The Huntington wrestling team coasted to victory at the Louis D. Giani Invitational tournament last Sunday. The Blue Devils amassed 256.5 points to outdistance Kings Park, St. Anthony’s, Port Jefferson, Roslyn and Massapequa.
Huntington’s Robbie Smith pinned all five opponents he faced at 215 lbs. The senior spent a total of 4:39 on the mat in the five matches. The feat garnered the teenager the tournament’s Most Pins in the Least Amount of Time Award.
A round robin format was utilized so all wrestlers vied in five matches during the tournament.
Huntington’s wrestlers fared well. Blue Devil coaches Travis Smith, Mike Marinello and Jamie St. John liked what they saw and were happy to win despite two starters being out of the lineup for separate reasons.
Here’s a summary of how the Blue Devils performed:
102 lbs.: Eighth grader Walter Kusterbeck had two pins in 3:51 and 1:05 en route to a fourth place finish in his first high school competition.
110 lbs.: Jonathan Granito notched a pair of falls in 0:23 and 0:49 to finish in second place.
118 lbs.: Lucas Cirlincione had pins in 3:25 and 1:09 and a 17-0 technical fall to capture first place.
126 lbs.: Sam Nicotra won four matches, including pins in 0:45, 0:25 and 0:16 to place second.
132 lbs.: Enzo Pupillo pinned three foes in 0:55, 1:02 and 0:20 to finish in second place.
138 lbs.: Dante Salgado had pins in 1:03 and 0:36 and finished in second place.
145 lbs.: Brett Bender had a pin in 0:49 and placed fifth.
152 lbs.: Christian St. John battled to a 10-2 major decision and had pins in 2:17 and 0:44 to finish in second place.
160 lbs.: Zachary Zboray captured first place with pins in 1:10, 1:42, 1:06 and 1:13.
189 lbs.: Lucas Petrizzi won all four of his matches by pin in times of 1:05, 3:51, 0:51 and 1:30. An injury prevented him from competing in the fifth match of the day, but he did take second place.
215 lbs.: Robbie Smith had pins in 0:29, 0:30, 3:08, 0:07 and 0:25 to win first place. Liam McDonald finished in second place after pinning four opponents in 1:15, 1:17, 0:20 and 0:26.
285 lbs.: Kaleef Riley used five pins in 0:26, 0:30, 0:25, 4:18 and 0:28 to grab first place honors.
285 lbs.: Raseac Caleb finished fourth with pins in 2:19 and 1:37.
Final standings: 1. Huntington: 256.5; 2. Kings Park: 183.5; 3. St. Anthony’s: 122.0; 4. Port Jefferson: 112.0; 5. Roslyn: 103.0; 6. Massapequa: 74.5.
