Now that the winter is behind us and the last of the snow has melted, it is time to start to think about the spring sports season at Mineola High School. Those of you who read this column regularly will remember the exciting season that the varsity softball team had last year. The Lady Mustangs were the Long Island Class B Champs, and then went to the State Championships where they finally met their match.

Mineola also is proud of its baseball program, headed by Coach Helms Bohringer, and assisted by Coaches Barry Silverstein and Chris Friedel. While the team had a difficult finish last year, there is much to look forward to in the upcoming season.

Also competing this spring are both boys and girls lacrosse and boys volleyball. All three teams had great seasons last year, and are looking forward to taking the field this spring. The boys lacrosse team lost some key players, so Coach Miller will be looking for players to step up and take a leadership role. The girls lacrosse team, coached by Coach Kate Sheehan and assisted by Coach Wiedman, has solid talent this year, and with the reorganization of the leagues, they hope to make their mark in this, their second varsity season. We also expect a good season from Coach Pete Hutchinson and the boys volleyball team.

Perhaps the most exciting news of the year so far for Mineola sports fans was the success of Mineola senior wrestler Beau Bruno. Beau has made the Mineola community proud. This very unique young man went about his business without the accolades or the public recognition that other wrestlers on Long Island received. He wasn't featured in Newsday as other wrestlers were from all over Long Island (but then again, Newsday rarely gives Mineola athletes press). But Beau had a mission, and he accomplished it without much fanfare. But, isn't that what real leaders do? They set goals, and with determination, they quietly go to work.

The following article was submitted by Beau's coaches, Dan Guido and Frank Massaro. It describes why we should all be proud of Beau, and why he and his family should be proud of him too.

On Saturday, March 6, Mineola senior Beau Bruno became only the second wrestler in Mineola history and the first in 36 years to reach the finals of the New York State High School Wrestling Championships.

Beau is finishing his high school career as maybe the greatest wrestler in Mineola history. His record to this point is 110 wins and 15 losses. As a junior, he placed fourth in Nassau County and third in the Empire State Games.

As a senior Beau has won every tournament he entered up to the state finals. He was champion of the Hank Paris, the Valley Stream North, the East Meadow, the Islip Cup, the Nassau County Qualifier, and the Nassau County Championship Tournament. His record for 1999 is 35 wins and one loss with 25 falls. His one loss came this weekend in the state finals to Mike Messina of Hauppauge. Mike is the returning state and national champion.

Beau began this year on a quest to become the first Mineola wrestler to win a county championship since Ralph Sammis in 1963. He finished the regular season with a 24-0 record and four tournament championships. It was then on to the Nassau County Qualifier which he won by defeating Brian Lustig of Mepham HS by a technical fall in the finals. The next weekend Beau won the Nassau County Championship Tournament by beating Chris Dennis of Oceanside in the finals by a score of 13-3. Chris entered the finals with a record of 30-2. Beau set a goal for himself four years ago to win this championship. Part of Beau's motivation was to outdo his father Joe who had wrestled for the title in 1967 only to lose a tough one point match in the finals. (Sorry about bringing that up Joe.) So with a lot of hard work and some help from his father, Beau continued to improve himself. Finally in this, his senior year, Beau finished one place higher than his dad. Beau Bruno had won the Nassau County Championship.

