Blue Devils Prep for League Tournament
The Huntington High School wrestling team turned in a second place finish in the 18th Big Ten Invitational at Albany High School last weekend. It was the Blue Devils’ final tune-up before the Suffolk League V tournament on Saturday at Eastport-South Manor High School.
Huntington pushed six wrestlers into the Big Ten Invitational finals and four battled their way to weight class championships. Five other wrestlers placed in the top six of their respective weight classes. “We had a very nice showing in the tournament,” Blue Devil head coach Travis Smith said. “Naturally we didn’t get every call that we wanted and some matches didn’t go as planned, but overall our guys did great.”
Kyle Mock, Corey Jamison, Joe Puca and Anthony Puca won weight class titles. John Arceri and Will Thomas finished second. Ethan Dwyer and Carlos Pereira placed third in their respective weight class. Oscar Romero and Hector Rubio both finished fifth and Shangel Bradshaw placed sixth.
Mock topped Burnt Hills’ Christian Gramuglia in the 99 lb. finals, 7-3. He advanced to the championship bout with a pair of pins, including one in the semifinals about five minutes into the match.
Jamison won by forfeit over Shaker’s Blake Retell in the 126 lb. finals. The junior won his first match of the day with a first period technical fall, which is not an easy feat to accomplish. He battled his way to another technical fall in the semi-finals, this one coming about halfway through the bout.
Joe Puca nipped Albany Academy’s Cameron Milliken in the 152 lb. finals, 7-6 as the Blue Devil sophomore’s superior conditioning kicked in. Puca had earlier taken a pair of first round pins.
Anthony Puca captured a 6-1overtime decision over Burnt Hills’ Nico Fragale in the championship round bout. Puca notched a takedown and three near fall points in overtime to claim his victory. He advanced to the finals after pinning his semi-final round foe midway through the second period.
Arceri appeared to be well on his way to winning the 113 lb. crown when Pine Bush’s John Stramiello was awarded two points for a takedown as time expired in the third period, tying the score at 3-3. The Huntington sophomore was upended 5-3 in overtime after another takedown call went against him.
After a day filled with several strong performances, Thomas fell 9-7 to Queensbury’s John Law in the 132 lb. final. The match was a back-and-forth affair through the entire six minutes. The Huntington sophomore reached the finals picking up a pin with a cradle in the semi-finals in 4:50. Thomas won his first match, 7-2 after scoring five points in the final 10 seconds.
After dropping a tough 2-0 decision, Dwyer stormed back to take third place at 106 lbs. as the sophomore outlasted Alex Lambert of Schalmont, 11-4. It was a strong finish for the teenager, who was wrestling up a weight class and giving away a substantial amount of weight to his opponents throughout the day.
Pereira edged Averill Park’s Derrick Gardner, 3-1 for third place at 145 lbs. Romero defeated Queensbury’s Jason Weiderhold, 9-0 for fifth place at 182 lbs. Rubio pinned Albany’s Jordan Kadio in 2:51 for fifth place at 285 lbs. Bradshaw fell to Averill Park’s Jeremy Flint, 5-1 and had to settle for sixth place at 160 lbs.
Final team scores: 1. Burnt Hills-202; 2. Huntington-189; 3. Schalmont-155; 4. Amsterdam-128; 5. Cobleskill-126; 6. Shaker-120; 7. Queensbury-109.5; 8. Pine Bush-105.5; 9. Averill Park-67.5; 10. Albany Academy-43.5; 11. Christian Brothers Academy-23; 12. Ravena-15; 13. Albany-13; 14. Schaoharie-12.
Huntington will compete in the Suffolk League V tournament on Saturday at Eastport-South Manor High School. Wrestling will begin at 9:30 a.m. and continue throughout the day.