There’s a first time for everything.
Manhasset senior wrestler Henry Jervis finished as an all-county wrestler and qualified for the NYSPHSAA Wrestling championship, both a first-time accomplishments. He’s reached the Nassau County championships three times, but hasn’t achieved these milestones.
“It’s kind of like I made it to the dance,” Jervis said. “You always see ‘all-county, all-county,’ and finally, third time’s the charm, and I got there.”
On Sunday, Jervis lost in the 165-pound Division I Nassau County title match to No. 1 seed from Kennedy Peter Mikedis by a pin at 5:24,at Hofstra University’s David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. Hethen wrestled No. 4 seed from Bethpage Matthew Casey for the true second place in the county, where he pinned him in 1:58 in the second period, which punched his ticket to the states.
Jervis entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed. On Saturday, he beat East Meadow’s No. 14-seeded Benjamin Carl, 3-0 fall and Manhasset teammate Spiro Kavvadias, 8-0 in the quarterfinals by way of decision.
On Sunday morning in the semifinals, Jervis sent No. 2 Miguel Turcios of Westbury packing, 9-6 decision (sudden victory).
“It’s amazing,” said head coach Stephon Sair. “He’s one of the hardest workers in the room. To see him make the county finals and qualify for states is a full-circle moment. When he was in ninth grade, he came to the states just to watch with his dad. Now he’s wrestling in it.”
Jervis fell in love with the sport at an early age. He started wrestling when he was about nine-years-old. To him, being alone on the mat is what made the sport special to him.
“I fell in love with how when you’re out there, it’s just you,” Jervis said. “You’re putting yourself through six minutes of seeing who you can be. The rush of winning and getting your hand raised is what I chased.”
Sair saw the energy from fourth-grade Jervis at the Manhasset youth program. He knew he had a solid wrestler coming through the pipeline.
Source: LI Press
