Wheatley School senior Daniel Haroon (in black) is trying to repeat as county Division II champ, at 285 pound class. Photo credit: Bob Sorensen
The most frequent practice partner for star Wheatley School heavyweight wrestler Daniel Haroon weighs 60 pounds.
And he doesn’t say much. He’s the perfect foil in training, he just stands there quietly and waits for his turn as Haroon practices move like a double-leg takedown.
Oh, and he’s made of plastic and rubber, while standing about six feet tall.
His name is “Ethan:” the Wildcats wrestlers named him after a former teammate, and this dummy is one of the only ways a 270-pound behemoth like Haroon can get any decent competition.
“It’s actually really helpful; I can practice moves and get the muscle memory going,” Haroon said with a smile. “He seems like a lot heavier than 60 pounds. It’s hard for me to find guys to wrestle with at my size and my level.”
While Haroon tangles with Ethan and has one-sided conversations with him, he is looking to improve a level that has dramatically improved the last two years. Joining the Wheatley team as a freshman, Haroon lost every match, going 0-12, before winning about half his matches as a sophomore at the 285 (heavyweight) weight class.
Then last season things clicked for the big man; always lacking for confidence, he steadily improved throughout the 2023-24 season and reached the county tournament in Division II. Seeded fifth, Haroon said he was hoping just to finish in the Top 3, “at best.”
But he won three matches and suddenly found himself a county champ for the first time, advancing to the state tournament (he went 1-2 at states).
It was shocking for Haroon, but Wheatley coach Michael Miller always believed it could happen.
“He really got focused toward the end of the season, and his improvements were really mental,” Miller said. “Getting him to a place where he believed he could win was a big deal, and then the more he won, the more confidence he started to get. And it all came together at counties.”
Haroon, who defeated Carle Place’s Jahrell Escalera-Troncoso in the final, said he only started to believe he could win after his semifinal match.
“I wrestled a kid who I thought would be really close and I was able to dominate him, get four or five takedowns,” Haroon said. “So I knew something good could happen. And in the final, I got a lead early and then just hung on. I was so gassed at the end, then when it was over we both just laid on the mat for a while, not really wanting to get up.”
Haroon’s size and strength on the mat have been honed since middle school, when he and his brother Saad began getting into weightlifting and wrestling, along with mixed martial arts.
The Haroon boys began going to the Law MMA gym in Garden City as they got older and stronger, and Saad Haroon would eventually wrestle for Wheatley until a dislocated kneecap suffered as a sophomore halted his career (Ironically Daniel Haroon suffered the exact same injury, also in his sophomore year).
“I just always liked wrestling because it was hard, and not everyone could do it,” Daniel Haroon said. “Everyone can throw a football around or play pickup basketball. But wrestling is really hard and not for everyone.”
Despite winning the counties last season, Haroon has struggled with his confidence and his results to start this senior season. Haroon said his biggest problem has been his “gas tank.”
I really focused on getting a 400 (pound) bench press this offseason and didn’t do as much cardio as I should have,” Haroon said. “So right now I’m just getting to the second round (of matches) and not having much left.”
Miller believed that confidence is still an issue for his top grappler.
A couple of weeks ago, he was struggling, and we had to tell him, ‘Listen, you’re the county champ, and you’re getting tossed around by kids you shouldn’t be tossed around by,’” Miller said. And at the Manhasset tournament two weeks ago, he lost his first match, then tore through everyone else.
“He needs to be more aggressive and and take that fire he can wrestler with, that we know he has in him.”
While he tries to get back into top form, before heading to college to hopefully study to become an orthopedic surgeon Haroon will rely on his biggest additive superpower: chocolate milk.
Specifically, Trickling Springs chocolate milk, which Haroon said he drinks “a half gallon, sometimes a gallon” of a day.
“I know I can get back and win counties and get to states, last year I was just happy to be there,” Haroon said. “This year I really want to do better up there.”
And anyone doubting Haroon can take it up with “Ethan.”