Arceri & Lupi Capture
County Mat Titles
John Arceri and Nick Lupi added a new chapter to Huntington High School's storied wrestling tradition when the pair captured county mat titles at the Section XI. The Blue Devil stars will now advance to the state tournament in Albany next weekend.
Huntington's Anthony Puca finished second at 285 lbs. and Corey Jamison placed fourth at 126 lbs. The Blue Devils were fifth in the team standings with 96.5 points, trailing only Sachem East (156), East Islip (138), Rocky Point (118) and Brentwood (111) among Suffolk Division I schools.
Arceri improved his season mark to 36-2 with four consecutive victories at 99 lbs., capped off by a stunning 9-3 decision of Eastport-South Manor's John Busiello. The talented Huntington freshman used a devastating shrug and suffocating ride to completely dominate the finals and send Blue Devil fans into delirium.
"Johnny was great tonight," Huntington assistant coach Travis Smith said. "He came out strong and gave us six minutes of hard wrestling. He never let up, never took the pressure off. He wrestled like a champion today."
Lupi in a Zone
Lupi was in a special zone, too. The senior gained an early takedown to take a 2-0 lead in the 220 lb. finals. Successive escapes by Sachem North's Steven Mills tied the score at 2-2 before a third period escape by Lupi (31-1) proved to be the winning point.
Puca never really got started in the 285 lb. championship bout. The junior was trying to settle into the bout when Smithtown West's Mike Hughes struck suddenly, flipping Puca (31-3) to his back and locking him up tight for a quick 34-second pin.
Arceri reached the championship match by winning three straight decisions in earlier rounds. The teenager topped Brentwood's T.J. Burrowes in the opening round, 6-0 and then won an 8-0 major decision over John Glenn's Zach Ancewicz. Arceri outlasted East Islip's Jesse Dellavecchia in the semi-finals in triple overtime, 2-1 in one of the most dramatic matches of the tournament.
Lupi reached the finals after pinning Patchogue-Medford's Carlos Rossy in 3:25, grabbing a 13-6 decision over Rocky Point's Sean Ferguson and edging Sachem East's John Vigh in the semi-finals, 8-5. "Nick had an outstanding tournament and did everything we asked of him," Smith said. "He executed our match plan perfectly in the finals."
Puca had a pair of pins and a triple overtime decision in the three matches leading up to the finals. He pinned Deer Park's Valter Piccini in 43-seconds and then flattened Commack's Ali Halimi in 3:07. Puca then nipped East Islip's Dan Hayden in the semi-finals in three overtimes, 3-2.
Jamison Finishes Fourth
Jamison, a defending Suffolk champion, captured a first round 16-0 technical fall over William Floyd's Tom Perkins and then upset top-seeded T.J. Fabian of Shoreham-Wading River, 4-3 in one of the most thrilling matches of the competition. The sophomore appeared headed to the finals, leading Eastport-South Manor's Jimmy Leach, 1-0 with less than 10 seconds remaining in the bout, before Leach escaped and took down the Blue Devil star to grab a 3-1 decision.
In the consolation round, Jamison topped Brentwood's B.J. Jackson, 5-0 before losing a rematch with Fabian in the bout for third place, 2-0.
Six other Blue Devils were knocked out of the tournament in earlier rounds, including:
• Kyle Mock (99 lbs.) dropped bouts to East Islip's Jesse Dellavecchia (pin in 4:33) and Brentwood's Carlos Aucancela (17-1 technical fall).
• William Thomas (120 lbs.) lost to Patchogue-Medford's Andrew Jankowki, 9-6.
• Jorge Vilella (138 lbs.) was nipped by Copiague's Mike Illicete, 2-1.
• Brandon Mendez (145 lbs.) topped William Floyd's Tom Gerle, 11-7 before pinning Rocky Point's Nick Accardi in 2:25. Mendez then lost 6-3 to Deer Park's Zach Lugo and dropped a 7-2 decision to Half Hollow Hills West's Matt Haenel.
• Joe Puca (152 lbs.) lost to Sachem East's Michael Pistone, 15-7 and then dropped a wild 28-17 decision to Rocky Point's Connor O'Gallagher. The 45 points scored in the match is all the more impressive since consolation round bouts are just five minutes in length rather than the six minutes of championship round matches.
• John Mallouk (160 lbs.) was edged by East Islip's Zak Smalls, 2-0.
As Section XI champions, Arceri and Lupi automatically qualified for the New York State Intersectional Tournament in Albany on Friday-Saturday, February 22-23. Puca is also hopeful that he will be awarded a wildcard entry into the state competition, which will be at the Times Union Center.
Blue Devil Notes: Huntington state champions Charlie Gadson, Gene McNeil and Damon McQueen were in the stands for the finals . . . Huntington School Board members Xavier Palacios and Rich McGrath and Superintendent James W. Polansky also attended the finals.