Huntington Wrestlers Grab Two Dual Meets
The Huntington wrestling team went on an early tear against cross-town rival Harborfields, methodically building what ultimately became an insurmountable lead as the Blue Devils toppled the Tornadoes in a key Suffolk League V match-up, 41-18 before a crowd of 450 in Louis D. Giani Gymnasium.
Huntington received decisions from John McGrath, Damon McQueen, Nigel McNeil, Omar Santiago, T.J. Wilson, Louis Puca and Anthony Lupi and picked up pins from Marco Lagone, Kevin Mendez and Ryan Fox as the Blue Devils grabbed 10-of-13 matches to satisfy their loud fans.
“We wrestled well-controlled matches, didn’t panic when we were down and took advantage of our conditioning,” rookie head coach Kieran Mock said. McGrath (103 lbs.) trailed 2-0 until he rallied with less than 15 seconds remaining to pull out a close decision that electrified the team. Puca (160 lbs.) also won a tight 6-4 verdict in a match that featured some see-saw action and that had the crowd constantly on its feet.
Lupi (171 lbs.) started Huntington off with a well-wrestled 11-5 decision and Fox (189 lbs.) followed with a pin in 3:25 to put the Blue Devils ahead, 9-0 and the team never looked back.
The crowd was dotted with luminaries, from state court judges Robert Lifson and Dan Martin and town Maritime Director Harry Acker to former Blue Devil state champions Charlie Gadson and Stef Sair (Mock is also a Huntington state champ) and two-time All-State wrestler Jose Vasquez. Some fans danced to music following individual matches and others held up signs.
Two days later, Huntington stopped visiting Central Islip, 41-23 in a hard fought non-league battle. The Blue Devils rode to victory on decisions by McQueen and Fox, pins by Santiago, Wilson, Lupi and Maurice Loadholt and a technical fall by Puca. McNeil won by forfeit.
“Central Islip had some tough wrestlers in their line-up, so it was nice to get this victory,” Mock said. Another large crowd turned out for the match, cheering loudly whenever a Blue Devil scored.
Huntington’s Jack Castelli staged a late rally to send his match into overtime before dropping a 6-3 decision. “It was great to see that Jack had enough gas left in the tank to score when he needed to with just seconds left in regulation to tie the score,” Mock said.
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