Sachem East Wrestling Club Competes in New York State Freestyle and Greco Roman Championships

This past weekend, the Sachem East Wrestling Club competed in the New York Freestyle and Greco Roman Championships in Binghamton, N.Y.

The Flaming Arrows had an impressive showing, as seven wrestlers earned a total of 12 medals, with five Sachem East wrestlers qualifying for the national tournament in Fargo, N.D. this July.

"Freestyle and Greco Roman wrestling are the styles of wrestling that are wrestled in the Olympics and are slightly different than Folkstyle wrestling," said Sachem High School East wrestling coach Sean O'Hara.

Folkstyle is the style wrestled during the regular high school and college wrestling season. Both the state and national championships in freestyle and Greco Roman are contested in Cadet and Junior age groups. The Cadet division is open to wrestlers born in 1994 and 1995 only and includes mostly ninth and tenth graders.

The Junior division is open to all wrestlers enrolled in grades 9-12. The Cadet/Junior Nationals is considered the nation's premier high school wrestling tournament and is attended by the best college coaches in the country looking for prospective recruits.

Sachem East results:

* = National Qualifier

Cadet Greco:

* Billy Merone, 145 lbs. – 1st

* Zac Nobre, 215 – 1st 

* Christian Nunez, 215 – 2nd

* Anthony Pistone, 145 – 3rd

Mike Rothbaum, 119 – 5th

Conor O'Hara, 112 – 6th

Cadet Freestyle:

* Anthony Pistone, 145 – 1st

* Christian Nunez, 215 – 1st 

* Billy Merone, 145 – 2nd

* Christian Nunez, – 2nd

Junior Freestyle:

* Sean O'Malley, 152 – 1st

Junior Greco:

* Sean O'Malley, 152 – 3rd

Also competing and earning valuable experience were Tim Olsen (119)  and Tom Montanero (125).