Oceanside pro wrestler raises money for fallen hero by taking cancer to the mat in Baldwin

We built a ring in his uncle’s backyard, and we used to camp out and wait for tickets.”

Sean Wachter helping others

Arm bars, suplexes and figure-four leg locks were on full display at the Michael Fischer Memorial Fundraiser, a professional wrestling event at American Legion Post 246 in Baldwin last Saturday.

The event was created with the help of Oceanside resident Sean Wachter to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the fight against cancer, and as a tribute to Wachter’s friend Fischer, 38, a member of the Island Park Fire Department who lost his life last summer in a line-of-duty death.

Fischer, who was known as Fish, suffered cardiac arrest at Peter’s Clam House, in Island Park, while helping his fellow firefighters raise money for Oceanside Fire Commissioner Michael Graham’s cancer-stricken son, Cooper, during the restaurant’s annual clam-eating contest. He was the first Island Park firefighter to die in the line of duty.

Fischer, who was born and raised in Island Park, joined the department in 2013. He served as a captain from 2019 to 2020, and shortly after his death, he was posthumously promoted to honorary chief.

Last Saturday’s event featured wrestlers from the ECPW Wrestling Academy, in Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey; Create A Pro Wrestling, in Hicksville; and New York Wrestling Connection, in Deer Park. Nearly 300 people attended, and as of press time, over $7,000 had been raised for St. Jude.

Featured matches included Robbie Rebel, who defeated Marc Static to defend his East Cost Professional Wrestling Long Island Championship.

Adam “The Big O” Ohreiner defeated “Bad” Brad Benson to retain his New York Wrestling Connection Championship, and in a reunion of the “pRo” tag team, Wachter (ring name Sean Wokter) joined forces with his childhood friend Adam Baker, as they clinched the vacant East Coast Professional Wrestling Tag Team Championships by defeating “The Wild Boyz,” Papa Clout and Tristian Kyle, with Will Strausman.

Prince Akkanatan won the first-ever Captain Michael Fischer Memorial Battle Royal, and was awarded a championship belt featuring Fischer to commemorate his victory.

Along with raffles and food trucks, the event also included a performance by local musician Matt Casecaella.

Wachter, 38, a strategic account executive for GIG USA, a global marketing firm, was born in Baldwin and grew up in Rockville Centre. He was a collegiate lacrosse and football player at Alfred State College, and afterward coached high school football, lacrosse and wrestling in the Baldwin and Long Beach school districts. He also had a stint as an outside linebacker in the now-defunct Arena Football League in 2008.

But Wachter’s true love was always professional wrestling. When they were young, he and Baker decided that wrestling was for them.

“I grew up and it was one of those textbook stories,” Wachter said. “We built a ring in his uncle’s backyard, and we used to camp out and wait for tickets. It was something special for me.”

Wachter had trained to become a professional wrestler, and when the Arena Football League went defunct, he tried out for WWE, but a severe neck injury, which he had suffered in an accident, derailed his dreams of becoming a pro wrestler.

This marks the third consecutive year that Wachter, along with wrestling veteran Gino Caruso, organized a wrestling fundraiser at Post 246. This is also the second year Wachter had wrestled at the fundraiser: He hosted Fight Wachter Fight last summer for Memorial Sloan Kettering Kids at the post, which raised $5,000.

Proceeds from this year’s event were donated to St. Jude in Fischer’s memory. The event was especially important to Wachter not only because of his friendship with Fischer but also because he is a cancer survivor himself. Wachter was diagnosed with rare Stage 4 melanoma with leptomeningeal enhancement, which he battled for seven years before receiving a clean DNA scan last summer. According to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, his was the only documented reversal of his type of cancer, which has a life expectancy of 12 weeks after diagnosis. His triumph propelled him back into the ring in celebration last year.

“I had gotten so sick, and I wasn’t supposed to be here,” Wachter said. “When I got cleared, I said I was going to throw a party, and wrestling was going to be a part of it. I got a wiggle room of clearance from my doctor, which I never thought I’d get, to go ahead and wrestle again.

Wachter’s father, John Wachter, a retired sergeant in the Nassau County Police Department, has managed the Baldwin American Legion since 1985, and to earn extra money, his son worked on Friday nights as a bartender. Once Fischer started coming down to the American Legion, the two formed a strong friendship, and it was Fisher who suggested that Wachter return to the ring and wrestle as a part of the fundraising event once he was cleared.

“He said, ‘It would be cool if I wrestled at the event,’” Wachter said, adding of Fischer, “Sweetest human being you could ever meet. It was his idea and he passed away right before it happened.”

The Fight Wachter Fight for MSK Kids event took place last Aug. 27, about two weeks after Fischer died. Since the event was well received last year, with hundreds in attendance, Wachter was asked to put on another show this year, which he dedicated to Fischer.

“When they asked this year to do it, I said most certainly,” Wachter said. “This is so near and dear to me. With Captain Fischer passing and him being a friend of mine, I had beat my cancer, so I thought, let’s not have the story be about cancer, let’s have it be about his memory and raising money, especially for the poor children on the receiving end of this.”