John Arceri Captures
Suffolk Wrestling Title
Trailing late in the third period, John Arceri rallied to tie the score and then notched a decisive takedown early in overtime to capture the Suffolk Division I wrestling championship at Hofstra University’s David S. Mack Sports Complex. It was the Huntington High School sophomore’s second county mat crown in as many years.
Arceri’s upset of top-seeded Joe Calderone of Walt Whitman sent shock waves through the arena, but it did not come as a surprise to Blue Devil head coach Travis Smith. “Johnny is an incredibly hard worker who doesn’t get rattled, he keeps coming at you with everything he has,” Smith said.
Huntington finished 11th out of 43 schools in the team standings with 81 points. Sachem East won the team title with 143.5 points, edging John H. Glenn, which finished with 139. All seven Blue Devil wrestlers that qualified for the tournament won at least one match in the two-day competition.
Corey Jamison (5th at 126 lbs.), Joe Puca (4th at 152 lbs.) and Anthony Puca (4th at 220 lbs.) joined Arceri in battling their way to All-County honors by placing in the top six of their respective weight class.
Arceri won four close decisions. He topped John Glenn’s Andrew Friedman in the first round, 7-0 and then defeated North Babylon’s Anthony Sobotker in the quarterfinals in overtime, 6-1. The teenager nipped Riverhead’s Ed Matyka in the semifinal round, 3-2.
Calderone and Arceri, who won the 99 lb. county crown last winter as a freshman, were scoreless in the finals until the third period when the Whitman senior executed a two point reversal to take a 2-0 lead. Arceri tied the score near the end of regulation when Calderone was penalized twice for stalling. The Huntington star won the match with a clear-cut takedown early in overtime to improve his season record to 35-1with nine pins.
“It was a great win against a very tough opponent,” Smith said. “Johnny kept his focus and never got down. He found a way to win.” Arceri will compete in the state tournament on February 28-March 1 at the Times Union Center in Albany.
Four matmen reach semifinals
Jamison won is first round by taking an 11-4 decision over Connetquot’s Ton Repalone. The senior then shutout Hauppauge’s Austin Munro, 3-0 to advance to the semifinals where he dropped a 3-0 verdict to Commack’s Mike D’Angelo. Jamison (32-5 with 12 technical falls) fell 3-1 in the wrestle-backs to Newfield’s Nick Nieves before edging Munro again, this time for fifth place, 5-0.
Joe Puca pinned his first two opponents, flattening Sayville’s Sean Seibert in 2:12 and then decking Smithtown East’s Will Outcault in 4:20. The sophomore then lost a wild 11-9 semifinal decision to East Islip’s Dennis Ferro, who went on to win the 152 lb. Suffolk championship. Puca and Ferro exchanged points at an alarming rate, with the Huntington star battling to the final whistle.
Puca (31-5 with 21 pins) pinned John Glenn’s Derek O’Brien in 2:20 in the wrestle-back round before dropping a 19-8 decision to Connetquot’s Greg Chery and settling for fourth place.
Anthony Puca won his first three matches of the tournament, taking a 4-1 decision over Connetquot’s Brian Henn and an 11-0 major decision over Smithtown East’s Cole Vittoria. The Blue Devil senior then nipped William Floyd’s Devin Dorian in the quarterfinals, 3-2 before falling 1-0 in the semifinal round to Walt Whitman’s Vin Feola, the eventual 220 lb. county champion.
Puca (32-4 with 19 pins) topped Sachem North’s Anthony DiMatteo in a wrestle-back match, 4-2 before dropping a 3-1 decision in a rematch with Doran to finish in fourth place.
In other action, sophomore Kyle Mock (99 lbs.) pinned Brentwood’s Jesse Telles in 5:42 before losing a heartbreaking 4-2 overtime decision to Hauppauge’s Jake Silverstein in the quarterfinals. Mock (32-3 with 18 pins) then lost another close decision in the wrestle-backs, falling 6-4 to Half Hollow Hills East’s Phil Spadafora.
Sophomore Ethan Dwyer (99 lbs.) fought his way to a 3-2 overtime decision over Ward Melville’s Kenny Cracchiola in the preliminary round before dropping a 14-5 verdict to North Babylon’s Anthony Sparacio, the eventual county champ at the weight. Dwyer (25-14 with 10 pins) was knocked out of the tournament when he lost a tough 5-3 decision to John Glenn’s Sam Wieck in the wrestle-back round.
Junior Jorge Villela (145 lbs.) won a preliminary round 14-3 decision over Miller Place’s Jack Fischer before being eliminated from the tournament by Copiague’s Mike Illicete, who edged the Huntington junior, 3-0. Villela compiled a record of 18-8 with four pins this winter.
Blue Devil Notes: Suffolk League V proved to be formidable in the Section XI tournament as Rocky Point (third), Eastport-South Manor (seventh), Huntington (11th), Islip (12th) and Kings Park (13th) finished about the top teams . . . North Babylon (19th) and Northport (21st) are coached by Huntington High School alums Brian Uvena and Al Cicio, respectively . . . Arceri’s father, John, won the 138 lb. county and state championships in 1981 while wrestling for Ward Melville High School.