Matthew McDermott burst onto the scene last year. The Smithtown East sophomore is ready to take the next step.
McDermott pinned Baldwin’s Frantz Byron in 2:48 to win the 144-pound title at the Raider Invitational at Patchogue-Medford on Tuesday.
After a scoreless first period, McDermott chose to start the second period on bottom. He quickly scored a reversal before securing the pin.
“I really think I can get out against anybody,” McDermott said. “That’s what I’m trying to work on. Get out and get my one or two points . . . (Byron) was really good on his feet. He was moving my head around a lot, used good motion and it was hard to capitalize off that. I just had to work my stuff and keep it my match.”
It was McDermott’s fifth pin of the day. He picked up a technical fall in the semifinals and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.
McDermott (18-0) won the Suffolk Division I title at 131 pounds last year and was the runner-up at the state tournament, losing to three-time champion Luke Satriano of Valley Central.
“I definitely know I can compete with all those guys now,” McDermott said. “I know I’m at the top, so I’m definitely motivated to get that state title this year.”
Patchogue-Medford won the team title with 342.5 points. Islip (245.5) took second and Smithtown East (245.0) was third.
Patchogue-Medford junior Quinn Pruitt ignited the home crowd in the 190-pound final. Trailing Islip’s Aiden Nassire 9-3 at the end of the first period, Pruitt regrouped and took control of the match. He earned a pin in 2:43.
“It was definitely relieving,” Pruitt said. “He overwhelmed me. I got caught off guard and had to take a second to breathe and really get my head back in the game and get to work.”
His teammates, Aiden Morin and Aidan Sasek each secured a pin to claim the titles at 126 and 157 pounds, respectively. Morin led the tournament with six pins in 7:06.
The 285-pound final was a pure battle of will. Baldwin’s Jayden Young and Bay Shore’s Jayden Monserrat were both gassed.
Tied at 1 after the third period, neither wrestler scored in the sudden victory period. Monserrat earned an escape to take a 2-1 lead in the overtime period, but Young answered with an escape of his own to tie it at 2 heading to the ultimate tiebreaker.
Young started on bottom and needed an escape in the 30-second period to win.
“You get tired. You get fatigued, but you can’t let that get to you,” Young said. “You have to stay in the moment and stay focused. The whole time I was on the mat, I was thinking, ‘Just stand up. Stand up.’ You don’t have to overcomplicate things.”
Young made it to his feet and escaped Monserrat’s grasp for a 3-2 victory to close a highly competitive tournament.
Said Young: “It was a euphoric feeling to get that final stand-up.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
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