Every January the Empire state’s top wrestling squads are invited to the Union-Endicott Duels with the champion usually earning the title of No. 1 dual meet team in New York State.
This year was no exception as one of the toughest fields in recent history descended on Binghamton, N.Y. to battle it out for the top spot in New York.
Sachem East placed second behind Wantagh after a 37-25 loss in the championship round.
The field included last year’s top three ranked teams and all 16 teams in the field were ranked in 2013’s first NYSSWA rankings. Sachem East entered the competition as the No. 2 seed, behind top ranked Wantagh, with perennial power Shenendehowa the No. 3 seed, and Section IX squad Monroe-Woodbury seeded fourth.
On Saturday, the first day of the event, the teams were placed in pools of four and competed in a round robin with the winning team advancing to Sunday’s semi final. Sachem East was in pool B with: Brockport, North Rockland, and Clarence.
In the opening round the Arrows knocked of Brockport 55-24, racking up points with pins from Conor O’Hara, Jackson Mordente, Mark Tracy, Zac Nobre, Cristian Nunez, and Josh Edmonson.
In round two they squared off against previously undefeated and Section 1’s top ranked Red Raider’s of North Rockland. Sachem East soundly defeated North Rockland 58-9 with both O’Hara and Jakob Restrepo knocking off returning state qualifiers. In round three with a trip to the semi finals on the line Sachem East had a tough go with the top ranked team from section 6, Clarence. The Arrows survived 40-24 but Heavyweight Josh Edmonson suffered a sprained ankle and it was clear Sachem East would be without him for Sunday’s championship rounds.
In the semi finals the Arrows would meet the Plainsmen from Shenendehowa HS, who were ranked nationally in pre-season polls, and have a couple of nationally ranked wrestlers on their team. Without their heavyweight Josh “The Giant” Edmonson the Arrows knew it was going to be a tough task to knock off the Plainsmen.
The meet started off at 106 pounds with sophomore Doug Iadanza earning a technical fall to get Sachem East off to a quick start. As the meet progressed Sachem and Shen would trade victories and heading in to the heavyweight bout Sachem trailed by four points.
Since Edmonson was unable to compete, the Arrows bumped up senior John Vigh from 220 pounds to 285 pounds.
“At that point, bumping up Vigh was our only chance to win the meet,” Sachem East coach Sean O’Hara said. “It’s always an obstacle to bump up a weight class and wrestle a heavier opponent, but in this case Johhny was giving up 50 pounds and was in a must win situation.”
The bout started with John securing a take down and almost a pin but the period ended. In the second period Vigh was quickly put to his back and looked like he was in trouble, but in a show of sheer determination Vigh fought off his back, escaped from his opponent, took him down and pinned him.
“It was a terrific effort by Johnny, when I saw the size difference at the start of the match I knew he would have to really dig deep,” O’hara said, “but he has so much heart, I knew he would find a way to get it done.”
The pin put East up by two points and left it all up to 99 pound sophomore Bobby Fazio. It was the last match of the meet and who ever won the match would win the meet for their team. Fazio went down early giving up a take down and later a reversal, but he battled back to tie the score at the end of the second period.
In the third period Fazio escaped and the two wrestlers were on their feet battling for what would most likely be the meet deciding take down. In thrilling fashion Bobby took his opponent to his back and pinned him to pin down a 38-30 victory for Sachem.
“It was a total team effort, and a tremendous effort by Fazio who rose to the occasion and showed great poise and composure,” O’Hara said.
The victory propelled the Arrows to a show down with top ranked Wantagh for the championship. The final meet was again filled with excitement, but in the end it was Wantagh who was able to come away with a tight 35-27 victory. The loss was the Arrows first in nearly two years and snapped a 32-match win streak for Sachem East.
“It was certainly a disappointing loss, but I couldn’t be prouder of the team,” said O’Hara. “Every one wrestled their hearts out. The level of competition was outstanding as we wrestled some of the best teams in the state.
“Our job now is continue to train to improve for our upcoming league meets, and ultimately the post season tournaments. That is the task at hand and we will focus on preparing for that.”
Notes from the weekend:
- Conor O’Hara, and Mike Pistone finished a perfect 5-0 on the weekend.
- Doug Iadanza, Jackson Mordente, Mark Tracy, Zac Nobre, and Cristian Nunez all went 4-1.
- The loss to Wantagh was Sachem East’s first since 2011 and snapped a 32 match win streak.
Sachem North takes 2nd at Ironman
Sachem North took second at the Ironman Tournament at Monsignor Farrell over the weekend.
Anthony Nunziata, Gio Santiago, and Anthony DiMatteo were champions during the meet. Santiago was named Most Outstanding Wrestler.
Sachem East is in action again on Friday, Jan. 11 in a dual meet against Commack, while Sachem North will travel to Central Islip for a dual meet on Wednesday, Jan. 9.
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro