East Hampton Wrestling Is Set To Turn Things Around This Season

Over the past few years, the East Hampton wrestling team has struggled to find enough depth to fill out every weight class. But head coach Jim Stewart and new assistant coach Ethan Mitchell are hoping that changes this season, and that increased numbers are the beginning of a turnaround for a program that has a rich history, but has found it hard to win dual meets in recent years.

There are 50 wrestlers on the roster this season, including JV and varsity, and that means the Bonackers will at least have a fighting chance in their League V meets this season, without having to forfeit a handful of weight classes in every match. The team returns only two wrestlers with significant varsity experience, and they will be expected to lead the way.

Sophomore Santiago Maya (113 pounds) finished third in the league last year at 106 pounds, and will have his sights set on qualifying for the Division I county tournament again.

Caleb Peralta, another sophomore, will compete at 126 pounds and returns after a 14-win season last year.

Several wrestlers who were not on the team last year, but had wrestled in previous years, have decided to return to the squad, and both Stewart and Mitchell hope they can be big contributors to the team’s success. Seniors Daniel Ortiz (160) and Brahian Usma (160) should be strong, as well as junior David Alverez (152), Kevin Coria (285), and Sebastian Sanchez (285).

Mitchell identified several newcomers who he and Stewart hope will come along quickly and find ways to pick up wins for the team. Senior Austin Brown (126), Nick Lavelle (285), juniors Kevin Bunce (182), Steve Guazhambo (160), Nick Lombardo (195), Steve Rubio (145), Alex Vanegas (138), sophomore Chris Franco (152), John Marin (138), John Quizhpe (145), and freshmen J.P. Amaden (99), Cooper Ceva (120), Riche Perez (120), Edwin Espinoza (170), and Rob Stewart (99) will help round out the roster.

Stewart and Mitchell will work together to make the most of the deep roster, and help the inexperienced wrestlers get up to speed quickly. They should make a good coaching duo — Stewart was an All-League wrestler at Riverhead High School before becoming the captain of the team at Gettysburg College. He started teaching and coaching at East Hampton in the late 1970s and coached there for three decades before taking a few years off and then returning last season.

Mitchell, who was recently hired as a special education teacher in the district, is a 2008 graduate of Westhampton Beach High School, and after competing for the powerhouse program during that time, he was an assistant for Hall of Fame head coach Paul Bass, from 2014 to 2019. Bass retired at the end of last year as the winningest coach in Westhampton Beach sports history.

Stewart and Mitchell are excited about the partnership, and are excited to see what the season holds in store for the team.

“It is great to be coaching with Ethan,” Stewart said. “And it’s great to be coaching such a wonderful and focused group of student-athletes. They are working hard and learning and getting better each day.”

East Hampton will compete in League V along with strong teams such as returning county champion Hauppauge, Rocky Point, and Eastport-South Manor, as well as Comsewogue, West Babylon, and Half Hollow Hills West.

The Bonackers typically kick off the season with their annual Sprig Gardner Tournament, which was slated to be this Saturday, December 7, but due to a number of teams backing out last minute, they had to cancel it for this season. Mitchell is confident the Sprig Gardner will return next season. East Hampton will instead start the season at the Gary Fitzgerald Tournament at Sayville High School this Saturday at 9 a.m. They will kick off the league dual meet season at home against Hills West on December 11 at 6:15 p.m.