Four Jets earn All-County honors

East Meadow took another step forward on the mats, as four wrestlers earned All-County honors at last weekend's Nassau Division I wrestling championships at Hofstra. The Jets finished ninth as a team among the field of 45 thanks in large part to the efforts of seniors Nick Falco (119 pounds) and Rocco Calderaro (171) and juniors Steve Rispoli (130) and Andrew Danziger (215).

Calderaro was East Meadow's highest finisher, taking second. He dropped a 12-2 major decision to Wantagh's Joe Kavanagh in the finals after steamrolling his way to the title-round berth with an 11-2 victory over Syosset's Guy Macchia in the semifinals.

"He had a takedown and threw him to his back for an early four-point lead," Jets coach Chris Critchley said of Calderaro's strong start in the semifinals. "[The early lead] forces the other guy to open up more and take more risk with [his] shots. And that leads to bad shots."

Falco atoned for a pair of crushing defeats at the county tournament as a sophomore and junior by taking fourth place. Calhoun's Anthony Abidin literally hung on for a 7-6 victory over Falco in the semifinals, fighting back from a 6-4 deficit in the third period. He managed to hold on to the East Meadow senior's ankle on an attempted reversal in the closing seconds that would have swung the outcome in Falco's favor. "It looked like a reversal but Abidin still had Falco's ankle," Critchley said. "That little bit maintained the position."

Falco rebounded for a 5-0 victory in the wrestlebacks before Division's John Pellegrino won the battle for third with a 3-1 decision.

Rispoli capped an impressive run through the 130-pound weight class by knocking off top-seeded Vincent Andriotti of Farmingdale, 8-3, in the match for third place. The two had squared off earlier in the tournament with Andriotti coming out on top, 4-0. For Rispoli, his final victory was an exclamation point on a two-day showing in which he also avenged a pin earlier in the season to Uniondale's Derrick Whitlock with a 3-1 victory.

Danziger opened the tournament with consecutive pins in a combined time of just 3:09, but dropped a 4-2 decision to the eventual 215-pound champion, Plainedge's David Ng, in the semifinals. Danziger rebounded to outlast Wantagh's Tom Hall, 2-1 in overtime in the wrestlebacks with all the scoring taking place on escapes, but dropped a 4-2 decision to Syosset's Steven Graziano in the All-County round and finished fourth.

Eight of the 12 East Meadow wrestlers who qualified for the championships will return next season, including junior Rob Bianco, the team's most improved performer. He gave up a takedown just 14 seconds shy of qualifying for All-County honors. "He showed a lot of toughness," Critchley said. "It's just a shame he couldn't stop the shot at the end."