McQueen and Thomas Win County Mat Titles for Blue Devils
Huntington wrestler Damon McQueen pulled off the biggest reversal of his career, rebounding from a defeat in the Suffolk League V finals a week earlier to nip the same wrestler for the 96 lb. Section XI championship last Saturday night at Stony Brook University.
McQueen was joined on the victory stand by teammate Dashaun Thomas, who won four straight bouts to grab the 285 lb. county crown. Francisco Pereira finished second at 119 lbs. and Jose Vasquez and Nigel McNeil placed third and fourth, respectively at 103 lbs. to help Huntington amass 111 points to take third place out of 42 teams in Suffolk Division I.
McQueen lost 7-5 to Rocky Point’s Matt Ross in the league tournament finals on Feb. 9, but the Blue Devil was a different wrestler just a week later. In three tune-up matches last weekend he turned back Deer Park’s Damien Lugo, 6-2, battled to a 13-1 decision over fourth seeded Anthony Abiden of Half Hollow Hills East and then toppled top seeded Sean McCabe of Connetquot, 5-3 in an exciting semifinal bout.
In the finals, McQueen (28-1) fell behind before surprising many in the crowd of 3,000 by storming back to take a late lead and then holding on for a 4-3 upset of Ross (35-4), who was seeded second in the tournament.
Thomas (37-3) used three pins, including a first period fall over top seeded Reggie Robinson (32-4) of Amityville in the finals to earn his first county title and a trip to the state tournament in Rochester next month.
His march to glory started with a 39-second first round pin of Deer Park’s Joseph Mayer and followed with a 5-1 decision over Centereach’s Matt Perchetti and a 2:57 pin of Commack’s Mike Levine in the semifinals.
In the finals, Thomas used an upper body throw midway through the first period to get Robinson on his back, locking up the pin in 1:47. It was a stunning climax for Thomas, who competed at a lighter weight class for most of the year before the Huntington coaching staff bumped him up for the post-season.
“I thought the team did a great job,” head coach Lou Giani said. “Damon and Dashaun really came on and wrestled hard. Hopefully we will get two more kids through to the states on wild cards.”
Pereira (39-2) lost a hard fought 6-2 decision in the finals to Brentwood’s Ricardo Gomez (39-0), who controlled the match from the opening whistle. The Huntington senior had earlier grabbed 9-0, 8-0 and 5-2 decisions to advance to the championship match. He has his fingers crossed that he will be rewarded with a wild card entry to the state tournament when they are announced in a few days.
Jose Vasquez, who last year received the first wild card in Suffolk history and went on to place third in the state tournament, is looking for another wild card after losing in an upset in the semifinals to eventual 103 lb. champion Ken Collado of Hauppauge, 5-3. Vasquez came back to win a pair of consolation round matches to finish third in Suffolk and keep his hopes alive for a return upstate.
Nigel McNeil capped off a fine freshman season by finishing fourth at 103 lbs. McNeil won 7-3 and 5-0 decisions to advance to the semifinals, where he appeared headed to victory before surrendering a one point lead with about 15 seconds remaining and then losing the match, 9-8 to John Glenn’s second seeded Nick Meinsen, who went on the place second.
Just two years removed from the worst Huntington season in four decades, the Blue Devils are back in a big way.
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