East Hosts Jeff Jordan Wrestling Camp

While the rest of the wrestlers on Long Island were relaxing this weekend, and stayed in bed on Sunday morning, the grapplers at Sachem East were hard at work.

Following instruction from Jesse Leng and Nick Brascetta from Graham High School in St. Paris, OH, East's wrestling room was kicking for three straight days.

"It was an excellent opportunity for our wrestlers to be able to see coaches and athletes that compete at the level … the best in the country," said Sachem East head wrestling coach Sean O'Hara. "It's another way to outwork their opponents and get where they want to be. The way to do that is to work in the off-season and put more time in than the competition."

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Leng, an assistant coach at Graham, which is currently ranked second in the nation for high school wrestling programs, works for Jeff Jordan Wrestling, a company operated by Jordan, the head coach at Graham and one of the best high school wrestlers in Ohio wrestling history.

While he praised East head coach Sean O'Hara for running a tight ship and understanding the proper fundamentals and techniques necessary to build a championship program, he said it didn't hurt to have another voice in the room every now and then.

"It reinforces what he says," said Leng, who was a two-time Ohio high school state champion and a four-year letter winner at Ohio State University. "Sometimes you hear it from a different voice and it sounds a little bit louder. We got 10 hours in this weekend. It's probably more than most kids did on Long Island."

It's not a mystery that off-season conditioning and training will help take the average wrestler to new heights if he's committed. No one can speak more about the benefits of a regimented training program than Brascetta, a senior at Graham, who recently committed to wrestle at Virginia Tech and is ranked as the No. 26 wrestling recruit in the country.

"My coach [Jeff Jordan] says the off-season is when we learn and during the season is when we wrestle," he said.

"You win a state title when everybody is not training," added Leng. "It's crucial to train now."

East senior Mase Kochath agrees.

"It helped my technique a lot," he said, dripping and exhausted after the final practice Sunday. "It helps us pick up the basics. These are hard practices so our conditioning has evolved over the last couple days."

A handful of other wrestlers from around Long Island came out for the camp, including Sachem North junior Francesco Napoli.

"This camp helps sharpen your skills," he said. "It teaches you the skills that will work at the high school level."

Forced with the mindset of being a champion at season's end, it doesn't hurt to think that camps like this will help push you to the next level.

"It shows what you need to do if you want to be the best," said sophomore Conor O'Hara.

Sachem East opens its season December 8 in a non-league dual meet against Syosset.