Weldon E Howitt High School - Hi Life Yearbook (Farmingdale, NY)

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Left: Bill Profreidt acquires a strong hold on his man. FHS 42 Boys Wrestling (13-1) JFK Plainview 13 35 Island Trees 19 24 Massapequa 20 27 Berner 24 49 MacArthur 7 37 Wantagh 13 56 Syosset 3 28 JFK Bellmore 18 12 34 East Meadow 42 Hicksville 15 40 North Shore 14 29 Mepham 25 32 Island Trees 18 24 Locust Valley 27 Wrestlers Strength The wrestlers, under- estmated due to the team’s rather low ranking in its di- vision, continued and sur- passed their winning tradi- tion by securing the title this year in Conference IA, the strongest wrestling league in the county. The team’s 13-1 record reflects a truly outstanding season, and the team’s only loss occurred in the finals against Locust Valley by a painfully close 24-27 score. This loss came as quite a disappointment after the 32-18 win in the semi-finals against Island Trees on February 10th, only two days before, but the team still finished second in Nas- sau County. Many agreed that the influence of coach Irv Ap- gar was a positive one. Apgar has been around wrestling a long time. He knows just what the other teams can do and who their best wrestlers are,” Joe Combine and Skill Ryan commented. The coach’s only dis- appointment was the lack of publicity about wrestling from the local media. The team did very well in the two Christmas tourna- ments, winning at Half Hol- low Hills and placing third at Lawrence. John Quinn won the 126 lb. title at Half Hollow Hills, and was named outstanding wrestler in his class at Lawrence. Tim Henn, wrestling at 167 lbs., finished first at Half Hollow Hills and third at Lawrence. Bill Profriedt was second at 177 lbs. in both tournaments. After approaching the end of the season unde- feated, the loss of the finals was a disappointment to the Dalers. However, the team showed its skill and heart by exceeding pre- dictions and overcoming many of the strongest teams in the county. 141 Above Middle: Tim Henn, senior, prepares to grapple an opposing wrestler.

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Below Middle: Benji Mills displays strong opposition as he approaches his opponent. Below: Rich Bayer. Senior, attempts to pin his man. FINALLY “After the semi-finals, the whole team felt that A was just one more step toward the top. We had only won half the battle, and when we lost the finals it was a big shock. Usually the heavyweights would always pull through so we kept on saying ‘don't worry,' but when we got there we fell short — Ronnie Heller, junior. “I was definitely disappointed, but I’m not going to cry over it. We lost. All the way through the season the scores came very close but we were usually able to pull it off. It's just too bad we couldn't do it when it counted the most’’ — Bill Profriedt, senior. “It was a relief when it was over. All the pressure was off. We couldn't possibly be disappointed because we came so far. We had to be happy with what we did for the year — Brent Williams, senior. “I think we pulled off a lot of matches that we shouldn't have, so I wasn't all that surprised or disappointed. The atmosphere after the match was optimistic — kind of like, 'let's go out and win the tournaments' — Joe Ryan, senior. Back Row: Bill Profriedt. Lou Brienza, Ronnie Heller, Mike Morrnino. Linda Bulin, Coach Irv Apgar. Second Row: Denise Bosse, Lisa Pennacchio. Brent Williams. Rich Bayer. Joe Byrnes. Timmy Henn. Barbara Williams. Front Row: Jim O'Connor. Joe Arnold. Mark Daleo. Vinny Ferrara. Tom Henn. Benjamin Mills. Missing: Tony Ferrara. John Quinn. Joe Ryan. 140 Above: An Island Trees wrestler is thrown on his back by senior John Quinn.

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Below: Chris Beatrice practices hurdling. Winter Season Readies Track Team For Spring Meets Three years ago track coach Walter “Butch’’ Brem got a break; he started get- ting paid for coaching win- ter track, a job he had been performing since 1973 with- out pay. In that year Brem had recognized the ex- ceptional talent of soph- omore high jumper Jason Meisler, and started enter- ing him in winter meets. As the years went by, Brem’s group increased in size and strength until final- ly, prodded by the teachers’ union, the administration saw the justice of paying Brem and initiated a full schedule of meets. Since then, the team has grown to ninety members, and has become one of the strong- est in the state. In January the team com- peted in the Conference I meet against fourteen other teams. A trophy was awarded to the Dalers when they placed first in the League A championships with seventy points. Farm- Back Row: Robert Bisberg, Neil Ferrara. Scott Kramer. Jeff Riha, Jim Genoy. Harry Penn. Mike Fried. Sal Guastella, David Reid. Mike Mena. Coach Walter Brem. Fourth Row: Mike Ward. Mike Wolling. Parish Patel. Jody Peck. Stu Fast. George Kaiser. Mark Amster, Paul Romanelli, John Conneely. Kurt Ludwig. Charlie Reichel. Third Row: David Hickey. Matt Rothman. Phil Abshire, Glenn Fink. Vinny Grande. Mike Gaghan, Henry Verga, Scott Brown. Jim Lavelle. Dan Gorzycki. John Mazujian. Second Row: Joe Perettine. Ray Soluri. Ken Cottrell. Tony Faria. Charles Del Aquilia, Tom Soluri. Ross Fabregas. Frank Sposato. Tom McGurk. Tony Mauro. Jeff Jacobs. Front Row: John Driscoll. Steve Kumbasky, Tom Walsh, Harry Graber. Aaron Cano. Mike Buckley. Tony Giminaro. Steve Languilli. ingdale also took fourth place in the Conference I championship. Three names are men- tioned as outstanding mem- bers of this year's winter track team: Harry Penn, Da- vid Reid, and Ross Fabr- egas. The coach described Penn as “an excellent dis- tance runner, from the 880 yard run and up.” He was also chosen most valuable runner by his teammates. Dave Reid represented Farmingdale at the Nassau and Suffolk county cham- pionships in the triple jump event. Ross Fabergas com- peted in the same confer- ences in the long jump event. Both took third in their events. Much hard work will be necessary for next year’s team to meet the standards of the 1979 winter track team. Right: George Kaiser leads the pack around the last turn. Jeff Lund. Frank Innes. Charlie Kahlkof