Mepham Wrestling Falls to Conference Rival Garden City

The Garden City wrestling team defeated Mepham on Thursday night at home in a critical league match up. The Trojans went down early but rolled to a 54-21 victory.

John Sherlock collected a major decision win over J.P. Moran at 96 pounds to put Mepham up by four team points. Garden City came back strong to win the next six matches starting with a 6-0 decision by Tom Reina at 103 pounds over Jamie Dunn. Jack Reina (112 pounds), Mike Lofrese (119 pounds) and Frank Bello (125 pounds) all collected quick first-period pins to go ahead 21-4.

Matt Eulau pulled out a tough decision at 130 pounds over Nick Gangi followed by a second-period pin by Aleksey Rizzo over Gary Dubovick. Two of Mephams’ top wrestlers in Louis Hernandez at 140 pounds and Mike Paccione at 145 pounds both picked up decision wins.

Matt Schmelzinger came back strong for Garden City to pin Dan Tracy in the third period at 152 pounds. Steven Tsai kept Mepham alive for the time being with a major decision win over Tom Keogh at 160 pounds, but Eric Coners (171 pounds) and Robbie Le Seuer (189 pounds) collected pins over their opponents. Le Seuer pinned Billy Albers in 40 seconds to notch Garden City’s fourth first-period pin of the match.

Both teams traded forfeits at 215 pounds and 285 pounds to wrap up the match.

Heroes: Eulau trailed early in the third period against Gangi when he hit a reversal along with an extra point for an illegal clasp to take a one-point lead. The win gave the Trojans five straight for the match and a commanding 20-point lead.

Turning Point: After Reina, Lofrese and Bello all pinned their opponents in the opening period, it set the tone for the Trojans to eventually take down the Pirates at home.

Quotable: “They wrestled unbelievably as a team today, doing everything we hoped for. We caught a couple of breaks, like Frank Bello at 125, that was a huge pin,” Garden City head coach Reid Sclafani said. “All of these guys are working really hard and its starting to show now with wins.”

“It is good to get a win because other teams have underestimated us this year and we were able to show what we can do,” Lofrese said.

Bottom Line: Garden City now stands at 4-0 and has a big match against the undefeated Kennedy Cougars at home next week that will ultimately decide the Conference II-B champion this season.

Key Stat: Garden City picked up seven total pins, while Mepham failed to pick up a single pin in the losing effort.

Who’s Next: Westbury @ Mepham, Jan. 14, 5 p.m.; Kennedy @ Garden City, Jan. 19, 4:30 p.m.

Box Score