Arceri Falls in State Wrestling Tournament
It just wasn’t John Arceri’s day. The Huntington High School sophomore dropped a pair of decisions last Friday in the state wrestling tournament at the Times Union Center in Albany, knocking him out of the competition.
The Blue Devil mat star, who won his second consecutive Suffolk wrestling title two weeks ago, found himself in one of the state tournament’s toughest weight classes. “It wasn’t a case of Johnny wrestling poorly,” said Travis T. Smith, Huntington’s first year head coach. “The 113 lb. weight class was really loaded this year.”
Arceri lost a first round match to Kenmore West (Buffalo area) sophomore Anthony Argentieri, 4-3. The Huntington teenager trailed 3-0 heading into the final two minutes before staging a rally that tied the score. Arceri escaped for a point and then hit a fireman’s carry for a takedown to knot the score at 3-all.
Argentieri escaped with 30 seconds remaining to take a one-point lead, 4-3. Arceri spent the final moments of the match trying desperately for what would have been a winning takedown.
Thrown into the consolation bracket, Arceri was upended by Pine Bush (Hudson Valley area) senior John Stramiello in a tough battle, 5-2. The loss knocked the Huntington star out of the state tournament.
Arceri is a hardnosed competitor and any loss doesn’t sit well with the Blue Devil grappler, regardless of the circumstances. He compiled a 35-3 mark this winter and is 101-19 over the past three seasons. He is the only Huntington freshman to ever win a Suffolk wrestling crown.
“At this point, all we can do is look toward the future,” Smith said. “Johnny has two more seasons with us. That’s two more opportunities to win county and state titles. He is a very hard worker. It won’t be long before he’s training again. He’ll get past this and come back stronger than ever.”