He’s really got that dog in him.
The Island Trees Bulldogs haven’t had a state-champion wrestler since 1979, but that can all change beginning Friday thanks to the shot and takedowns of senior Joe Filocamo, the school’s first three-straight Nassau County title holder.
The 17-year-old cruised to victory this year with a win over Seaford’s Yiannis Thomas two weeks ago.
Filocamo is on track to become one of the most memorable athletes the tiny school district — one not widely known as an athletic powerhouse — has ever seen.
“We were always looked down on,” Filocamo told The Post. “I’m just here to show them just because we’re small doesn’t mean you don’t have what it takes.”
The team name under which Filocamo plays three sports is the perfect metaphor for his underdog athletic career.
In the fall, he barely sees a second on the football sideline as a running back, linebacker and long-snapper before shedding about 20 pounds to wrestle in the 138-pound weight class, only to put on more muscle as a lacrosse midfielder in the spring.
“Wrestling is my least favorite sport,” admitted Filocamo, who is going to Long Island University for lax next year.
He joined the wrestling team for two reasons: to stay in shape during the cold weather months and to pound heads without getting in trouble.
Going into senior year, two epic wrestling title wins were enough.
As a sophomore, Filocamo erased a 1-0 deficit against Locust Valley’s Justin Dvorak to post a dramatic 7-1 win in the final seconds.
Then, as a junior, he defeated an East Meadow wrestler, Sebastian Barco, to whom the Bulldogs had lost earlier in the year, to claim gold.
“I really hated wrestling last year,” Filocamo said of its fatiguing commitment that can break down many athletes. “I was done wrestling up at that point. I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore. I don’t enjoy the sport.’”
However, just because he was down for the count didn’t mean coach Damian Garcia was.
“Coach told me, ‘It’s not about you. It’s about everyone around you and your family, your community, and the boys on the team,’” Filocamo said.
Filocamo truly got the message when Garcia, who said there would be no hard feelings either way, impressed his star leader with what it means to finish what he started — and how his success really impacted the small Levittown school.
“The community itself, the wrestling community, the parents, they just like having him around. He’s just such a good, positive role model,” Garcia said of Filocamo, who happily works with middle schoolers and young athletes to develop them into the next leaders on varsity.
The coach added that Filocamo’s presence and mentorship immediately changed the tenor of Island Trees wrestling.
“We haven’t had as much newsworthy stuff over the last 10 years,” Garcia said. “Joe has led the way. We’ve had five county champions in the last three years, and 10 kids qualify for the state tournament.”
Then, Filocamo started noticing the fanfare himself.
“My guidance counselor was coming up to me, my home and careers teacher, my dad, all saying, ‘You gotta wrestle, you gotta wrestle,’ ” he recalled.
“And I dominated my senior year. Everything came together. … The second I won my third championship, the first thing coach asked, ‘Aren’t you glad I made you wrestle?’ And I was.”
Garcia proudly says Filocamo wrapped his high school tenure on the highest note possible for reasons beyond claiming school history.
“The younger kids got to see somebody who can lead by example because he is an extremely hard worker,” the coach said. “I knew once we got him in the room that it would be like riding a bike, and he would be right back where he was.”
Whatever happens at states in Albany, this weekend will be Filocamo’s last dance as a wrestler.
Even if he wins, nationals would conflict with lacrosse, and the one-sport-a-season athlete would have to shift gears. Regardless, Filocamo is looking forward to his collegiate future and that of the Bulldogs’ wrestling program, where he’ll likely volunteer as a coach next year in his downtime.
“These guys have the potential to win it all,” he said of the gritty squad that made him into a repeat champion.
“It’s not about the size of the dog in the fight; it’s about the size of the fight in the dog. That was my senior quote this year.”
