In late February , the Lindenhurst Wrestling season finally ended. The team had nine all league wrestlers and three all county. They finished 4th in a tough League II tournament and have great things to look forward to in the future. Before we look forward to next season, with a brand new starting lineup, let’s take a look back on this past season.

They had a 3-2 league record and some big wins against some tough teams. The league wins came against Walt Whitman on senior night, Sachem North, and Commack. They were the underdogs going into the Commack match, but pins by Rodrigo Melendez, Jake Trovato, and Nick Giannelli changed the momentum of the whole match. They also qualified for the Suffolk County Dual Meet Championship after missing out on it last year. A preliminary win against Patchogue Medford led to a quarterfinal match with the #3 seed Hauppauge. The Bulldogs lost by criteria with a score of 40-39. Other tough wins came against Central Islip, Northport, and MacArthur.

The League tournament came around and the Dogs were ready for war. As mentioned previously, nine Lindenhurst wrestlers went all league and qualified for the county tournament. Five wrestlers went into the league finals, and four came out as champions. The first being at 120 pounds, as Adam Quintanilla wrestled Connetquot’s Steven Wilkinson. Adam was down 4-0 early, but fought his way back to score some back points towards the end to avenge his last second loss to Wilkinson earlier this year. This performance helped Adam win the Most Outstanding Wrestler Award at the league tournament.

Next was Ryan Meisner at 138 pounds. He went into the match with an undefeated record and came out that way. For the fifth time in his career, he wrestled a Connetquot wrestler. Ryan won his match with a major decision over Joe Kasten. Meisner dominated the whole match, and didn’t let Kasten do anything to him. This made it Ryan’s 4th league championship since getting pulled up as an 8th grader. His only loss in the league finals was at 120 pounds his sophomore year. Freshman Jake Trovato went into the league finals at 160 pounds, wrestling Connetquot’s David Muchnick. Trovato was pinned in 3:15, but the future’s looking bright for this stud.

Next up was Nick Giannelli at 170 pounds. He pinned his way to the league finals after a bye to the quarterfinals. He wrestled Anthony Thompson from Bay Shore in the finals. A 5-0 win gave him the league title after losing in the league finals last year. After taking 4th in the county as a freshman last year, Jack Winey wrestled his way into the league finals after a 3rd place finish last year. He knew he has had tough matches against Jalyn Butler from Bay Shore, but he was confident going into the 195 pound finals. This was Jack’s closest match with Butler, an 8-5 decision gave Butler the title, but Winey wrestled with all his heart. The last Lindenhurst wrestler to wrestle in the league finals was 220 pounder Jeff Perez. And yet again, a Lindenhurst wrestler wrestled someone from Connetquot. Eddie Stepanek from Connetquot was pinned by Perez very early in the second period. Three other Lindenhurst wrestlers placed in the league tournament. Senior Sean Lennon took 3rd at 106 pounds, junior Rodrigo Melendez took 4th at 152 pounds, and freshman Jairo Caceres took 4th at 220 pounds.

After a great week of practice, the boys were ready to make some noise at the county tournament. After some great matches, Ryan Meisner, Jack Winey, and Jeff Perez locked up all county on the first day of the tournament by winning their quarterfinal matches and advancing to the semifinals the next day. Only Jairo Caceres and Rodrigo Melendez were eliminated the first day. Sean Lennon, Adam Quintanilla, Jake Trovato, and Nick Giannelli were all in the blood round, which meant if they won, the went all county and if they lost they were out. Unfortunately, they all lost but the semis were coming up.

First was Ryan Meisner at 138 pounds. He had Chris Bordreau from Hauppauge. Meisner attacked early and didn’t let control go. He ended up pinning Bordreau in 1:54, securing a spot in the county finals and a match with at the time 4 time county champion and 4 time New York State Champion Adam Busiello. Jack Winey was next at 195 pounds, and he was looking to avenge his loss from earlier in the season to Northport’s Peter Magliocco. Winey lost the match 5-4 after getting pinned in their first meeting. Winey would end up taking 6th in the tournament after two tough losses to Longwood’s Tyler Pelech and Newfield’s Mohab Ali. Jeff Perez had it set up for him in the semis. The number two seed Angel Pineda had lost in the quarterfinals to Centereach’s Christopher Powell. The match was tied at one before the fire alarm was pulled at Suffolk County Community College. Jeff scored a takedown to win the match 4-3 and go to the finals for a rematch with Patchogue Medford’s Dylan Gianikos.

The finals were about to start and everyone was excited. Ryan Meisner was set to wrestle Eastport South Manor’s Adam Busiello. Meisner took a shot early but Busiello was able to counter it quickly and pin Meisner in 1:22. After some exciting matches, all of Lindenhurst was ready to watch Jeff Perez in the finals at 220 pounds. Unfortunately, thing didn’t go Jeff’s way and he lost the match 5-2. Now it was time to hope and pray for a wildcard spot in the state Tournament. Ryan was able to get a wildcard and Jeff didn’t. The state tournament took place from February 22-23 at the Union Times Center in Albany, New York. Meisner went in unseeded and wrestled the 4 seed Eric Griskowitz from Saratoga. Meisner was the underdog, but he dominated the whole match 7-2. Ryan was now in the quarterfinals, which meant if he won he would lock up all state honors and secure a spot on the podium. He would be head coach Ron Frole’s first all state wrestler. Ryan was losing to Pittsford’s Nick Sanko 3-2 to start the 3rd period. Meisner rolled around on the mat for a bit but hit a granby roll to score one. Sanko shot on Meisner, where Ryan made it look easy to spin and score. Ryan threw a half before Sanko stepped up with his leg. Meisner was able to feel the position he was in and cradle Sanko and pin him. He was set for a state semi-final match with Adam Busiello. Ryan fell once again to the 5 time New York State Champion. Unfortunately, Ryan lost his next match and would now go for 5th place. Ryan beat Nick Sanko once again to take 5th place. This time it was a 9-1 major decision. Ryan left a lasting legacy on the Lindenhurst wrestling team. 5th place in the state tournament is something to be proud of in your last high school tournament. Ryan plans on attending SUNY Oneonta in September and hopes to continue his wrestling career.