This year’s Huntington High School wrestling team is expected to be vastly improved as last winter’s young group returns stronger and more skilled.
Practices across Suffolk kicked off this week. The high school wrestling room was outfitted with a new mat for the season. The cost of the mat was largely underwritten by the Huntington Booster Club with the remaining funds coming through a district budget appropriation.
The mat has circle markings designed for practice drilling and also includes a regulation size competitive area with out of bounds and inner circles.
Louis R. Giani is now in his second season as the Huntington varsity wrestling tam's head coach. (Darin Reed photo.)
The entire coaching staff has returned intact from last season. It includes head coach Louis R. Giani and assistant coaches Kieran Mock, Omar Santiago and David Bergmann. Mike Marinello and Travis Smith will once again coach the mat team at J. Taylor Finley Middle School.
Giani is the son and grandson of Huntington wrestling legends. His father, Lou D. Giani, Jr. won 1973 county and state championships for the Blue Devils. His grandfather was Huntington’s head wrestling coach for 38 seasons, compiling a record of 416-32.
Lou D. Giani, Sr. is one of a handful of high school coaches enshrined in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He won a 1959 Pan Am Games gold medal and represented the USA in the 1960 Olympics in Rome
Mock won the 1982 county and state championships for the Blue Devils. Santiago was a Suffolk runner-up in 2009. Bergman also wrestled for Huntington, graduating in 2001 and going on to earn a degree at Pratt Institute in construction management.
Giani was the county runner-up at 152 lbs. in 2000 as a senior. He went on to compete at SUNY Brockport and earned a master’s degree at Stony Brook University. He teaches physical education at Flower Hill Primary School.
Mock was Huntington’s head coach from 2008/09 to 2012/13 compiling a record of 42-16 over five seasons. He was an assistant coach for the past four seasons. He wrestled at Drake University, Hofstra University and SUNY Brockport, graduating from the latter with a BS degree in finance.
Santiago wrestled at SUNY Oswego, graduating with a BS degree in technology education in 2014. He taught in Freeport for a year before joining Huntington’s faculty in September 2016. He coached wrestling at Finley last winter.
Bergmann owns a local landscaping maintenance and design business. He also volunteers in Huntington’s youth wrestling program, in which his own son participates.
Giani’s grandfather was Huntington’s first county champion and his father was the Blue Devils’ first state champ. His uncle, Joe was the program’s first NCAA champion when he won the 150 lb. title for SUNY Brockport, where he was a three-time All-American.
Top wrestlers return to the mats
Huntington is coming off a season that saw the Blue Devils win four dual meets and finish sixth in the league tournament. All-League wrestlers Joe Petrone (21-8), William Burton (9-10), Aedan McDonald (20-15) and Tazadon Smith (18-11) are returning this winter.
Petrone led Huntington in pins and he compiled the most team points. Burton was injured early in the year, but returned to post series of well-wrestled wins. McDonald was competitive throughout the season and Smith just missed notching All-County honors.
Last year’s squad was comprised of predominately freshmen and sophomores. “There were only two seniors on the team, who were out for a portion of the season with injuries,” Giani said.
Freshman Robbie Smith is another Huntington wrestler to watch. He showed flashes of becoming something special last winter when he wrestled in a series of varsity matches as an eighth grader.
The top eighth graders on last year’s J. Taylor Finley Middle School wrestling are now freshmen and eligible to join the high school program The group includes Lucas Cirlincione, Emmanuel Mejia, Ryan Porzio, Lucas Petrizzi and Rich Zboray.
Huntington sent five wrestlers to last year’s Section XI tournament. The Blue Devils finished fifth in their own tournament, eighth in the Kohl tournament at Suffern and the Jim Wilson Duals at Minisink Valley, third in the Northport Holiday Duals, fifth in the league dual meet standings and sixth in the league tournament.
