Huntington Matmen Capture
Windsor Tournament
There was no stopping the Huntington High School wrestling team at the 58th Windsor Christmas Tournament outside of Binghamton. Five Blue Devils reached the finals with Ethan Dwyer and Brandon Mendez grappling to titles.
Propelled by a string of upsets, the Blue Devils won the team championship at what is billed as New York’s oldest continuously held mat tournament. This year’s two-day competition consisted of 29 teams and many of the state’s best wrestlers.
Joining Dwyer and Mendez in the finals were eventually runners-up John Arceri, Kyle Mock and Joe Puca. Ryan Mock won four consolation round matches to finish in fourth place at 99 lbs.
After pinning Colonie’s Nick Pfaff in the opening round in 1:33, Dwyer went on to top No. 5 Cody Ferrara of Bainbridge-Guilford/Afton/Harpursville in the quarterfinals, 2-0 and upset No. 1 Issac Cline of Homer in the semi-finals, 7-5. The Huntington junior pinned Deposit-Hancock’s third seeded Brandon Macumber in the finals in 5:21 to claim the 106 lb. title.
“Ethan had a great tournament,” said Travis Smith, Huntington’s head coach. “He pulled off some nice upsets and kept wrestling hard to the end of every match. This should give him a lot of confidence heading into the second half of the season.”
Mendez enjoyed a splendid tournament, too. His march to the finals included a 14-4 major decision in the first round and a 7-3 upset of No. 1 seeded Dayton Wickwire of Tonawanda. After winning his semi-final bout by injury default, the senior battled his way to an 8-5 decision over Spencer-Van Etten’s Joe Judge for the 160 lb. championship.
“Brandon was fantastic,” Smith said. “He really wrestled well in all his matches, especially in the finals. He was seeded eighth in the tournament, so his performance surprised a lot of teams, but we know how tough he can be and what he’s capable of on the mat.”
Arceri advanced to the finals with a technical fall in 3:25 and a 2-0 decision. The junior dropped a heartbreaking 3-1 decision in overtime to Bainbridge-Guilford/Afton/Harpursville’s Chris Cirigliano to place second at 113 lbs. “It was a tough loss, but Johnny should have no problem bouncing back,” Smith said.
After pinning his first round opponent in 1:22, Kyle Mock upset No. 1 seeded Dean Raymond of Deposit-Hancock by fall in 3:59. The junior reached the finals after capturing a 9-4 semi-final round decision. The teenager dropped a 4-1 verdict to Lansing’s Jimmy Overhiser to finish second at 120 lbs. “I thought Kyle wrestled great,” Smith said. “He had a very strong tournament.”
Puca won three straight matches (0:49 second pin, 13-1 major decision and 9-3 decision) before falling to Indian River’s No. 1 seed Sonny McPherson in the 170 lb. final, 6-1. “I thought that Joe looked good in each one of his matches,” Smith said. “We are very happy with how he has been wrestling.”
After dropping an opening round bout, Ryan Mock grabbed four straight victories in the wrestle-backs, including a 0:51 second pin and 4-0, 6-1 and 9-0 decisions. “It’s not easy to wrestle all the way back after losing in the first round, especially in the Windsor tournament,” Smith said.
Dwyer’s pin in the finals allowed Huntington to nip runner-up Norwich for the team title, 131.5-128. Indian River, Bainbridge-Guilford/Afton/Harpursville, Union-Endicott, Deposit-Hancock, Unatego, Walton, Susquehanna Valley and Colonie rounded out the top ten in the team standings.
“We were in fifth place after the first day, but our guys rose to the occasion with excellent performances on the second day,” Smith said. “Winning a 29 team tournament is a real achievement.”