Captain Of GCHS Wrestling Team Is Scholar Athlete

Garden City Schools Athletic Director Nancy Kalafus, Wrestling Coach Reid Scalafani, Senior and News 12-Citibank Scholar Athlete Spencer DeSena, Citibank Garden City Branch Financial Cen-ter Manager Jennifer A. Scognamiglio, and High School Prinicipal Frank Banta.

Garden City High School Principal Frank Banta can often be found working at his desk, but one afternoon last month he was glad to abandon his entire office to a crew from News 12 for an interview with Spencer DeSena, captain of the wrestling team and member of the class of 2008.

Mr. DeSena is the District's latest News 12-Citibank Scholar Athlete. As a junior, his record in wrestling was 40-3. He is the 2007 NYS Freestyle State Champion and NYS Greco-Roman State Runner-up. In 2007, he received the Dr. Decker Award for Sportsmanship and Dedication and a Guild Scholar National Scholarship.

"Spencer began playing football and wrestling for Garden City in seventh grade," Athletic Director Nancy Kalafus said. "He has excelled at both sports because of his hard work and determination." Wrestling Coach Reid Sclafani added, "Spencer is the epitome of a fo-cused, hardworking high school student athlete."

A News-12 crew tapes an interview with News 12-Citibank Scholar Athlete Spencer DeSena in the principal's office at the Garden City High School.

In addition to his sports activities, Mr. DeSena has written for the Garden City Italian Literary Magazine, tutored a blind student in mathematics, and maintained an unweighted grade point average of 90.87.

He has realized these accomplishments despite having ocular albinism and several other related vision disorders that render him legally blind and highly sensitive to sunlight. By using special bifocals, holding reading material close to his face, and controlling ambient light, Mr. DeSena can read nor-mal-size print. As a football player, limited visual acuity required that he play a line position, and in wrestling he may have difficulty seeing the clock or signals from coaches.

But Mr. DeSena does not permit visual challenges to interfere with his achievements. "Wrestling is about feeling as much as seeing, and in football there's a flow to the game" he told the News 12 crew. "I minimize the disability as much as possible. I want to stand out for my achievements rather than for a condition I've had from birth. In fact, I don't think my disability has hindered me in any way. If anything, my work ethic has benefited."

Mr. DeSena has been recruited by Harvard and Princeton. He plans to attend Harvard and to continue wrestling in September.