Blue Devil Wrestlers Clinch League Dual Meet Crown
Sayville won the first bout but it was all Huntington after that as the Blue Devil wrestling team locked up the Suffolk League V dual meet championship in convincing fashion, 39-16 before a loud crowd of about 250 in Louis D. Giani Gymnasium.
The meet kicked off with the Golden Flashes capturing a major decision at 145 lbs. before Huntington won seven of the next eight bouts, including five straight matches to clinch the program’s first regular season title since 2003. It’s been the longest drought in the long coaching career of Lou Giani, who had never gone longer than one season between crowns.
Huntington has been underrated all year long, and only recently began to rise in the weekly Division I poll conducted by the New York State Sportswriters’ Association, last week sitting at No. 22. But, in the last two weeks, the Blue Devils’ stock is clearly ascending.
Against Sayville, Jayson Santiago (152 lbs.) put Huntington’s first points on the board when he won an exciting 5-4 decision. Anthony Lupi (160 lbs.) followed with a 10-2 major decision to give the Blue Devils a short-lived 7-4 lead. The Golden Flashes tied the score with a 9-5 decision at 171 lbs.
Huntington then reeled over five straight victories as Chris Sandoval won 6-1 at 189 lbs. and Dashaun Thomas (1:40), Nigel McNeil (2:50) and Jose Vasquez (1:27) followed with three consecutive pins at 215, 103 and 112 lbs. Francisco Pereira capped the run with a technical fall at 119 lbs. in 5:17 to effectively put the meet out of reach at 33-7.
Omar Santiago (6-3) and Guillermo Dominguez (3-1) closed out the Blue Devils scoring, earning decisions at 130 and 135 lbs, respectively. “We were really up for the match,” Giani said. “The kids wrestled as close to a perfect meet as a team can.”
The crowd, which reacted to every single point, took delight in Huntington’s victory, which capped off a perfect 10-0 dual meet season. “We built up a lot of momentum by winning all those weights,” Giani said. “It was a great match for us.”
Huntington’s attention is now set on the League V tournament this coming Saturday at Islip. Wrestling begins at 9:30 a.m. and continues throughout the day. The finals are slated for late afternoon. The Blue Devils haven’t won the league tournament since 2001.
Blue Devil Notes: Lou Giani’s career coaching mark is now 436-36-1 . . . Giani is 230-15 in league dual meets . . . Pereira is 32-1 this winter and 135-24 for his career . . . Only Steven Palacios (137) and Stephan Sair (136) have more victories in Huntington wrestling history.
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