Complete Results

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (Jan. 3, 2015) - On Saturday, freshmen Joe Calderone (Huntington Station, N.Y.) and Matt Langan (Wantagh, N.Y.) each won individual championships at the 133- and 149-lb. weight classes, as the LIU Post wrestling team grappled at the Long Island Open, hosted by Nassau Community College.

Calderone made quick work of his first two opponents, pinning William Hardin in 4:50 and shutting out Merchant Marine's Tom Healy (Andover, N.J.) by an 11-0 count. Then, in the final, he earned a hard-fought 6-5 triumph versus the NJCAA's top-ranked 133-lb. wrestler, Mizam Tamaradze of Springfield Technical Community College.

Meanwhile, at 149, Langan won each of his first three bouts via decision, before capturing the title via medical forfeit. Langan got off to a strong start, winning a 10-4 decision against the host institution's Ralph Cazzetta. He followed that up with back-to-back wins over USMMA's Alex Nicosia (New Orleans, La.) and Travis Ahrens (Mims, Fla.), en route to reaching the championship match.

Senior Chris DiIorio (Holtsville, N.Y.) wrestled his way to a second-place finish. After pinning Gloucester County Community College's Todd Batten in 1:44 in his opening match, DiIorio majored Ricky Fisher of Merchant Marine, 13-5, to advance to the final. But, in his last bout of the afternoon, the Holtsville native came up short in a 10-5 loss to Ian Gimbar (Hellertown, Pa.) of Muhlenberg College.

Red-shirt freshman Jackson Mordente (Farmingville, N.Y.) was a runner-up as well, in the 157-lb. bracket. He won his first two bouts of the day, one via pinfall (4:30) and one via decision (9-6), but forfeited to Nassau's Sam Schwartzapfel in the final.

In the wrestlebacks, junior Jesse Meaney (Toms River, N.J.) and freshman James Louison (Hauppauge, N.Y.) both came in third at 141 and 285, respectively. Meaney pinned Erick Del Cid in the final minute of their bout, before securing a close 4-3 victory against Merchant Marine's Isaac Hammonds (Dover, Ohio). He would go on to defeat sophomore teammate Vinny Turano (Wantagh, N.Y.) by a 6-1 final to clinch a third-place showing.

Louison, following a 7-4 loss in the quarterfinals of the championship bracket to eventual champion Donovan Lozada, pinned his next two opponents, both in under two minutes, to finish third.

Lastly, freshman Ed Ramirez, Jr. (Massapequa, N.Y.) won three consecutive matches in the wrestlebacks at 165, including a 7-2 overtime victory against Dariyan Riley, and placed fourth.

Head Coach Joe Patrovich and the Pioneers return to the mat on Saturday, Jan. 17, when they face American International and Gannon at the AIC Tri-Match in Springfield, Mass. The respective duals are slated to start at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.