The Island Trees Lady Dawgs welcome back seven players from their Conference Championship season of 2006-07. Seniors Valerie Ahrens, Angelika Paskins, Kristen Walsh and Alysha Ciaramitaro and juniors Meghan Biondolillo, Ashley Moore and Christina Merrill. The Lady Dawgs also welcome six new players in juniors Angelina DeLardi, Renee Balvin, Rebecca Burleson and Danielle Hastings, sophomore Michelle Giordano and freshman Jackie Hart.

Island Trees opened their season with a disappointing loss to a tough West Babylon team 51-43. The Lady Dawgs regrouped to win their fourth straight Wheatley Invitational Championship defeating rival Plainedge Friday night 50-26. Ten different Lady Dawgs scored, led by Meghan Biondolillo with 13 points and Valerie Ahrens with 11. The next day, Island Trees played host Wheatley in the finals. The Lady Dawgs played well at both ends of the court defeating Wheatley 65-46. Again 10 different players scored, led by Tournament Most Valuable Player Meghan Biondolillo with a career high 25 points. Angelika Paskins chipped in with 10 points. The defense was led by All Tournament selection Valerie Ahrens with six steals and Ashley Moore with 8 rebounds. During the week, Jackie Hart, Michelle Giordano, Rebecca Burleson, Danielle Hastings and Renee Balvin all scored their first varsity points.

The Island Trees Wrestling team started the 2007 season with a second-place finish at the Uniondale Knight Classic. The Bulldogs came into the tournament as two time defending champs. Early on it looked as if a three peat could be possible, but a tough consolation round allowed Uniondale to edge the Bulldogs. The team placed 13 wrestlers in the tournament, including Tom Willoughby, who defeated the #1 and #4 seeds on his way to a place in the finals. Junior Matt Eberlein started the year with an impressive 19-5 victory to take the gold. Other champions were senior Chris Martinez at 152, Peter Molino at 189 and Dan Nicolino at 215. The Bulldogs also had four finalists, sophomore Rob Panebianco at 125, senior Ralph Mirabella at 119, senior Tom Willoughby at 140 and senior Chris Volino at 285. Other place winners for the team were sophomore Mike Alavanja third at 103, sophomore Nick DeVecchis third at 112, junior Nick Roa fourth at 145 and sophomore Mike Caldarera at 171.

The team then headed on to the Baldwin Bruin Classic. At the Classic, the team had to step up as the competition went to another level. The field included both Longwood and Commack from Suffolk, Nassau contenders East Meadow and Baldwin and Catholic school powerhouse Chaminade. The Bulldogs wrestled very well on their way to a fifth-place finish. The team placed 10 wrestlers in the tournament including four finalists. Matt Eberlein continued his hot wrestling by taking his second title of the season. Tom Willoughby, Chris Volino and Peter Molino all had great tournaments and took home silver medals. Sophomores Mike Alavanja and Nick DeVecchis both came out of stacked weight classes to take fourth place. Heavyweight Paul Zbikowski rebounded from a tough first round loss to take fourth place as well. The team finished strong with three wrestlers taking fifth place, including Nick Roa, Chris Martinez and Dan Nicolino.

The team will head upstate next weekend for the Minisink Valley Duals and then travel to Baldwin for a big dual meet against the Bruins on Dec. 20. The Bruins are currently ranked in the top 5 in Nassau County. This should shape up to be a great dual meet. The Ted Petersen Tournament will take place on Saturday, Jan. 5 at Island Trees High School. Wrestling will start at 9:15 a.m.

The Island Trees Junior Varsity Wrestling team competed in the Baldwin Bruins Wrestling Tournament over the past weekend. The Bulldogs wrestled tough in a tournament comprised of some of the top Suffolk and Nassau teams. The Bulldogs sent 18 wrestlers to the tournament and placed seventh. Mike Creagh and Chris Altamura took fourth place, Tyler Walsh, Nick Picarello and Nick Buhagiar took third place. The Bulldogs had two finalists in Bobby Marino and A.J. DeMartino who had a nice tournament ending the day in second place.

Aidan Meehan qualified for the County Championships in the 50-yard Freestyle and 100-yard Backstroke in his first meet of the season. A job well-done goes out to the seventh-grade Girls' Volleyball team on its tough match against Merrick Avenue. Although the girls were unable to secure the win, they made a commendable showing at their home game season opener. Tremendous serving runs were displayed by Tori Tedeschi, Nicole Oxman, Sabrina Iadorola and Deana Rohrs, while Stephanie Smith, Petrina Ciaravino, Ashley Bourgade, Kathleen Altamura and Briana Pisano made notable defensive plays. Many thanks to all the parents and fans who came out to support the Lady Bulldogs at their first game.

The eighth grade boys' basketball team defeated Bethpage for its second win of the season. The team put forth a tremendous defensive effort, holding Bethpage to 7 points in the first half. The team got off to a great start in the first quarter as Jason Oder and J.T. Famularo combined to score 12 quick points. Oder finished with 14 points, Tyler Byrne scored 8, Joe Howard added 7, J.T. Famularo finished with 6, C.J. Novak and Conor Reilly each had 4 points. Doug Black had 3 points and John Huller, Steve Tsakanikas, Jackson Young and Anthony Leonick each had 2 points.

The seventh grade Boys' Basketball team won its first game of the season by defeating Plainedge 41-40. The team was led on offense by Louse Mele and Ted Connelly who each had 8 points. Zach Dolgos scored 5 points, T.J. O'Connell scored 4 points and Kevin Marsac scored 3 points.