| LONG ISLAND CHALLENGE |
| LONG ISLAND CHALLENGE DUALS By Jim & Tony Nordland Sachem East (14-1) dominated through the early rounds of the LI Challenge Duals held at MacArthur HS. The Flaming Arrows defeated Islip 52-6 in the first round and showed their balanced line-up with 41-12 victory over Sayville. In the Sayville match, they were led by the Merante brothers; Mike (160) and Frank (171), along with potential county champion Chris DiIorio, who converted a cradle into a headlock and flattened his opponent at the 2:36 mark in the 189-pound bout. Other standouts for the Sachem squad were Mark Florian (103), Dom Messina (125) and highly-regarded Sean O'Malley, who posted a major decision at 135 pounds. Sayville opened the dual with an exciting victory by junior Steven Leshinger, as he used a first period headlock and outlasted his foe, 11-9, at 140 pounds. At 152, the Golden Flashes' Josef Haas used three double leg takedowns and a key second period half nelson en route to a 10-6 decision over Mike Schruhl to give his team a short-lived 6-4 lead. Sachem East 41 Sayville 12 103- Mark Florian (Sach) dec. Matt Leshinger, 5-3. 112- Jackson Mordante (Sach) dec. Chris Siracusa, 5-1. 119- Nikin Kochath (Sach) dec. Mike Payne, 9-8. 125- Dom Messina (Sach) dec. Justin Bonamico, 6-5. 130- Tom Matthews (Sach) won by forfeit. 135- Sean O'Malley (Sach) major dec. Zach Cone, 8-0. 140- Steve Leshinger (Say) dec. Billy Merone, 11-9. 145- Rob Seder (Sach) major dec. Dan Caliendo, 13-3, 152- Josef Haas (Say) dec. Mike Schruhl, 10-6. 160- Mike Merante (Sach) dec.Rich Millwater, 2-1. 171- Frank Merante (Sach) pinned John Albergo, 1:42. 189- Chris DiIorio (Sach) pinned Dakota Yonick, 2:36. 215- Christian Nelson (Say) won by forfeit Brentwood posted wins over Garden City, 43-18, and perennial Nassau power MacArthur, 36-13. In the MacArthur dual, the Indians were paced by their lightweight corps; Eric Orellana, who used his cradle to edge Kevin Herold, 9-7, at 103, David Chaverra (112) and Suffolk finalist junior Alex Gomex who posted a solid 8-1 verdict at 119. In the most exciting bout of the dual, Brentwood's Steven Rojas escaped in the second overtime period to defeat MacArthur's Adam Troy, 3-2, at 135 pounds. Troy (a Walt Whitman transfer) finished fifth at the 2009 state meet. The host Generals had solid performances turned in by all-county performer Tyler Dunne (152), Joe Giametta with an 11-2 major decision at 171 and Nick Marrero at 189 pounds. Brentwood 36 MacArthur 13 96- Justin Cooksey (Mac) major dec. Michael Cardona, 9-0. 103- Eric Orellana (Brent) dec. Kevin Herold, 9-7. 112- David Chaverra (Brent) pinned John Funes, 5:50. 119- Alex Gomez (Brent) dec. Mike Palermo, 8-1. 125- Humberto Garcia (Brent) dec. Bob Bennett, 6-3. 130- Alexis Blanco (Brent) dec. Angelo Rella, 7-4. 135- Steven Rojas (Brent) dec.Adam Troy, 3-2 double overtime. 140- Jonathan Falconi (Brent) dec. Tom Malinowski, 2-1. 145- Julian Joseph (Brent) pinned Joe Cataldo, 1:58. 152- Tyler Dunne (Mac) dec. Stephen Marino, 6-2. 160- Eric Anderson (Mac) dec. Miguel Romero, 3-1. 171- Joe Giametta (Mac) major dec. Jared Hudson, 11-2. 189- Nick Marrero (Mac) dec. Jean Stevenson, 8-1. 215- Carlos Hernandez (Brent) won by forfeit. Mat Notes... In other matches, Sachem East defeated MacArthur (32-19) and Garden City (54-12). Sayville overtook Garden City, 42-24, MacArthur defeated Sayville, 34-24 and Garden City outlasted Islip, 39-26. Garden City points to key returnees, 8th-grader Dan Jones (103), Mike Lofrese (119), county place-winner freshman Matt Schmelzinger (135) and defending Nassau champion unbeaten Conor Horl (13-0) at 215 pounds. In the GC-Islip dual, Horl scored with a single leg counter takedown over Islip's Steve Provenzano, to eke out an exciting 5-3 victory. Islip was led Dan Gregg (125) and top-ranked Kyle Wade at 152 pounds... |
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| Sachem East's Chris DiIorio works his headlock to a fall in the 189 pound bout. Click here for more photos. |
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| Brentwood's Steven Rojas was able to ride out MacArthur's Adam Troy to win 3-2 in overtime at 135 pounds. |