Thursday, October 1, 2026
Mepham and Kennedy not only hosted the annual two-day Sprig Gardner wrestling tournament on Dec. 11-12, the two schools also had a pair of champions crowned. The Pirates (174.5 points), host to the championship rounds on the second day, finished fourth overall among the 13-team field, while the Cougars (128) were seventh. Calhoun (120) finished just behind Kennedy and had its scoring total boosted by a pair of third-place finishers.
“We don’t have a lot of experience but the kids come in [every day] and are working hard,” Mepham coach Rich Anderson said. “They’re making progress every day.”
Freshman Kyle Althenn capped a perfect 5-0 tournament with a championship at 106 pounds, knocking off Kings Park’s Mike Savello, 7-3, in the finals. After missing the Nassau County Championships last year due to injury, Althenn has bounced back with a strong start to the 2015-16 campaign. At 220 pounds, senior Jose Pineda posted an equally impressive 5-0 mark and pulled off a 4-2 victory in his championship bout with Kings Park’s Dillon Roske, netting the winning two points on a takedown with 15 seconds left.
Senior All-County returnee Matt Lambert took second, dropping a 6-3 decision at 152 pounds to Kennedy senior Matt Schwartz. “It was a good match,” Kennedy coach Brian DeGaetano said. “[Schwartz] is very hard to score on, he’s got great hips.
In the 126-pound finals, Pirates’ senior Tyler Althenn dropped a 7-2 decision to King Park’s Nick Forte. Freshman Jack Molloy helped boost Mepham’s point total with his fourth-place finish at 113 pounds, and in his first-year of varsity wrestling has also taken home third-place honors in an early December tournament at MacArthur. Senior Greg Laupheimer, an All-County returnee, battled through a broken nose suffered prior the tournament to grind out a fourth-place finish at 160 pounds.
In addition to Schwartz, junior Eric Brach, also a returning All-County performer, earned top honors in his weight class (113 pounds) for Kennedy with a 4-3 decision over Cold Spring Harbor’s Raymond Costa. Senior Jack Jones has already placed second in two tournaments, including the Sprig Gardner and owns a perfect 4-0 mark in dual meets. “He’s a tremendous worker,” DeGaetano said. “He’s strong and athletic.”
Sophomore Jack Krug, a two-time All-Conference honoree, and member of the varsity wrestling team since seventh grade, is expected to return shortly from an early season injury. Chris Fugina, won his first career individual title at last Saturday’s Andrew Pierce Tournament at Walt Whitman.
The Colts top performers at the Sprig Gardner included junior Dylan Jainchill, who took third at 126 pounds and sophomore Noorali Soomro, a third-place finisher at 132. “We’re young but we’re very competitive,” coach Tom Schiavo said. “I like the progress we’re making.”
Calhoun’s remaining placewinners at the Sprig were senior Andrew Hernandez, fourth at 170 pounds, junior Peter Roberto, who took fifth at 106 and freshman Jake Marine, a fifth-place finisher at 113 pounds. Freshmen Tobias Harrington and 152/160-pounder and Kevin Corrales, a 220-pounder, are among the younger wrestlers expected to have an impact this winter.
