By STEVE SINISKI
The two victories helped East Meadow secure the No. 3 seed in this weekend's county Dual Meet Tournament, the first day of which-Friday-it will host.
Though the Jets ended the regular season tied with both Syosset and Farmingdale at 9-4 in Conference I-A meets, they took home the higher seed based on criteria.
"We weren't wrestling to our potential," coach Chris Critchley said of an 0-3 start to the dual meet season. "Just [changing] the mindset helped after five straight tournaments. Things are clicking a little bit [now]."
In the preliminaries, scheduled to start at 5 p.m., the Jets take on Garden City, while Long Beach battles Freeport. The two winners square off at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals and the last team standing heads to Clarke on Saturday for the semifinal round. "We've got a little swagger and they're feeling good," Critchley said. "They're all working hard and performing well."
The Jets and Trojans have battled each other head-to-head twice this season with each team winning once. East Meadow took the most recent, 32-24, on Jan. 24, as freshman Chris Dolan (140 pounds), one of the team's big surprises, knocked off Matt Schmelzinger, 14-10. "He's very unorthodox [in technique] but he's rolling along and knocking off people," Critchley said of Dolan, who's filled in for injured senior Steve Rispoli.
Despite the absence of juniors Michael Cohen (135) and Rocco Calderero (160), two of their most consistent performers, and the Trojans welcoming back one of their top wrestlers, Tom Ferro, at 189 pounds, East Meadow still managed to win the crucial dual. "We just wrestled much better and beat them," Critchley said.
Sophomore Andrew Danzinger takes on one of his biggest challenges against Garden City in 215-pounder Connor Horl. Horl has taken the first two matches between the pair, but Danzinger closed the gap the second time around, falling just three points shy in a 7-4 decision. "He wrestled more aggressively and with more confidence [in the rematch]," Critchley said.
Freshmen Jimmy Pannullo (103 pounds) and Chris Whitenack (130) each scored key victories over the Eagles last Saturday, helping the Jets take seven of the meet's 13 bouts. Pannullo, in particular, put on a show in his 8-6 victory over Alex Houston on Senior Recognition Day, displaying the determination of a top wrestler. "[Houston] tried to pin him [several] times," Critchley said. "But [Pannullo] didn't give up any back points, and the kid rode him on the floor for about two minutes."
East Meadow held its second annual Alumni Night when Island Trees came to town and won nine individual matches against the Bulldogs, including senior Rob Mancino, who sits just four wins shy of the 100-mark for his career.
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