Sachem East wrestling wins team county title

Sachem East celebrates its team championship.

For the first time since 1992, a Sachem wrestling program has won a team county championship.

Sachem East captured the honor Wednesday night at the Doc Fallot Section XI wrestling tournament after recording 156 points, finishing ahead of East Islip, who was the runner-up with 138.

The Arrows achieved this with just one wrestler in the finals. It was a strong consolation bracket run in wrestle backs that kept them alive and atop the standings on the second day of the tournament.

On Tuesday during the semifinals, Sachem East saw six of its seven wrestlers lose and land in the consolation bracket, which meant they all had to fight for a third place finish to preserve the most amount of points and stay ahead of East Islip, who also had six kids still alive in the tournament after the first day.

East manufactured wins in five of its six first round wrestle back matches and 11 of 12 in total on Wednesday. Jackson Mordente placed the highest of any wrestler after losing in the 145-pound final to Connetquot’s Brendan Dent.

“These guys bounced back from the adversity of the day before,” Sachem East coach Sean O’Hara said. “They’re a special group of kids. They always give everything they have.”

O’Hara knows what it’s like to be a part of a championship team with a talented and passionate group of kids. He was on Sachem’s 1992 county title winning squad. That team was a bit different, however, bringing a heavy punch with four county champions, seven finalists and 10 all-county wrestlers.

“There is a lot of competition in this tournament,” he said. “There are almost 50 teams in this tournament. Suffolk County has great wrestling. It’s just an all out war. You have to beat everybody and it’s not easy to do. It’s a special group of kids and I couldn’t be prouder.”

Tournament notes

Mark West from Hauppauge, wrestling at 126 pounds, was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler and Champion of Champions.
Mike Hughes from Smithtown West recorded the most pins in the least amount of time: four in 2:23.
Wrestlers will find out Friday who were named as wild card selections to the New York State tournament. That will take place in Albany in two weeks.
Conor O’Hara has 151 career victories, the most of any wrestler to ever step on a mat in Sachem – either high school. He placed third at 132 pounds.

Team standings

Sachem East, 156 points
East Islip, 138
Rocky Point, 118
Brentwood, 111
Huntington, 96.5
Hauppauge, 95.5
Islip, 94.5
Hills West, 89.5
William Floyd, 89
Commack, 88
Eastport-South Manor, 81.5
Sachem North, 80

Championship Finals

99 – John Arceri (Huntington) dec. John Busiello (Eastport-South Manor) 9-3
106 – Alex Tanzman (Westhapton Beach) pinned Steven Lee (West Babylon) 4:56
113 – Nick Piccininni (Ward Melville) TF Mat Bradice (William Floyd) 15-0
120 – Travis Passaro (Eastport-South Manor) dec. Mike Dangelo (Commack) 9-7
126 – Mark West (Hauppauge) dec. Jimmy Leach (Eastport-South Manor) 5-2
132 – Matt leshinger (Sayville) dec. Chris Mauiello (Hauppauge) 7-3
138 – Tommy Dutton (Rocky Point) dec. Tom Venier (Kings Park) 5-2
145 – Brendan Dent (Connetquot) dec. Jackson Mordente (Sachem East) 3-1
152 – Corey Rasheed (Longwood) pinned Erik Adon (East Islip) 1:50
160 – Tyler Grimaldi (Half Hollow Hills West) dec. Kevin Rodriguez (Patchogue-Medford) 7-2
170 – Carlos Toribio (Brentwood) dec. Joe Piccolo (Half Hollow Hills West) 10-5
182 – Gio Santiago (Sachem North) dec. Dan Fiorvanti (Commack) 8-1
195 – Chris Chambers (East Islip) pinned Nick Weber (Kings Park) 2:32
220 – Nicholas Lupi (Huntington) dec. Steven Mills (Sachem North) 3-2
285 – Mike Hughes (Smithtown West) pinned Anthony Puca (Huntington) 0:34

Consolation Finals 3^rd/4^th

99 – Jesse Dellavecchia (East Islip) dec. Zach Ancewicz (John Glenn) 6-0
106 – Kyle Scully (Newfield) dec. Danny Murray (Brentwood) 4-3
113 – Joe Calderone (Walt Whitman) dec. Tyler Walsh (West Islip) 5-0
120 – Steven Bulzomi (Connetquot) dec. Austin Munro (Hauppauge) 3-1
126 – TJ Fabian (Shoreham-Wading River) dec. Corey Jamison (Huntington) 2-0
132 – Conor O’Hara (Sachem East) pinned James Matias (Rocky Point) 3:56
138 – Chris Powers (Mt. Sinai) dec. Jakob Restrepo (Sachem East) 6-3
145 – Dennis Ferro (East Islip) def. Brandon Aviles (Newfield) by DQ
152 – Michael Pistone (Sachem East) dec. Connor O’Gallagher (Rocky Point) 7-4
160 – Mark Tracy (Sachem East) dec. Joe Russo (Rocky Point) 8-2
170 – Dan Palminteri (William Floyd) md. Matt Guerrisi (Rocky Point) 9-0
182 – Jager Rebozo (Half Hollow Hills West) pinned Don Pirraglia (Shoreham-Wading River) 1:35
195 – Cristian Nunez (Sachem East) dec. Dave Hamil (Deer Park) 9-3
220 – John Vigh (Sachem East) md. Vin Feola (Walt Whitman) 9-1
285 – Dan Hayden (East Islip) dec. Edwin Rubio (John Glenn) 6-3

Consolation Fianls 5^th/6^th

99 – Bobby Pease (Patchogue-Medford) dec. Mike Ludwig (Northport) 2-1
106 – James Szymanski (Shoreham-Wading River) def. Anthony Donofrio (Longwood) by FFT
113 – Tim Johnson (Harborfields) dec. Matt Haag (Islip) 1-0
120 – Chris Reilly (Half Hollow Hills West) dec. Narc Sanchez (Central Islip) 6-4
126 – BJ Jackson (Brentwood) def. Brad Wade (Islip) by FFT
132 – Sean O’Hagan (Sachem North) def. Marc Gonzalez (Brentwood) by Dflt
138 – Greg Chery (Connetquot) dec. CJ Labate (Commack) 4-1 TB
145 – Zach Lugo (Deer Park) pinned Mark Milo (Commack) 4:11
152 – Michael Falcon (Sachem North) dec. Andrew Werther (Islip) 7-4
160 – Zak Smalls (East Islip) dec. Nick Mastro (Connetquot) 3-2
170 – Maleik Henry (Half Hollow Hills East) dec. Kevin Figueroa (Walt Whitman) 13-8
182 – Jake Horton (Patchogue-Medford) dec. Xavier Craig (Islip) 5-2
195 – Craig Hinrichs (Islip) dec. Dominick Holder (Hauppauge) 5-4
220 – Brian Gerle (William Floyd) dec. Ryan Hughes (Islip) 4-3
285 – Dave Rodriguez (Brentwood) dec. Noah Ruch (William Floyd) 4-2

RELATED: INDIVIDUAL TOURNEY RECAPS

BRACKET: Check out the complete tournament bracket

PHOTOS: See images from the entire Section XI wrestling tournament

-Words and photos by Chris R. Vaccaro