East Meadow makes progress

As new coach Chris Edmond settles into the wrestling room with East Meadow, he’s had a smooth transition thanks to the help of his returning assistants and a well-rounded group of hard-working wrestlers.

In fact, the Jets have already turned in some impressive performances during the early season tournaments. They captured fifth place out of nine teams at the Bellmore’s annual Sprig-Gardner tournament Dec. 13-14 led by senior Adam Smith, an All-County returnee, taking home the individual championship at 132 pounds with a 7-4 decision over Hewlett’s Owen Bachelder in the finals.

“He controlled the match from start to finish,” Edmond said of Smith. “His shots were right on the money.”

Smith, who captured an individual title at 126 pounds on Dec. 7, at the Battle at the Beach at Long Beach (the Jets as a team finished seventh out of 19), took a technical approach in his win over Bachelder, scoring on takedowns and even turning the Bulldog for two points. “It was two very good wrestlers who went at it,” Edmond said.

Senior Chris Santos also advanced to the finals at the Sprig Gardner, taking second place after an 8-3 defeat to Hamza Ramza of Lawrence. Brandon Cohen, a senior and team leader along with Smith, took third place at 138 pounds, while sophomore Joseph Gangi was sixth in the same weight class. “[Brandon] and [Adam] are two natural born leaders and do a tremendous job as drivers of the ship,” Edmond said.

Of all East Meadow’s strong performances, sophomore Mike Choi’s ranks near the top of the list. Unseeded entering the tournament, he knocked off the No. 1 seed in the 126-pound bracket, Tom Strobe of Clarke, not once, but twice by scores of 9-0 and 7-0. “He did a lot of things that we drill over and over and I loved seeing it,” Edmond said of Choi’s execution.