This wasn't quite good enough though. He was now headed up to Syracuse and had his sites set on defeating the finest wrestlers in New York and becoming a New York State place winner. His first match was against Dave Leonardo of Sec. 4 (Binghamton area). Leonardo had finished fifth in the state in '98 and was picked to be a state finalist by all the newspapers. None of this bothered Beau though as he went out and defeated his opponent 8-7. It was a very exciting match, but Beau was in the lead and in control from start to finish. He then defeated the PSAL Champion (NYC) by a score of 10-3 which now guaranteed him a top six finish and All-State Honors. Now it was into the semifinals where Beau would take on Pat Beckley of Sec. 1 (Westchester). This would be Beau's most dominate match as he won by a score of 14-6 having taken down his opponent seven times to none. Beau had now surprised everyone as he was in the State Finals with a record of 35-0. Not only had Beau won all his matches but not one wrestler had scored a single offensive point against him all year. The only points scored by his opponents were escapes and Beau lets them out for one point so he can take them down for two points. Beau was now in the State Finals, just him and his opponent and seven thousand spectators. It was an exciting event that those in attendance will never forget. The first period ended with the score tied at three with each wrestler securing a take down and an escape. Beau then took the lead 4-3, by the end of the second period the score was still close but Beau was down 9-6. In the third period the returning State and National Champion proved to be too much for Beau and the score ended at 17-8. When the smoke had cleared and the disappointment of losing had dissipated we all realized that Beau had just placed second in New York State and had an incredible year. What makes this accomplishment even more unbelievable is that Beau plays three sports every year. He chose not to specialize in one sport or activity as so many kids seem to do today. He decided to get the most out of high school as he possibly could. He started as an outside linebacker on a good football team and recorded 18 QB sacks in two years. He also plays lacrosse where he was an All-Conference player scoring a team leading 30 goals. He is also a "B" student and sings in the chorus. Beau will attend college in the fall (Hofstra, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Rider) where he will study to be a teacher (and probably wrestle, too). He also attended many wrestling camps and clinics. His dad would take him to tournaments on the weekends in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut and anywhere else he could find competition. He would come to school early 3-4 mornings a week so he could weight train and improve his strength. Beau is definitely a dedicated athlete, a coaches and parent's dream, a student athlete the whole Village of Mineola can be proud of.

The next and last step for Beau will come at the end of March in Pittsburgh, PA, where he will compete at the HS Nationals. Good luck, Beau!

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The following articles were submitted by the winter coaches about their end of season games, matches and awards.

The girls varsity basketball team ended their season with an exceptional record of 8-4, placing sixth in Conference Three. The team qualified for playoffs getting a 10th seed. On Feb. 16, the Lady Mustangs competed against the #7 seed, Lynbrook. Lynbrook placed second in Conference Three and had split games with Mineola. This was the third meeting between these two opponents. With strong offense coming from Erin Cloghessy (19 pts.), Daniela Santa Maria (15 pts.) and Heather Savignano (11 pts.) as well as aggressive rebounding by Nicki Adams (12 rebounds), the Lady Mustangs beat Lynbrook 57-52. Quarterfinals were next, pitting Mineola against undefeated Floral Park. The Lady Mustangs gave a valiant effort being down by only six points in the fourth quarter eventually losing 57-36. Leading scorers included Heather Savignano with 10 points and Kristina Tsabasis with 8. Exceptional ball handling and speed by Katherine Hock helped the Lady Mustangs break Floral Park's press. Strong defensive performances by Daniela Santa Maria and Nicki Adams kept Mineola in the game.

The Nassau County Girls Basketball Coaches Association voted in the following All Stars:

All-Division - Kristina Tsabasis, Katherine Hock, Nicki Adams.

Honorable Mention - Erin Cloghessy

Scholar Athlete - Daniela Santa Maria

Strive for Excellence winners, given to the players who practice and play with tremendous heart and competitive spirit (level of skill is not a criteria) are Daniela Santa Maria, Katherine Hock, Erin Cloghessy and Theresa Berkowitz.

For the fifth year in a row, the girls basketball team received the NYSPHSAA Scholar/Athlete Award. The following team members qualified: Daniela Santa Maria, 97.0 average; Theresa Berkowitz, 94.0; Nicole Adams, 93.0; Samantha Didrickson, 93.0; Kim Rossi, 92.0; Kristen Cusato, 91.0; Katherine Hock, 90.0.

The Mineola girls basketball team will be losing six seniors. Next year's team will be young and inexperienced, but competitive.

On Saturday, Feb. 6, the Nassau County Bowling Tournament was held at Garden City Bowl. For the second time in two years, the Mineola boys finished in second place. The 16 best teams in Nassau County participated. Coming into the tournament, Mineola had the ninth best team average in the county. For most of the tournament, Mineola was leading. In the sixth and final game, Mineola was passed by Bellmore Kennedy District who went on to win the tournament. They beat Mineola by 20 pins.

Mineola's team consisted of John Pirrone, John Randazzo, Anthony Scapicchio, Tom Brown, Eric Kruse and Adam Tuthill. For six games John Pirrone averaged 212, John Randazzo 219, Tom Brown 187, Anthony Scapicchio 195 and Eric Kruse 180.

