The Huntington wrestling program has always won its championships by doing a small number of things very well. Robbie Smith proved this philosophy still holds true when the Huntington High School senior used hand control, a bar arm and a pair of beautifully executed double leg takedowns to capture the Section XI heavyweight mat championship by topping Bellport’s Jaiden Green in overtime, 5-3.
Smith’s county title combined with a fifth place finish by Lucas Cirlincione and a sixth place effort by Zachary Zboray lifted the Blue Devils to a top ten performance in the team standings.
Wrestling at 215 lbs. in his final county tournament, Smith won all four of his matches before a supportive crowd at Bay Shore High School.
Smith opened the tournament by pinning Longwood’s Mason Hauser in 1:56. He cruised past Sachem North’s Kevin Lazar, 4-0 in the quarterfinals and then edged Brentwood’s Gabriel Willins in the semifinals, 7-5.
Leading 3-2 in the finals, Smith was called for stalling with 13 seconds remaining in regulation, which tied the score at 3-3 and sent the match into overtime.
Just seconds into the extra period, Smith took his patented double leg shot, which better resembles a perfect football tackle. Down went Green and the county championship went to the Huntington great.
Smith is Huntington’s 86th county wrestling champion in a long line stretching back to the Blue Devil’s first; the legendary Lou Giani in 1953.
The teenager will wrestle for the state title on February 25-26 in Albany.
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Cirlincione won three matches en route to a fifth place finish at 110 lbs. to earn All-County honors. The senior bested Patchogue-Medford’s Mason Jacobellis, 9-6; pinned Sayville’s Matt Reina in 1:25 and shutout Smithtown East’s Tyler Visciano, 10-0.
Zboray also won three matches along with All-County recognition. The junior pinned Longwood’s Antonio Clark in 2:09; outlasted Sayville’s Ken Lopresti, 6-1 and dominated Lindenhurst’s Ryan Sims, 10-2 to finish in sixth place at 160 lbs.
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Three other Huntington wrestlers won matches in the two-day competition, helping Huntington amass 67 points and crack the top ten in the team standings for the first time in many years.
Max Casiano edged Riverhead’s Dominick Gambino, 9-6 and Miller Place’s Jacob Sasso, 10-3 at 145 lbs.
Kaleef Riley pinned Patchogue-Medford’s Michael DeSimone in 0:46 and then decked Sachem North’s Jonathan Anacreon in 1:52 at 285 lbs.
Raseac Caleb also pinned a pair of foes at 285 lbs. including Sachem East’s David Tejada in 2:58 and Lindenhurst’s Dan Dominquez in 2:10.
