Archive for Athlete to Watch

Newsday Wrestlers to Watch

Congrats to AFTLI athletes who made the Newsday “Wrestlers to Watch this season”

Dan Spurgeon @ 152 lbs

Dave Ng @ 215 lbs

Joe Manna @ 285 lbs

Good Luck to all of the wrestlers who train or who have trained with AFTLI!

Keep training hard!

Wrestler to Watch: John Archambeau

John Archambeau takes Gold at the Doug Parker Invitational Wrestling Tournament

This past weekend John Archambeau of Springfield defeated Ethan Raymond of  Bridgewater by a narrow margin of 3-1.

John came to traveled all the way from Massachusetts to train with us last year during his college intersession!  This really shows the commitment and the drive of this young man to be the best he can be!

Keep working hard John and good luck the rest of the season!

Lacrosse Player to Watch: Heather Russell

Athlete to Watch: Heather Russell

Heather Russell, a senior at Our Lady of Mercy Academy signed a National Letter of Intent to play Division II lacrosse on scholarship at C.W. Post.

Heather has been a member of the varsity lacrosse team for four years and plays midfield. She was a N.S.C.H.S.G.A.A. All League selection in 11th grade and led her team in scoring last year. Heather has been an integral part in elevating the program and hopes to bring home a championship.

Heather has an incredible drive and determination to get better.She has made very impressive gain since starting with us. She is  incredibly fit and strong and can hang with the best of the best here at AFTLI. All of us here at AFTLI would like to wish Heather the best of luck this season!

Softball Player to Watch: Stephanie Viggiano

Athlete to Watch: Stephanie Viggiano

Stephanie Viggiano, a senior at Our Lady of Mercy Academy signed a National Letter of Intent to play Division I softball on scholarship at Siena College.

Stephanie has been a member of the varsity softball team for four years and plays shortstop. She has been a N.S.C.H.S.G.A.A. All League selection in 9th, 10th, & 11th grade. She is looking forward to her final season at Mercy and wants to bring a championship back to the Academy.

Steph is an AFTLI veteran and her success is in large part due to her tremendous work ethic and consistency. All of us here at AFTLI would like to wish Stephanie the best of luck this season!

Wrestler to Watch: Nick Camera

Unseeded Nick Camera places in Ithaca Invitational Tournament

Nick Camera ended up placing 5th at the Ithaca Wrestling Invitational this weekend. Nick did not have an easy road to get there as he had the Number 2 Seed(2nd ranked) wrestler in his weight class in the very first round.

Nick was unseeded going into the tournament and had a tough road just to get out of the first match! Nick ending up upsetting the number two seed and making it to the semi-finals of the tournament.

Nick is one of our hardest workers here at AFTLI and Nick is a great example of what hard work and proper training can do for you. Nick is always read to step up and take on any physical or mental challenge ahead of him.

Other AFTLI athlete placers where Springfield Captain Ed Giron placing 4th and John Archambeau placing 5th.

(Side note: John traveled all the way from Massachusetts to train with us during College Intersession IN SEASON last year. Ed has been training with myself for a number of years and his improvement has been incredible. John and Ed were both named Academic All-Americans last year. The work ethic and commit of these wrestlers are second to none!)

We wish Nick, Ed, John and the rest of the Springfield College Wrestling team the best of luck during the season.

Remember men it is what happens at the END OF THE SEASON that counts. Everything else to practice. Get a little better each day and keep working hard!

Cotrone seals the win for the Titans

Holy Trinity’s took control in a dominant 27-0 CHSFL victory over Chaminade in the Titans’ first home game of the season.

AFT athlete Louis Cotrone carried the ball 10 times for 57 yards, including a 4-yard burst with 55 seconds left in the first half that made it 20-0.  Cotrone helped put the game away for a great home opener for Holy Trinity.

Louis works EXTREMELY HARD during his workouts here at AFT of LI. We wish him the best of luck the season!

Athlete to Watch: Ralph Caccavale

Caccavale comes up Big in Fourth Quarter to Lead Plainedge to Victory

Ralph Caccavale ran for 164 yards and two scores and threw a 6-yard touchdown on a halfback pass to lead Plainedge in their win against the defending Conference III County Champions Lawrence.

Caccavavle’s 3-yard touchdown with eight minutes left gave the Red Devils a 21-20 lead over the Golden Tornadoes.

Congrats to Plainedge for a well deserved win last Friday! Keep up the good work!

Athlete to Watch: Kyle Nigro

Athlete to Watch: Kyle Nigro


Kyle led Island Trees Football to Victory in their last two games.

He threw for a combined 247 yards in his past two games. He is currently in the Top Ten for passing yards in all of Nassau County.

Keep up the good work Kyle!

Athlete To Watch: Grecsek leads Island Trees to Victory

Athlete To Watch: David Grecsek


David Grecsek lead the Island Trees Bulldogs with 271 rushing yards and two touchdowns in their win against Locust Valley.

David was a standout at our speed program this past summer and he worked extremely hard during his workouts with AFT of LI.

We wish David and the rest of the Island Trees Bulldogs the best of luck during the rest of their football season!

Athlete to Watch: Zdrojeski tabbed TCCC Defensive Player of the Week

Athlete to Watch

Cassie Zdrojeski named TCCC Defensive Player of the Week!
University of New England women’s soccer player Cassie Zdrojeski (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) has been named The Commonwealth Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the period ending September 12. TCCC Commissioner Gregg Kaye made the announcement this afternoon.

The senior co-captain was part of a defensive unit that allowed just one goal and six shots on goal in wins over Southern Maine (2-0) and Salve Regina (2-1). On the other end of the field, she assisted on both scores in the victory over USM.

Congrats to Cassie and keep up the great work!