5 Photos
Bonacker Juan Roque looks back at the clock after escaping from Justin Shayew's grasp.
East Hampton senior co-captain Caleb Peralta works on East Islip's Logan Alfalla.
East Hampton senior co-captain Caleb Peralta works on East Islip's Logan Alfalla.
East Hampton's Cooper Ceva takes down East Islip's Eric Rossi.
Cooper Ceva escapes the grasp of East Islip's Eric Rossi to score a point.
Now that the League V dual meet season is over, the East Hampton/Pierson/Bridgehampton/Ross wrestling team will focus on placing as many wrestlers as it can at the league championships in a couple of weeks, so they can advance to the Suffolk County Division I Championships.
Senior co-captains Santi Maya and Caleb Peralta both remain the Bonackers’ best chances at doing so. Peralta is coming off a second-place finish at the Copiague Tournament on Saturday. He lost in the finals, 10-0, to Vin Ziccardi of Kings Park, a former All-State wrestler who is currently slated to be the number one seed in League V at 126 pounds. Peralta’s loss marked a slight improvement over his 12-1 loss to Ziccardi at a dual meet earlier in the week on January 11. Prior to that, Peralta had won all three of his matches at the tournament, pinning Jake Smith of Center Moriches in 4:48, winning a close 7-6 bout over E.J. Alizio of Chaminade and then a 13-8 decision over Frank Tristino of Centereach in the semifinals.
Maya did not compete at Copiague, but he did return to the mat this week after missing time due to an illness. In his first match since December 19, Maya wrestled up at 145 pounds at Kings Park, three weight classes over his usual weight, giving up 10-12 pounds to his opponent. He wrestled tough, but still lost in a 5-1 decision. Maya bounced back at home against East Islip on Friday and, at 138 pounds, defeated Anthony Avitabile, 6-3.
East Hampton head coach Ethan Mitchell liked what he saw from J.P. Amaden at Copiague. Wrestling at 132 pounds, Amaden reached the semifinals, where he lost and eventually placed fourth, losing a 10-3 decision to Mattituck’s Carson Cornell, a ranked Division II wrestler. Mitchell also noted that both Cooper Ceva (138 pounds) and Jose Calderon (189) went 2-2 in the tournament.
After a tough loss to Kings Park, Mitchell liked the way his team responded overall in a 60-6 loss to East Islip. Many of the Bonackers were able to avoid being pinned, keeping it a close match for the first handful of matches before forfeits began to play a role. Ceva, wrestling up a weight at 145, was winning his match for most of it before giving up a pair of points with 30 seconds remaining.
“I thought we showed a lot of good growth against East Islip,” Mitchell said. “We certainly have the advantage in that we haven’t had to pause the season as an entire team. That means the guys who have been here all season long have been able to make that progression and really sharpen their skills for the league tournament.”
East Hampton was at William Floyd for a non-league match on Wednesday and will host Babylon in another non-league match for the team’s Senior Night on January 27 at 5 p.m. Two days later, the Bonackers will compete at the Phantom Duals at Bayport-Blue Point High School leading up to the League V Championships at East Islip on February 5.