After the County Tournament was finished, two Mineola bowlers received All-County honors, and their averages have placed them among the top seven male and female bowlers in Nassau County. These top seven bowlers are then selected to represent Nassau County at the State Championships. Mineola HS is very proud of freshman Christina Schulze and junior John Randazzo for representing both Mineola HS and Nassau County at the New York State Bowling Tournament held in Syracuse two weeks ago.

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As the teams take the field this spring, we again encourage you to come out and watch a game. There is nothing more exciting for a high school team than playing for a crowd. The fan support is always welcomed. The following schedules are printed for you to keep on your refrigerator. Come on out and support the Mustangs in this, the final sports season of the year. In the next few weeks, we will print the team profiles to help you get to know the players better. Read this sports page for weekly game highlights.

Date	Opponent	Site	Time
3/25	Oceanside (S)	Away	4:15
3/27	Island Trees (S)	Away	10:00
3/29	No. Shore (S)	Away	4:00
3/30	Glen Cove (S)	Away	4:15
3/31	St. Mary's (S)	Home	4:15
4/3	Bethpage (S)	Away	10:00
4/6	Sewanhaka	Home	10:30
4/7	MacArthur	Home	10:30
4/8	Lev. Div. (S)	Away	11:00
4/9	Plainedge	Away	11:00
4/13	Roslyn	Home	4:15
4/14	Roosevelt	Away	4:15
4/16	Bethpage	Home	4:15
4/20	Floral Park	Home	4:15
4/21	Floral Park	Away	4:15
4/23	Floral Park	Home	4:15
4/27	GN No.	Home	4:15
4/28	GN No.	Away	4:15 Polo Rd.
4/30	GN No.	Home	4:15
5/4	Lynbrook	Away	4:15 Marion St.
5/5	Lynbrook	Home	4:15
5/7	Lynbrook	Away	4:15 Marion St.
5/8	Clarke (S)	Home	10:30
5/11	Bellmore JFK	Away	4:15
5/12	Bell. JFK	Home	4:00
5/14	Bell. JFK	Away	4:15
5/17	Wantagh	Home	4:00
5/18	Wantagh	Away	4:15
5/19	Wantagh	Home	4:00
5/22	Playoffs

3/25	Oceanside (S)	Home	4:00
3/29	No. Shore (S)	Away	4:00
3/30	Glen Cove (S)	Away	4:15
4/3	Bethpage (S)	Home	10:00
4/6	Sewanhaka	Away	10:00
4/7	MacArthur	Away	10:30
4/8	Lev. Div. (S)	Home	11:00
4/9	Plainedge	Home	11:00
4/13	Roslyn	Away	4:15
4/16	Bethpage	Away	4:15
4/20	Floral Park	Away	4:15 Stanforth
4/21	Floral Park	Home	4:15
4/27	GN No.	Away	4:15 Polo Rd.
4/28	GN No.	Home	4:15
4/30	GN No.	Away	4:15
5/4	Lynbrook	Home	4:15
5/5	Lynbrook	Away	4:15 Marion St.
5/7	Lynbrook	Home	4:00
5/11	Bellmore JFK	Home	4:15
5/12	Bell. JFK	Away	4:15
5/14	Bell. JFK	Home	4:00
5/17	Wantagh	Away	4:15
5/18	Wantagh	Home	4:00
5/19	Wantagh	Away	4:15

3/26	VS Central (NL)	Away	4:30 Fireman's field
3/31	Elmont (NL)	Away	4:30
4/9	Island Trees (NL)	Home	10:30
4/13	Carey	Home	4:30
4/16	Calhoun	Away	4:30
4/21	Wantagh	Home	4:30
4/23	CSH	Away	4:30
4/27	Jericho	Away	4:30
4/30	West Hemp.	Home	4:30
5/3	NHP	Away	4:15
5/5	Sewanhaka	Home	4:30
5/11	Glen Cove	Home	4:30
5/14	Manhasset	Away	4:30
5/20	First Round Playoffs

3/26	VS Central (NL)	Home	4:30
3/31	Elmont (HL)	Home	4:30
4/9	Island Trees (NL)	Away	10:30
4/13	Carey	Away	4:30
4/16	Calhoun	Home	4:30
4/21	Wantagh	Away	4:30
4/23	CSH	Home	4:30
4/27	Jericho	Home	4:30
4/30	West Hemp.	Away	4:30
5/3	NHP	Home	4:15
5/11	Glen Cove	Away	4:30
5/14	Manhasset	Home	4:30

All home games at Hampton Stadium.

