James Sturek, Chris Trahey help keep East Islip perfect

East Islip’s senior captain James Sturek isn’t defending a state or county title, so he says there’s no pressure in his mind. If he wins, he wins. If he loses, he loses. As long as he has fun, works hard and rallies his East Islip teammates to win as much as possible, he’s happy.

That said, Sturek has lost just once, earning a 32-1 record, and East Islip, the No. 1 team on Long Island, is a perfect 21-0. East Islip defeated Half Hollow Hills East (56-9), Sachem North (56-12), Glenn (44-24) and Islip (36-21) at the Kris McDonald Islip Cup Duals on Saturday.

“The amount of work we put in [separates us from others],” senior Chris Trahey said. “There’s so many kids on this team that sacrifice their summers just to be the best of the best, and it shows this year.”

Sturek won all four matches at the Islip Cup Duals, pinning three opponents at 189 pounds in 20 seconds, 50 seconds and 1:07. The senior captain deemed his final match against Cody Costello of Islip his worst other than his one loss this season.

He was exhausted by the end, but nonetheless won 3-2 to earn three points, giving East Islip a 27-6 lead.

“My mindset wasn’t where it needed it to be,” Sturek said. “I didn’t have the warmup I wanted to have.”

Coming into matches, Sturek wants to have an “eat or be eaten” mentality. Typically, he does which has helped him thrive. 

When he’s not wrestling or warming up with pregame music, he’s instilling this mentality to the rest of the team. Whether East Islip wins or loses a match, Sturek makes sure every teammate applauds.

“I love being a leader,” Sturek said. “I’m the oldest in a family of three, so I’ve been an older brother. I like to play a role model role. I’ve been a captain for two years now. I know this group really well. Everyone returning besides one starter from last year.”

Sometimes, Sturek doesn’t need to rally his teammates. When Trahey flipped Glenn’s Kevin Vides to pin him in the final seconds of the first period in their 145-pound match, the entire bench sprung up in excitement as Trahey celebrated.

“It feels real good that you can do it for your team . . . getting that six points is huge,” Trahey said. “ . . . [The energy] switches the match and gets the next kid ready. It’s a domino effect, one match to another. That just keeps the momentum heading our way.”

Joe Esposito, East Islip’s assistant coach, was filling in for head coach Mike Longobardi as he and Sebastian Regis were away at the Eastern State Classic tournament at SUNY Sullivan's Paul Gerry Fieldhouse. Stephan Monchery (Middletown) pinned Regis in their 285-pound match in the finals.

Esposito echoed Trahey, acknowledging the buy-in mentality that each player has in and out of season.

“This is the best wrestling team as a group I’ve ever been a part of,” Esposito said. “The leadership is fantastic. The young guys follow suit. This is just a great group of kids that bust their butt for us every single day.

Nonetheless, Esposito lets his team know that there’s a lot more work to be done.

“I tell them ‘We haven’t done anything yet,’” Esposito said. “It’s nice to be ranked No. 1, but that means nothing when it’s said and done.”