Joe Petrone, Ryan Baker, George Morris and Tazedon Smith all finished second in their respective weight class to lead the Blue Devil wrestling in last Saturday’s season-opening tournament held in Louis D. Giani Gymnasium.
Petrone pinned a pair of foes en route to a second place finish at 99 lbs. Baker also flattened two opponents on his way to placing second at 138 lbs. Morris looked sharp while wrestling to a runner-up performance at 145 lbs. Smith took a pin and decision before dropping an exciting 8-6 verdict in the finals at 220 lbs.
Aidan McCooey (182 lbs.) and Kerwin Valette-Toirac (285 lbs.) both took third place in their respective weight class. Valette-Toirac won an ultimate tiebreaker overtime bout in the consolation finals.
William Mejia placed fourth at 160 lbs. with a pin and a decision. Eighth grader Robbie Smith pinned two opponents and placed fifth at 155 lbs. Anthony Martin (170 lbs.) and Chas Forte (195 lbs.) also finished fifth. Forte won a thrilling four overtime match early in the tournament.
Liam Lennon (106 lbs.), Jaiden Erickson (120 lbs.), Charlie O’Rourke (132 lbs.) and Sebastian Abreu (182 lbs.) each took sixth place.
Final team scoring: 1. Kings Park: 273.5; 2. Grand Street Campus-New York City: 215; 3. Farmingdale: 213; 4. Port Jefferson: 205.5; 5. Huntington: 177; 6. Patchogue-Medford: 142; 7. Comsewogue: 130.5.
Nick Inman Lifts H-ton Boys’ Basketball to Victory
The Huntington boys’ basketball team won its season opener on Friday night, topping Commack, 62-58 at Kings Park.
Senior Nick Inman led the Blue Devils with 20 points. Mekhi Harvey dropped 17 points, including three 3-pointers and Nat Amato added 16 points.
“I did my part, but the team really stepped up tonight,” Inman said. “The key to the victory was playing tough on defense.”
Huntington’s well-balanced offense included seven points from Mike Abbondandelo. Gerard Federici also connected for two points. The two seniors are the team’s captains this winter.
The Blue Devil hardcourt squad also includes Freddie Amato, Jonah Anastos, Ian Ardell, Matt Girimonti, Ryan Gorecki, Jordan McCoy, Chad Rowe, John Tucker, Travis Robinson and Brendan Simpson.
The Blue Devils are coached by Brian Carey and Kevin Thorbourne.
New Girls’ Winter Track Coaches
The Huntington varsity girls’ winter track and field team has two new coaches. Mark Jackson is head coach and Bob Nill is the assistant coach. The duo took over from Debra Cheskes, who is on a child care related leave of absence from her high school teaching position and Shawn Anderson, who moved to Maine to begin a teaching career. Cheskes had been head coach for many years and Anderson was her assistant.
This past fall, Nill coached Huntington varsity boys’ cross country team. Jackson was the coached of J. Taylor Finley Middle School’s co-ed cross country team.
JV Boys’ Hardcourt Team is Ready
Patrick Reilly is in his first season as the head coach of the Huntington High School boys’ junior varsity basketball team. The Blue Devil alum will head into battle this winter with a 15 man roster
The JV squad includes eighth graders Dylan Coleman, Max Rentsch and Clayton Ward II; freshmen Adrian Brooks, Darrius Harris and Charles Kiviat and sophomores Mason Brewster, Traven Bryant, Ulixis Colato, Daniel Danziger, Jonathan Koumas, Ethan Mulroy, Nathan Soric, Omari Stephen and Michael Wright.
The Blue Devil JV will participate in a scrimmage at Walt Whitman next Saturday at 10 a.m. Huntington plays its first game of the season on Saturday, December 16 when it hosts Northport at home at 12 noon in a non-league contest. The league opener is set for Tuesday, December 19 at home against Smithtown West at 4 p.m.
Abbondandelo Wins 1500m to Pace Huntington Girls
The Huntington varsity girls’ winter track and field team opened its season early Sunday morning at a Section XI crossover meet at Suffolk-West in Brentwood.
Nicole Abbondandelo (5:04.98) and Hadley Clayton (5:05.47) put on a show for the crowd, finishing 1-2 in the 1500m run. Nicole Arenth was second in the 800m race-walk in a time of 3:58.93.
In the 600m run, Sophie Dellecave (1:49.92) and Alexandra McKenzie (1:53.20) placed fourth and eighth, respectively. Nephar Durand took eighth in shot put with a toss that measured 28-06.50 feet.
Huntington won the 4x400m relay behind strong efforts from Abbondandelo, Clayton, Dellecave and Catie Ricciardelli. The four fabulous athletes circled the track four times in 4:29.60.
Blue Devil Boys’ Winter Track Captains
The Huntington varsity boys’ winter track and field team will open the season this coming Saturday at the Nassau Coaches Invitational at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island.
The Blue Devil squad is led by seniors Sam Bergman, Michael Drake, Clayton Jamison and Brian Pierre who are serving as this year’s captains.
Ron Wilson and Eli Acosta are the team’s head coach and assistant coach, respectively. Throwing expert Haidee Ganz-Bonhurst serves as the program’s consultant
Finley-8 Football’s Magnificent Quarterback
The J. Taylor Finley Middle School eighth grade football team compiled a perfect 6-0 record this past fall season. The Falcon squad was quarterbacked by the magnificent Kevin Drake.
“Kevin is an outstanding quarterback who can stay in the pocket or thrown on the run,” said Ronald Wilson, Finley’s head coach. “We were very pleased with his ability to handle everything we put in at this level. He made great reads and decisions, which accounted for our success offensively.”
Drake completed 28 of 41 passes for 670 yards and eight touchdowns. He threw only one interception. He also rushed eight times for 41 yards.
Huntington JV Girls’ Basketball Ready
The Blue Devil JV girls’ basketball team is ready for the season. The roster includes eighth graders Katie Browne, Theadora Carnesi, Makaylah Frazier, Emily Plachta, Regan Sansiviero and Shaneek Shand, freshmen Alexa Amorison, Giavanna Devoe, Julia Gorecki, Kemberlin Hernandez-Veliz and Lisa Martin and sophomore Brooke Biernacki and Grace Heuwetter.
The team opens the season with a non-league home game against Comsewogue on Tuesday night at 6:15 p.m. Perry Marinelli is in his first season as head coach.
Blue Devil Girls’ Winter Track Captains
Huntington’s splendid varsity girls’ winter track and field team is captained by seniors Nicole Abbondandelo, Nicole Arenth, Alliy McKenzie, Mardnie Mentor and Catie Ricciardelli.
All five of the captains are central to the Blue Devils line-up and they all sparkled in the first crossover meet of the season this past Sunday morning.
Blue Devil Girls’ Excel at Frosh/Soph Championships
Rookie head coach Beth Vogelsang implemented her “go for gold and pave the way for the future” philosophy at the Section XI girls’ cross country frosh-soph championships at Sunken Meadow State Park.
“We did very well in the 2.8 mile race,” Vogelsang said. Freshman Ella Siepel finished 17th in a field of 62 in a time of 20:39.38 a mere seven seconds shy of her personal best. The swift performance earned the teenager a medal and a t-shirt. Freshman Kaylee Dammers posted a personal best time of 20:53.61 to place 22nd. Diya Rai-Gersappe captured a medal after finishing in a time of 23:39.73, her best effort of the season.
