Sachem East Wins Long Island Challenge [Photos]

Sachem East wrestling dominated the Long Island Challenge Tuesday and Wednesday, going 6-0 in the two-day dual-meet tournament that the Arrows hosted.

Mike Rothbaum, Jakob Restrepo, Anthony Messina, Billy Merone, Christian Nunez and Conor O’Hara all went undefeated in their matches. Sachem is now 10-0 to open the 2011-12 season.

On the first day, the Arrows picked up victories against Half Hallow Hills West, Brentwood and Kellenberg. On day two, they beat Clarkstown South, Garden City and MacArthur.

Brentwood, ranked No. 18 in New York, was arguably the toughest opponent Sachem had to face in the two-day stretch. The 41-23 score, however, tells a different story.

“They’re a real hard nose team and they're always scrappy,” said Sachem coach Sean O’Hara. “It was a good win and should build a little bit of confidence in our guys.”

Anthony Pistone opened up the match with a big 7-4 win over Carlos Toribio at 160 pounds. That set the tone and Sachem finished strong as well, winning five of the last six matches.

On Wednesday, Sachem finished the day with a win over MacArthur, who is ranked No. 16 in the state.

Aside from the Sachem grapplers who went undefeated in the two-day stretch, others had a good outing as well, including Jackson Mordente, who only dropped one bout and Josh Edmondson, who performed well at his 285-pound spot.

“There was some tough competition here,” O’Hara said. “We won the close ones, got a couple of pins and didn’t give up in getting big points.”

As of last week, Sachem East was ranked No. 7 in New York, the highest ranking in program history. The Arrows are in action again Friday, January 6 in a dual meet at home against Central Islip.

Dual Meet Results

• 1. Sachem 54, Hills West 19
• 2. Sachem 41, Brentwood 23
• 3. Bye
• 4. Sachem 53, Kellenberg 24
• 5. Sachem 68, Clarkstown South 10
• 6. Sachem 66, Garden City 18
• 7. Sachem 56, MacArthur 19