Joe Petrone and Tazadon Smith battled their way to All-County honors at the Section XI Division I wrestling tournament at Suffolk-West in Brentwood last weekend.
The Blue Devils sent six wrestlers into the county tournament and all of them won at least one match in the competition, which played out over Saturday and Sunday in a fieldhouse on the campus. Huntington finished 23rd in the team standings with 45.5 points.
Petrone placed fifth at 99 lbs. and Smith was third at 220 lbs. Billy Burton, Samir Rathore, Aedan McDonald and Robbie Smith also competed in the tournament and all won bouts before being eliminated.
Petrone topped Connetquot’s Miguel Lozano by technical fall, 16-0 in a preliminary round match before falling to second seeded Vincent Ziccardi of Kings Park, 3-0 in the first round. The sophomore then won four matches in the consolation bracket, edging Miller Place’s Michael Giugliano, 7-0, Rocky Point’s Nick Lamorte, 13-1 and Sayville’s Mack Murtha, 5-2. He then dropped another 3-0 decision to Ziccardi before toppling Bellport’s Wyatt Gentzel for fifth place, 4-0.
Tazadon Smith’s county tournament experience was on the surreal side. The junior had a first round bye before pinning Half Hollow Hills West’s Henrick Pierre-Louis in 3:08. Smith then grabbed a 6-4 decision over William Floyd’s Norris Robinson to advance to Saturday morning’s semifinals.
Tied 4-4 with Patchogue-Medford’s Dylan Gianikos in the semifinals, Smith had his foe up in the air and appeared on the verge of a takedown when the fire alarm sounded at Suffolk-West and necessitated the building’s evacuation. When wrestling resumed about 45 minutes later, Gianikos took down Smith and rode him out for a 6-4 decision. Gianikos went on to win the county championship with a 5-2 decision of Lindenhurst’s Jeff Perez in the Section XI finals.
Smith won a pair of matches in the consolation bracket, besting Sachem East’s Angel Pineda, 14-5 and then pinning Centereach’s Christopher Powell in 1:20 for third place. Smith has a shot at gaining a wild card berth in the state championships.
In other action for the Blue Devils:
- Billy Burton nipped Eastport-South Manor’s Ryan Obert-Thorn, 1-0 in the first round at 106 lbs. before falling to Miller Place’s Alexander Constantis in the quarterfinals, 6-2. Burton then dropped a 4-3 decision to Lindenhurst’s Sean Lennon in the consolation bracket.
- Samir Rathore edged Kings Park’s Vincent Stazzone in a preliminary round bout at 120 lbs., 6-4 before falling to Smithtown West’s Nick Germano, 10-0. Rathore was then pinned by Connetquot’s Steven Wilkinson in the consolation bracket in 4:40.
- Aedan McDonald pinned Westhampton Beach’s Suraj Patel in 3:00 in a preliminary round bout. McDonald then fell to Hauppauge’s Anthony Dibartolo by technical fall, 24-8. The junior then dropped an 8-4 decision to Sachem East’s Trevor Murray in the consolation bracket.
- Robbie Smith won a tight 4-3 decision over Sachem East’s Ryan Paolella in a preliminary round match before being pinned in 4:36 by Eastport-South Manor’s Joseph Gannone. Smith fell in the consolation bracket to Riverhead’s Lawrence Bishop, 5-2.
