Sachem East Crowns 5 Champs at North Tourney

A week after winning the Rocky Gilmore Tournament and a day after winning an impressive dual meet against William Floyd, the Sachem East wrestling team turned in another impressive tournament performance, this time at their sister school, Sachem North.

The Arrows led all other teams with five champions and nine finalists at the Sachem North Invitational Saturday. Sachem North had two champions, Sean O'Hagan at 103 pounds and Anthony Confessore at 285 pounds.

Bellport's Eddie Carson, wrestling at 140, was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestling.

Taking home gold for Sachem East were Conor O’Hara (112), Tyler Monsees (119), Sean O’Malley (145), Rob Seder (152), and Frank Merante (171). O’Hara turned in a nice performance, winning the tournament without surrendering a point. Monsees came from the fourth seed to win the 119-pound title. O’Malley won his second consecutive tournament title defeating Islip’s Ron Freudenburg, 15-4, in the finals. O’Malley now has 125 career victories, the most in school history.

Seder looked sharp winning the 152-pound crown. Merante was dominant at 171 pinning all of his opponents in the first period.

Four Sachem East wrestlers advanced to the finals, but dropped their last match to finish second. Eigth grader Doug Iadanza finished second at 96 pounds. Freshman Anthony Messina lost to his teammate, Monsees, to take the silver at 119. Sophomore Jax Mordente dropped a close 3-2 deciscion in the 130-pound final, and junior Billy Merone earned runner-up honors at 135.

The Pistone brothers both earned Bronze medals, with Michael finishing third at 135, and Anthony placing third at 140.

East seems to be gaining momentum with each competition as the Red and Gold mat men took down on Thursday night, then Floyd Friday, and looked solid on Saturday at Sachem North.

Sachem North looked like it had continued to ascend on Saturday, it seemed like business as usual for this team comprised mostly of freshmen and sophomores, and then inexperince and fatigue caught up with them. 

Sachem North sent 17 wrestlers into the semi-finals and then a combination of a hectic week and more seasoned opponents caught up with them.  Of the 17, only O'Hagan (103), Gio Santiago (189), and Confessore (285) managed to win the matches necessary to get to the finals. 

In the finals, North crowned two champions in O'Hagan who defeated Islip's Bradley Wade, 10-5, and Confessore who defeated Bellport's Henri Velazquez with a pin at the 6:47 mark in overtime.  

In the third place consolation match the Arrows won six of the 14 matches including three weights where they were matched up against teammates. Among those wrestlers, Alec Ross (112), Matt Marino (125), Franky Blais (130), James Schreck (152), Anthony Marino (171), and Mike McCarthy (215) came back to rebound off of tough semi-final losses to take 3rd. 

"Alec Ross, just seems to be getting better every time out, he was injured early and had to sit out two weeks after a knee injury, but now all the hard work he put in in the off season is starting to pay off," said Sachem North head coach Ray Pickersgill.  

Another Arrows grappler who looked tough was 130-pounder Franky Blais who shook off 6-2 loss to Miller Place's Chris Aschauer to defeat North Babylon League Champion Brian Belmont 3-2. 

"What can I say about Franky except that he continues to improve, he never stops wrestling, and when you wrestle your hardest til the match is over, good things are going to happen, he has become one of our more exciting wrestlers to watch," said Pickersgill.   

In the finals, O'Hagan continued to impress.

"He had a tough match in Wade, and he made it look effortless, he's the type of wrestler that quietly kills you," said Pickersgill. "You think you're in the match and then you look at the scoreboard and he's beating you by 10, he's incredibly poised for a freshman."   

Confessore continued to use his superior conditioning to outlast his bigger heavywieght opponents.

"He's in great shape for a big guy, he's always staying after for extra sprints, and wrestles hard in practice everyday, and its really beginning to pay off for him," said assistant coach John Aebly. 

Overall the Arrows placed 19 wrestlers in the tournament that does have some stiff competition.

"Anytime you match up against Islip or North Babylon, you're going to get tough kids, and Sachem East is tough and well coached, a difficult combination for anyone, of course you want better, but I'll take our performance any day," Pickersgill said. "The boys wrestled tough, and they're so young. In a year, we're going to be the team dominating others."

The Arrows are in action next for Sachem Alumni Night where legendary coach Jack Mahoney will be honored with his National Wrestling Hall of Fame plaque for the school and the wrestling room at North will be dedicated in his honor. 

In total Sachem East had 17 place winners Saturday, while North had 19: 

Champion:

• SN Sean O'Hagan, 103
• SE Conor O’Hara, 112
• SE Tyler Monsees, 119
• SE Sean O’Malley, 145
• SE Rob Seder, 152
• SE Frank Merante, 171
• SN Anthony Confessore, 285

Second Place:

• SE Doug Iadanza, 96
• SE Anthony Messina, 119
• SE Jax Mordente, 130
• SE Billy Merone, 135
• SN Gio Santiago, 189

Third Place:

• SN Alec Ross, 112
• SN Matt Marino, 125
• SN Frank Blais, 130
• SE Mike Pistone, 135
• SE Anthony Pistone, 140
• SN James Schreck, 152
• SN Vin Provenzao, 160
• SN Anthony Marino, 171
• SN Mike McCarthy, 215

Fourth Place:

• SN Matt Stallone, 96
• SN Frank Napoli, 119
• SN David Johnson, 125
• SN Mike Falcon, 135
• SN Vin Fragale, 160
• SN Chris Schulz, 189
• SN Steven Mills, 215
• SN Vin Juliano, 285

Fifth Place:

• SN Jimmy Sanzone, 130
• SE Mark Traecy, 140
• SN Tyler Itzkowitz, 145
• SE Zac Nobre, 160
• SE Mike Marchello, 215
• SN Matt Cosgrove, 285

Sixth Place:

• SE Conor Dillon, 119
• SE AJ Solomito, 152