Hewlett's Tsakh wins county title

For the second time in three years, a Nassau County wrestling champion resides in Hewlett. Senior Charles Tsakh escaped the grasp of MacArthur junior Jeremy Hughes to pull out a hard-fought 160-pound final, 5-4 in overtime, before a packed house of 4,500 at Hofstra’s Mack Sports Complex on Feb. 15.

“It feels great,” said Tsakh, the No. 1 seed who upped his record on the season to 39-2. “I worked really hard to get here.”

Tsakh, the school’s second-ever county champ, joining current junior Owen Bachelder who accomplished the feat as a 126-pounder in the 2012-13 season, advanced to the New York State Championships this Friday and Saturday at the Times Union Center in Albany. Tsakh went 4-0 in the county tournament, notching three wins by decision and one by pin.

“Something just clicked with Charlie during the offseason,” Hewlett coach Stephen Jones said. “Losing in the county tournament last season bothered him. He came to practice in November raring to go, and he’s been dominant.

“He’s had some success in the past, but nothing like this year,” he added. “You could tell from the opening tournament of the season he was headed for big things. His confidence was way up.”

Tsakh won the Battle at the Beach Tournament in Long Beach on the first Saturday of December and kept the momentum going. He won the Sprig Gardner Tournament hosted by Bellmore-Merrick a week later, and also captured the Mid-Hudson and Ted Peterson events. “He just kept getting better and better,” Jones said. “He had an answer for every challenge that came his way.”

Tsakh overcame a severe shoulder injury suffered on the first day of the county tournament on Feb. 13 during a 4-2 quarterfinal win over East Meadow’s Josh Levenson. He came back on the morning of the 15th and grinded out a 6-4 semifinal win over Wantagh’s Nick Rogers.

“Charlie basically beat Hughes in the finals with one arm,” Jones said.

Bachelder (third place at 138), junior Mike Curiel (runner-up at 285), sophomore Lucas Pincus (third at 132), and senior Paul Lane (third at 285) also earned All-County honors for the Bulldogs, who had their highest finish in history—fifth—in the team standings with 116.5 points. Wantagh took the crown with 191, followed by Long Beach, Massapequa and Plainedge.

Bachelder is headed back to the state tournament as a wild-card invite, Jones said. “Owen just goes about his business and never gets too fired up or too down,” Jones said. “He got beat fair and square in the semis, but he dominated in the wrestlebacks to get third.”

It’s the fourth time Bachelder earned All-County, and second time for Pincus.

Curiel posted one of the biggest upsets in the tournament when he got by No. 1 seed Dimitri Samuels of Lawrence in the quarterfinals, 3-2, with a takedown in the closing seconds. Curiel then edged Lane, 3-1, in the semis before losing to Roosevelt’s Monair McDonald in the finals.