3/24	Plainview (S)	Home	4:15
3/29	Island Trees	Away	4:15 Sparks
4/5	Oceanside (NL)	Away	11:00
4/7	MacArthur-Tourn.	Away	TBA
4/8	MacArthur-Tourn.	Away	TBA
4/9	Herricks (S)	Home	11:00
4/13	Lev. Div.	Home	4:15
4/14	Garden City	Away	4:15
4/16	Plainedge	Home	4:15
4/19	No. Shore	Home	4:15
4/20	Wantagh	Home	4:15
4/22	Clarke	Away	4:15
4/26	VS So.	Home	4:15
4/27	Sewanhaka	Away	4:15
4/29	Roslyn	Home	4:15
5/3	Glen Cove	Away	4:15
5/4	Island Trees	Home	4:15
5/6	Lev. Div.	Away	4:15
5/10	Garden City	Home	4:15
5/11	Plainedge	Away	4:15
5/13	No. Shore	Away	4:15

All Home games at Cross Street Elementary School

3/24	Plainview (S)	Away	4:15
3/29	Island Trees	Home	4:15
4/5	Oceanside (NL)	Home	11:00
4/8	Clarke (NL)	Away	11:00
4/9	Herricks (S)	Away	11:00
4/13	Lev. Div.	Away	4:15
4/14	Garden City	Home	4:15
4/16	Plainedge	Away	4:15 Schwartz
4/19	No. Shore	Away	4:15
4/20	Wantagh	Away	4:15
4/22	Clarke	Home	4:15
4/26	VS So.	Away	4:15
4/27	Sewanhaka	Home	4:15
4/29	Roslyn	Away	4:15 East Hills
5/3	Glen Cove	Home	4:15
5/4	Island Trees	Away	4:15 Stokes Ele.
5/6	Lev. Div.	Home	4:30
5/10	Garden City	Away	4:15
5/11	Plainedge	Home	4:15
5/13	No. Shore	Home	4:15

All home games at Cross Street Elementary School

3/25	Clarke	Home	4:15
3/29	GN So.	Away	4:15
3/31	Wantagh	Home	4:00
4/8	Kellenberg (NL)	Home	11:00
4/15	Bethpage	Away	4:15 Pine Ave.
4/16	Glen Cove (NL)	Home	4:15
4/20	Floral Park	Home	4:15
4/22	Carey (NL)	Home	4:15
4/24	West Hemp. (NL)	Away	12:00
4/27	Wheatley	Home	4:15
5/1	Clarke	Away	11:00
5/5	GN South	Home	4:15
5/7	Wantagh	Away	4:15
5/12	Bethpage	Home	4:15
5/14	Floral Park	Away	4:15

All Home games at Hampton Street Elementary School

3/25	Clarke	Away	4:15
3/29	GN So.	Home	4:15
3/31	Wantagh	Away	4:15
4/8	Kellenberg (NL)	Home	12:30
4/15	Bethpage	Home	4:00
4/16	Bell JFK (NL)	Away	4:15
4/20	Floral Park	Home	5:30
4/24	West Hemp. (NL)	Away	1:30
4/27	Sewanhaka	Home	5:30
5/1	Clarke	Away	12:30
5/5	GN South	Home	5:30
5/7	Wantagh	Away	5:30
5/12	Bethpage	Home	5:30
5/14	Floral Park	Away	5:30

All Home games at Hampton St. Elementary School

3/29	NHP	Away	4:15
4/12	Floral Park	Home	4:15
4/14	GN No.	Home	4:15
4/16	Wantagh	Home	4:00
4/20	Bethpage	Away	5:00
4/22	Clarke	Away	4:15
4/26	VS North	Home	4:15
4/28	VS Central	Away	4:15
5/4	VS South	Away	4:15
5/6	Elmont	Home	4:30
5/10	Malverne	Away	4:15
5/12	NHP	Home	4:00
5/14	GN North	Away	4:15
5/17	Wantagh	Away	4:15
5/19	Bethpage	Home	4:15
5/21	Clarke	Home	4:15