Jets land 12 in county tourney

A dozen East Meadow wrestlers advanced to this weekend’s Nassau County Division I Championships at Hofstra, including a pair of seniors and a junior who captured individual titles at last Saturday’s qualifying tournament held at Long Beach.

Seniors Chris Dolan (130 pounds) and Andrew Danziger (215) and junior Evan Pantofel (160) all lived to the advanced billing as top seeds in their respective weight classes. As a team, the Jets finished second in the field with 254.5 points, behind the Marines, who outdistanced everyone with 421.5 points.

Dolan pinned Lynbrook’s Brandon Warshal at the 5:23 mark of the championship round, capping a day that also included two other victories. Pantofel, meanwhile, squeaked by Glen Cove’s Alexi Bogdonovich with a 7-5 victory in the finals.

Danziger leads East Meadow with 34 victories, and earlier this season became the 11th wrestler in the program’s history to top 100 wins in a career. His latest, No. 109, was a pin of Lynbrook’s Jon Espinosa at the 2:22 mark of the finals. “He doesn’t get excited,” Jets coach Chris Critchley said of Danziger’s impressive win totals. “It’s just another step towards a goal, and he never underplays an [opponent].”

Sophomore Matt Power was East Meadow’s fourth finalist and gave Long Beach’s Oral Allen his best match of the night. Though Power lost via pin at the 5:47 mark, he lasted far longer than any of the Marines’ junior other opponents. Allen’s first three opponents were pinned in a combined 1:29. “He’s a very strong technical wrestler who’s comfortable on the mat” Critchley said of Power, seeded second in the weight class for the tournament. “He has a great sense of awareness with great hips.”

Six Jets captured third place with victories in their final bout, including freshman Brandon Cohen (96 pounds), senior Sal Vallone (103), junior Vinny Pannullo (112), sophomore Michael Tropiano (140), junior Nolan Travis (145) and senior Christian Parisi (189). Though sophomore Frank Clarke was pinned by Vallone at the 2:37 mark in the battle for third at 103 pounds, Clarke’s impressive run to Hofstra included a victory over Mepham’s Jamie Dunn, an All-County performer last season. “He went after him early and put him on his back several times,” Critchley said.

Senior Phil Correale took fourth at 130 pounds, while senior Joe Bover is hoping to earn a wild-card berth at 171 pounds based on his overall performance this season.