Sachem North Wrestling Wins Copiague Tournament

Consistency is all Sachem North head wrestling coach Ray Pickersgill is asking for these days, and it seems like the youthful Arrows may have found some.

After alternating the beginning of the season between good and subpar performances, Sachem has hit its stride. After its dominating performance against League II rival Northport, and a match postponement due to weather on friday Pickersgill wasn't sure what to expect.

"Just the fact we didn't wrestle or practice on friday, I wasn't sure how this team would respond," he said, "now I'm starting to see that they're young and hungry and want to show other teams what they're made of."

Facing a field with some deep and physical teams, Sachem announced to the rest of Suffolk County that they're a team to be taken seriously after winning the team title at the Copiague Tournament Saturday, placing 14 and crowning five individual champions.

The Arrows started out of the gate on fire not losing a match for the first round and a half, and only losing 11 in the first two rounds, sending 15 wrestlers into the semi-finals.

"I felt it was important to get a good start, especially with tough teams like Patchogue- Medford, and Commack, who are also deep too," Pickersgill said. "They can match our depth, which is important in a multiple entry tournament where two wrestlers per weight count towards team scoring."

The Arrows sent nine wrestlers into the finals including Sean O'Hagan (103), Frank Napoli (119), David Johnson (125), Franky Blias (130), Nick Iannello (140), Richie Avella (145), Gio Santiago (189), Steven Mills (215), and Anthony Confessore (285). 

To further showcase Sachem's depth, a few of those wrestlers were not the usual characters, including Richie Avella, Steven Mills, and Confessore, who had not been in the finals of a varsity tournament this year.

"It just shows how some of the other guys in our line-up are just as tough as the others," said. Pickersgill.

Sachem's five champions were O'Hagan (103), Napoli (119), Blais (135), Santiago (189), and Confessore (285) all won titles, but the main achievement was winning the team title.

"It's always nice to have individuals win titles, but when the entire team takes home a trophy, that's something everyone could feel good about," said Pickersgill.

The Arrows are in action again Monday, Jan. 10 at 4 p.m. against Lindenhurst as a make-up for Friday's postponement.