Sachem East Kid Wrestling Program Captures Multiple State Titles

Sachem East capped it’s youth wrestling season this past weekend at the New York State Folkstyle Kid Wrestling Championships held at Bay Shore High School.  

East qualified wrestlers in all four age divisions and turned in some great performances. 

Leading the way as a state champion was Schoolboy 175-pound champion Connor Farrell, who dominated his weight class and pinned his way to the title. 

Joining Farrell as a state champion was Bantam 40-pound grappler Jared Weinhaus, who pulled off a last second two-point  reversal for a thrilling win in what turned out to be the deciding match against a tough Section I wrestler. 

Second-year wrestler and all around sports standout Brody Brown followed up his Super Bowl Championship this fall by wrapping up his first state championship on Sunday after taking second in the county championships in February. 

Joining the champs as all-state wrestlers were Bantam 65-pound wrestler Nicholas Dadabo, who placed third and beat two others previously lost to in the county championship; Intermediate 65-pounder Sam Matlat, who took fifth in one of the toughest weight classes of the tournament. He is now a two-time all-state wrestler after placing in 2009.

Wrapping up the Intermediate group was Sawyer Davis at 87 pounds, who had a thrilling run to the medal round that included one overtime victory and one heart-breaking overtime loss. 

The standout moment during Sunday's Bantam tournament was when Weinhaus, a first grader, was wrestling his last match and going for the gold, his fellow bantam teammates stood on the sidelines rooting for him along with other parents and coaches.  They were then joined by most of the middle school team who rooted for him and welcomed him with high fives when he won his match. It was a great show of team spirit and a great sign for the future of Sachem East wrestling.  

The middle school wrestlers were in the midst of their tournament but took the time to root for and welcome the Bantam kids along.

Following the Bantams the schoolboy division led all Sachem East divisions with all-state wrestlers.

Joining Farrell was Austin Serra (136 pounds), who lost a close quarterfinal match to the eventual champion and dominated his way back to third place with four straight victories. 

Patrick Castiglione, wrestling at 144 pounds, knocked off some highly ranked wrestlers on his run to the semifinal round and all-state finish. 

At 210, Robert Wallace III followed up his county championship performance with a third place and all-state finish.

Sean Dee placed in Schoolboy at 175.

These results would not have been possible if the program had not fared so well at the Suffolk County Kid Wrestling Championship held at Rocky Point High School in mid-February.

The program entered 33 wrestlers across four age divisions and qualified a school record 20 wrestlers for state championships.

The Bantam division (first and second grade) was led by Weinhaus, Trey McGowen, Justin McFaul, Nick Dadabo and Brody Brown.  

Joining the Bantam division with five qualifiers in the Intermediate divsion (third and fourth grade) were Matlat, Hunter Hughes, Craig Ash, Brendan Glasser, and Sawyer Davis.

The always tough Novice division (fifth and sixth grade) qualified two East wrestlers with Sal Russo and Anthony Locascio.

Leading the way for the Sachem East, the Schoolboy division (seventh and eighth grade) sent 15 wrestlers to the counties and qualified a school best eight wrestlers for the state championship.