Mepham Wrestlers Pin First Conference Win

After a dominant start in their non-league matches, the Mepham Pirates wrestling squad came out firing on all cylinders in its first meet of the conference season, winning 10 of 13 weight classes wrestled en route to a 54-18 thrashing of visiting Jericho (1-1).

After falling behind 18-12 in the lower weight classes on three Jericho pins at 112, 119 and 130 pounds, the Pirates (1-0) swept the next nine weight classes and took a forfeit at the 285-pound class for the decisive victory.

"It was nice to see some of the young kids step up, they gave us some big wins," Mepham head coach Rich Anderson said.

Among the young wrestlers who scored big for the Pirates was freshman Louis Hernandez, wrestling at 140 pounds. He took command of the floor in a matter of seconds, turned his man, and just ran him for a pin with 27 seconds showing on the clock in the first period.

Other decisive pins came from Billy Albers at 189 pounds and Mike Paccione at 145 pounds.

"My opponent came out hot but my approach was just to move faster than him," said Mike Paccione, who pinned his opponent with eight seconds left in the first. "I got in a shot first and we scrambled for a little, then after the out of bounds I took him down to the mat and turned him. It was just a half, I was able to run him over and pin him."

Also pinning their opponents were Nick Gangi at 125 pounds in just under three minutes, Gary Dubovnick, who pinned his man a minute into the second period at 135 pounds with a "Peterson" move, and a gritty hard-fought pin for Steven Tsai, who trailed most of the way at 160 pounds before tiring his opponent and getting the pin with 1:41 to go.

A number of decisions that went Mepham's way were also impressive. "Dan Tracy's win at 152 was big," Anderson said. While Tracy just missed scoring a major win, his 13-6 victory was dominating throughout.

Also putting points on the board for their team with decisions were John Sherlock, who won 8-4 at 96 pounds, and Jamie Dunn, who won 6-2 at 102 pounds.

Perhaps the tensest moment of the day came as Jamie Andrews clung to a 5-4 lead with seconds remaining at 171 pounds, and then dramatically took down his man at the buzzer for two points and the 7-4 win.

All in all, it was a good win coming out of the box for the Mepham Pirates.

"We held our own in the early going, and stretched the lead out when we needed to," Anderson said. "Jericho is a team we've beaten the last couple of years, but we need to come out big -- and we did."

Mepham takes on 0-1 Great Neck South in another home match on Jan. 7 at 6 p.m.