Arceri Follows in Father's Footsteps
When John Arceri takes the mat at the state wrestling championships in Albany this weekend, the Huntington High School freshman will be following in his father's footsteps.
Arceri, who is Huntington's first freshman county wrestling champion ever, will bring a 36-2 record into the Times Union Center for the New York State mat tournament. He is seeded No. 1 at 99 lbs.
The teenager is on a roll and has displayed a cool and collected disposition throughout the season, even during the most stressful situations and in matches where he faces long odds.
"Johnny doesn't get intimidated," said Travis Smith, Huntington's assistant coach. "He's very strong-willed and blocks out all the distractions that can get the better of many wrestlers.
Arceri has been wrestling his entire life, since even before he could walk. His father, also named John, was an undefeated (35-0) state champion for Ward Melville High School in 1981. The teenager comes to practice on-time, dressed and ready to go each day. There's never any drama surrounding him, never any excuses or any negativity, say teammates and coaches.
"He's been really great to coach," Smith said about his youngest star. Arceri doesn't draw attention to himself. He goes about his routine quietly. Known for his remarkable work ethic and his willingness to put in enormous hours training and competing in-and-out of season, the freshman has steadily climbed the ladder into the ranks of elite New York lightweights.
After attending St. Patrick's School through second grade, Arceri transferred into the Huntington School District and went to Washington Primary School for third grade, where teachers immediately took notice of his attitude and abilities. He was named Washington's Physical Education Student of the Year as a third grader.
"John gives you 100 percent all the time," Smith said. "He gives you everything he has. He's always doing what he's supposed to be doing. He understands that hard work is the price of success. He doesn't have to be hounded. He pushes himself."
Just as Washington School's physical education teachers saw something special in Arceri, so too did the Blue Devil wrestling coaches, who plucked him from J. Taylor Finley Middle School as a seventh grader and put him smack in the middle of the Huntington High School program. That first year he compiled an 8-12 varsity record, but showed flashes of the potential that is now increasingly being realized.
Last year Arceri went 28-12 as an eighth grader on the varsity and finished third in the league tournament. This year he has been nearly unstoppable, losing only to Eastport-South Manor's John Busiello, who he later defeated in the league and county finals and to Islip's John DiPalma when he was wrestling up a weight class and dropped a 3-2 overtime decision.
Arceri's father and uncle were both Suffolk champions at Ward Melville. John Arceri (the teenager's father) was voted the Section XI tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler in his senior year. He went on to win 13-0, 8-7, 9-0 and 6-1 decisions in the state tournament to claim the 138 lb. New York mat crown.
The Huntington star's uncle, Gerard Arceri, captured the Section XI title in 1982 at 177 lbs. He went on to finish third in the state tournament that same year. Gerard Arceri now lives in Head of the Harbor in St. James. He was at the league and county tournaments this year to watch his nephew claim first place in both competitions.
In addition to his father, who never misses a match, Arceri's close-knit family includes his mother, Julie, older sister Molly and younger sister Patricia. Molly won three straight Suffolk diving championships at Huntington High School and finished second in the state. She's now a freshman at Towson University, diving on the NCAA Division I team there on a scholarship.
While he doesn't have any career goals yet, Arceri knows he wants to wrestle at an NCAA Division I college and be a national champion. Impossible? "He's definitely driven," Smith said. "I don't think he can ever be counted out. Ever."