Jets take second at Freeport

East Meadow was represented in the winner’s circle at the Freeport Tournament last Saturday, as three wrestlers claimed individual titles and two more advanced to the finals. The Jets, as a team, finished second behind Commack.

Senior Vinny Pannullo, a returning two-time Nassau County Qualifying Champion, defeated Chris Bono a Catholic State champion, 9-5 in the 120-pound finals. The two had met one time previously with Bono coming out with a 5-3 victory. For Pannullo, the difference-maker may have been his aggression. “He wrestled very well on top and he got takedowns,” Jets coach Chris Critchley said. “He wrestled aggressively.”

After battling Freeport’s Errol Small to a scoreless tie in the first period, East Meadow senior Evan Pantofel, a returning All-County honoree, scored three points over the final four minutes for a shutout victory in the finals at 170 pounds. No wrestler may be in the midst of making a jump as big as senior Nolan Travis, who wrestled at 145 pounds last season but has bulked up and is now taking the mats at 182 pounds. He won the weight class last Saturday with a 6-0 decision over Clarke’s Karl Schmitt, and in an offseason tournament won a championship at 195 pounds.

Junior Matt Power fell 8-6 to Freeport’s Maurice Irby in the finals at 132 pounds, but made a big improvement after the Red Devil senior pinned him when the two met just one week earlier at the Bruins Cup in Baldwin. The Jets fifth finalist — and second runner up — was Michael Tropiano, a 152-pound junior who came up one point shy in a 5-4 championship round defeat to Baldwin’s Dylan Cohen.

Injuries ruined senior Chris Whitenack’s last two wrestling seasons, but even after suffering a facial injury in the week leading up to the Freeport Tournament that required several stitches, he wanted on the mat. The 160-pounder defeated Calhoun’s Jesse Picarello, 5-3, on the way to a third-place finish in the weight class. “He’s wanted to wrestle since ninth grade but always had bad luck,” Critchley said. “Now, he’s out there with stitches in his face.”