By STEVE SINISKI
Ask a simple question, get a simple answer.
East Meadow left little doubt it is currently the best team on the mats, running away with the Dual Meet Championship last Saturday at Clarke high school. The Jets defeated Bellmore-JFK in the finals, 47-9, putting an exclamation mark on two days of wrestling that saw them blowout Long Beach (42-17), Lawrence (42-15), six-time defending champion MacArthur (44-9) and finally, the Cougars.
³We knew we had a talented team,² coach Tom Reynolds said. ³But we weren¹t sure how [strong it was] until this weekend.²
The title is the Jets first in the competition since 2000, and they finished the dual season with more wins (20) than any other team on Long Island. Of their four losses, a pair came to the No. 2 (Islip) and No. 3 (Fulton) teams in New York state. The other two were against competition from Pennsylvania and Florida when the team traveled to Orlando in December.
³All the losses were to quality teams and just made us better and prepared us for the post season as we hoped it would,² Reynolds said.
The Jets captured victories in 11 of the 13 weight classes against Bellmore JFK, including five by pinfall and four by decisions of at least seven points. But the more impressive team win had to be in the semifinals against the Generals. Enjoying a run of dominance in the county few programs in recent memory have been able to attain, MacArthur was beaten in all but two of the weight classes, giving East Meadow an astounding 22-4 mark in the final two rounds, although Reynolds is quick to point out that a number of the bouts were close on the scoreboard, giving him some cause for concern. Of those 11 wins, four were by decisions of four points or fewer, two were technical falls in the third period and another ended with less than 30 seconds remaining due to a MacArthur injury.
³We¹re extremely balanced in every single weight class,² Reynolds said. ³The preparation started at the end of last season and [continues today]. It was an absolute real team effort.²
Picking a single star from the dominating performances is an impossible task. And once the smoke had cleared, seven Jets had put together undefeated runs of at least three victories. Jimmy Pannullo (103-pound weight class), Jimmy Mustakis (125), Tom Rispoli (135) and Dan Germann (152) all had perfect 4-0 marks. Cory Krimmer (112), Rob Mancino (119) and Dan O¹Leary (140) had unblemished 3-0 records. And where some teams were forced to juggle their lineups to arrange favorable matchups, East Meadow didn¹t have to do much in the way of tinkering.
³With the depth we have the lineup is set,² Reynolds said. ³Teams are more likely to adjust against us.²
With the accomplishment of a major team goal now a reality, the focus turns to individual performances this Saturday at Wantagh, where the Jets will be battling it out in the Nassau County Qualifying Championships beginning at 9:30 a.m. The top six wrestlers from each weight class at each of the six qualifying sites advances to the Nassau County Championships on Feb. 17 to 18 at C.W. Post. And judging by the way East Meadow has been backed by its fans, opponents can expect another large contingent of Jets backers in the stands.
³The support we¹ve received from the parents and the community [has been great],² Reynolds said. ³It¹s been a real pleasure to be associated with [the program].²
