Huntington Wrestling Continues Its Upswing

Two years into the tenure of varsity head coach Andy Marlow, the Huntington wrestling program is continuing its upswing, improving its score in the league tournament by 42.5 points and in the county tournament by 26 points. The Blue Devils produced four All-League wrestlers in 2025 and 10 earlier this month.

Huntington’s goals remain the same: league, county and state championships. The athletic department and coaching staff as well as the wrestlers themselves and their parents are all completely committed to developing the best team in Suffolk.

The core of Huntington’s team is still young, but many of the varsity starters appear to have turned the corner as mainstays in the lineup. The underclassmen include eighth grader Jason Bencivenga (13 wins), sophomores Chris Granito (28 wins), Dante Francis (19 wins), Charlie Cirlincione (18 wins), Rasiere Blizzard (15 wins), Kingsley Evans (24 wins) and Danny Cabrera (19 wins) and juniors Joe Conklin (28 wins) and Jose Quintanilla (16 wins).

Eighth grader Freddy Flores (8 wins), freshman Shane LeGrow (7 wins) and sophomores Jose Gonzales (10 wins) and Orestis Tsolakakis (6 wins) also showed promise in limited varsity action. Freshman Luca Garcia has also caught the eye of coaches.

There are several promising younger wrestlers who competed mainly on the JV this winter, but who have already been identified by the coaches as possible, if not probable varsity starters next year.

Huntington will be losing seniors Vincent Pupillo (30-10 record), who was the league runner-up and who finished fourth in the county tournament. Gevonne Henderson (27-12), Walter Kusterbeck (18-9) and Will Peters (18-12) will also be graduating in June. All of them garnered All-League honors for the Blue Devils this season.

Within hours of the conclusion of the county tournament, several Huntington wrestlers were back on the mat training at local facilities. Many have already returned to the high school wrestling room for workouts.

Plans are taking shape for summer camps and tournaments as well as workouts at the high school. One group of about 10 wrestlers has committed to training for one hour day three times a week at 5:30 a.m. at the high school. There will be other workout opportunities later in the day in the same room for other members of the program.

The coaches are also looking at several Finley wrestlers who might be able to make the jump all the way to the varsity level next year. A 200 lb. freshman who transferred to Huntington from North Carolina is also sure to be welcomed into the wrestling fold.

The Huntington practice room is packed with strength and conditioning equipment to a degree that few other wrestling programs can match it. There are also three modern workout rooms in the high school gym area.

The Blue Devils expect to once again host their own tournament in early December. They may swap out an existing January tournament on Long Island for one in Westchester, Rockland, Orange or Putnam counties.

One of the team’s goals for 2027 will be to qualify for the Section XI dual meet tournament. That will give the Blue Devil wrestlers extra matches, which should help with seeding later in the season.

Marlow has been involved in wrestling for more than 40 years and he’s extremely knowledgeable and competitive. “I really do believe we have one of the absolute best coaches on Long Island, if not the state in Andy Marlow,” athletic director Jim Hoops said. “He’s a student of the sport and is always looking to improve upon his craft from technique and strategy to practice drills and training methods. He watches an awful lot of film from all over the country to keep up with the latest and best. I have full confidence that he is going to get us to where we all want to go.”

A team awards dinner celebrating the success achieved this season is planned for next month at the American Legion in Halesite.