Jakob Restrepo achieved his ultimate goal during his senior season. He won the 152-pound New York State wrestling championship Saturday night at Times Union Center in Albany.
Restrepo beat Anthony Bell, 8-4, from Fairport in the final. He finished his season a perfect 51-0.
“All year I’ve been training to win states,” Restrepo told Newsday. “I was really confident in all my matches and I knew I was the best guy in the tournament and I just had to execute.”
He lost in the finals last year, and wrestled until the final seconds of this year’s match. He recorded a double leg takedown late in the match to add insurance points and secure his victory.
This marks the second straight season Sachem East has had a New York State champ and third time in school history. Last year Mark Tracy won the 182-pound final, and Matt Ferber won the 215-pound final in 2006.
DiMatteo and Dee named All-State
Both Sachem North’s Anthony DiMatteo and Sachem East’s Sean Dee were place winners at states and left Albany as All-State wrestlers.
DiMatteo placed sixth, while Dee placed fifth.
DiMatteo is now All-State in both football and wrestling and joins a select group of Sachem athletes to ever earn all-state honors in two or more sports during the same season.
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro