Five Bonac Wrestlers Qualify For Counties

When East Hampton wrestling head coach Steve Tseperkas looks back at the list of goals he had going into the wrestling season, he feels good about what his team has accomplished thus far.Win a dual meet in League VI? Check. Make it to the finals of the Doc Fallot Dual Meet Tournament during the regular season? Check. Have individuals make it to the finals in tournaments throughout the year? Check. Have four or five wrestlers qualify for counties? Check.That last check was crossed off Saturday on East Hampton’s home mats as the Bonackers hosted the League VI tournament for the first time since 2001. Seniors Colton Kalbacher (152 pounds), Luciano Escobar (170 pounds) and Jorge Calderone (220), as well as juniors Axel Alanis (195) and Josh King (285), all finished in the top four of their respective weight classes, giving them a spot to compete at the Suffolk County Division I Championships set for this Saturday and Sunday, February 14 and 15, at Hofstra University.Now, Tseperkas says, only one goal remains to make it a clean sweep.“We just want to get a kid on that podium,” he said, referring to a top-six finish at counties.The last time the Bonackers had a county place-winner was in 2003, when Terrell Walker earned All-County honors. Walker was also the last Bonacker to win a league title, accomplishing that feat in the same year.Kalbacher was East Hampton’s best chance to break that streak on Saturday, but he lost, 12-8, to Matt Porrello of Elwood/John Glenn in the finals. Porrello was ranked second in Suffolk entering the match, with Kalbacher ranked sixth, but Kalbacher had beaten Porrello in a dual meet during the regular season.In the semis, Kalbacher beat Joseph Bartolotto III of Miller Place in a 7-4 decision. The two had split close matches during the season.“I thought Colton had a good day,” Tseperkas said. “He made a few mistakes in the finals, but Porrello is a very smart wrestler.”Escobar grinded out a tough 3-2 decision over Shane Walker of Mount Sinai in the quarterfinals, but was upset in the semis, dropping a 4-2 decision to Matt Tobin of Westhampton Beach. Escobar came back to take third with a 7-1 decision over Kyle Vetrano of Miller Place.Alanis pinned Steven Moran of Amityville in 5:11 in the quarterfinals before losing an 8-6 decision to Jake McKeown of Miller Place (ranked third in the county) in the semis. Alanis, ranked sixth in the county, and McKeown split two overtime matches during the regular season, and McKeown had the edge this time around. Alanis went on to take third, beating Chris Chomicki of Westhampton Beach, 10-6.King also finished third. He started with a 2-1 triple-overtime win over Robert Puckey of Shoreham/Wading River in the quarterfinals before getting pinned in 2:48 in the semis by Edwin Rubio of Glenn, who is ranked first in the county. In the consolation match, King pinned Steven Medina of Amityville in 1:53 to take third.Calderone, who took fourth at 220 pounds, might be the most impressive of the county-bound Bonac wrestlers. Calderone was on the mats for the first time since January 10, when he tore his ACL.According to Tseperkas, Calderone was given the option by his doctors to either shut it down for the rest of the wrestling season and go for ACL surgery, or push through with the injury and have the surgery in the offseason, meaning he would not be able to play his senior season of lacrosse. Calderone chose wrestling, and is now county-bound, bum knee and all.And unlike most other wrestlers, Calderone was working hard to put weight on, rather than take it off, for the morning of weigh-ins; Tseperkas felt that Calderone, who had wrestled as light at 170 pounds at the start of the year, had the best chance of getting to counties in the 220-pound class, so he encouraged Calderone to get to 185, the minimum weight for the 220-pound class.Calderone pinned Byron Lazaro of Bayport in the first round and got to the semis with a 4-2 win over Brendan Frances of Shoreham. Calderone fell, 5-1, to Anthony Pino of Glenn (ranked fourth in the county) in the semis and lost, 5-3, to Charles Leo of Miller Place in the consolation match.Wrestling at counties is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. on Saturday, and that’s when the Bonackers will get to work on their final mission of the season.“The kids are all in good spots,” Tseperkas said. “They all have an opportunity to make that last goal come true.”