season begins."

Leshinger, or “Bulldog” as he is called, competed in the 120 weight class. This season, 120 is widely regarded by the wrestling pundits as “loaded," a term deemed for county tournament brackets stock full of highly accomplished wrestlers, many of whom will go onto Division 1 at the College level. Here is an idea of who Matt had to contend with to walk out Feb. 10 a winner:

• Sean McCabe, Senior from Connetquot, HS – County Champion and 3rd in NYS from last season; 3X All County; #1 Seed in this tournament; #1 Ranked in NYS
• Mark West, Junior from Hauppague, HS – 2010, NYS Champion; 2010; Eastern States Champion; 2X All County; Ranked #2 in NYS
• Travis Passarro, Sophomore from Eastport South Manor, HS – 2011, Eastern States Champion; 2X All County; 2X All American; #8 Ranked in NYS
• TJ Fabian, Junior from Shoreham Wading River, HS – 3X Eastern States Place winner, All County, 2X All American; #3 Ranked in NYS
• Jakob Restreppo, Freshman from Sachem East, HS – 35-1 on the season

Leshinger came into the tournament ranked #6 in the state, but because he lost to TJ Fabian the week before in the league final, he was an unseeded wrestler. Even so, he had a good chance to place in the top 6 and earn the coveted all county award. His chances would go up as long as McCabe and West were on opposite sides of the bracket (think about your March madness basketball office pools) but they weren’t, he would have to go through them both before meeting Fabian, Restreppo or Passarro in the finals. Except to him, it was just about unthinkable to get through that grueling road. Do you believe in wrestling miracles? Leshinger doesn’t. He believes in hard work, and an all year round commitment to the sport he loves.

That hard work paid off:

Round 1 – Matt Leshinger 3, Matt Haag (Islip) 0 

Quaterfinals – Matt Leshinger 3, Sean McCabe 2

Semi Finals – Matt Leshinger 3, Mark West 2

Championship Round – Matt Leshinger 5, TJ Faban 4 (2 OT)

Some coaches commented on Leshinger's performance.

Miller Place coach Dom Lore said the Sayville wrestler's day was historic.

“That performance will go down in history as one of the best county tournaments, ever," he said.

Westhampton Beach head coach Paul Bass was also impressed.

“I have seen over 35 county tournaments and that might the best performance I've ever witnessed," he said.

Well, Leshinger's amazing day was not done yet. Not only did he secure a place in the New York State Tournament but he would win a couple of awards. After the conclusion of the county tournament, two prestigious awards are given out. The MOW is given to the “Most Outstanding Wrestler” of the tournament as voted on by all 45 coaches. The “Champion of Champions” is voted on by each of the weight class winners (15). Matt won both awards by near unanimous decision (he didn’t vote for himself).

So, after becoming the seventh county champion from Sayville in the 78 years of the program, he also just became the third wrestler to win both awards in the history of the tournament (one of the oldest high school sporting events in NYS).

Leshinger is an honor student and is already being recruited by Princeton, Columbia and Binghamton. Let the recruiting sweepstakes begin.

What will he do for an encore? We will soon find out as the NYS Wrestling Championships take place, March 2, 3 in Albany.

Other Sayville Wrestling notes: Steven Leshinger (older brother) is a freshman, who wrestles at Princeton University. Shawn Mazzarone wrestles for the University of Maryland (#14 in the latest NCAA poll) just broke the starting lineup against Duke University. Chris Siracusa (Sayville, Class of 2012) was an early commit to wrestle for Wesleyan University in CT, one of the top 15 academic institutions in America.

Thanks to Sayville Wrestling and Michael Vetrano, assistant coach, for this information.