Blue Devils in County Dual Meet Wrestling Tournament
january 18, 2023
The Huntington varsity wrestling team will battle Islip this afternoon in the Section XI dual meet wrestling tournament at Patchogue-Medford at 4:30 p.m. To purchase tickets, go to: https://gofan.co/app/school/NYSPHSAAXI.
The winner of the match between No. 11 Huntington and No. 6 Islip will face the winner of No. 3 Patchogue-Medford vs. No. 14 Smithtown West, who will wrestle on a second mat alongside the Blue Devils. The second meet will be held at 6:30 p.m. immediately following the first one.
Huntington qualified for the county dual meet tournament by finishing second in the league dual meet standings. The Blue Devils fell to Northport last Friday in Louis D. Giani Gymnasium. The victory gave Northport the league title.
A crowd of about 250 turned out to see Huntington battle the Tigers, who won the first five matches to grab a 20-0 lead. Max Casiano ignited the Blue Devils’ comeback with an 8-3 decision at 160 lbs. Christian St. John followed with a 34 second pin at 172 lbs. and Zachary Zboray followed that with a pin in 3:35 to narrow Huntington’s deficit to 20-15.
Joe Algieri put the Blue Devils ahead 21-20 with a pin in 1:48 at 215 lbs. Northport responded with a pin in 2:59 at 285 lbs. The loss was even costlier than usual after Huntington was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct call that cost the team one point in the meet score.
Trailing 26-20, Huntington’s Walter Kusterbeck got a pin in 2:53 at 102 lbs. to even the score at 26-26. Northport followed with another pin at 110 lbs. to go back ahead 32-26. Jon Granito closed out the meet with a pin in 2:59 at 118 lbs. for the Blue Devils.
With the score knotted at 32-32 the outcome was decided by the tiebreaker criteria listed in the national rulebook. Tiebreaker criteria No. 1 stipulates: “The team whose opposing wrestlers or team personnel has been penalized the greater number of team points for flagrant misconduct or unsportsmanlike conduct shall be declared the winner.” With Huntington being hit with the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during the match, Northport was declared the winner.
At the Kohl Invitational at Suffern High School last Saturday, the Blue Devils finished sixth in a field of 11 teams with 108.5 points. Jon Granito (118 lbs.) and Zach Zboray (172 lbs.) finished second in their respective weight classes. Walter Kusterbeck (102 lbs.) placed third and Enzo Pupillo (132 lbs.) was fourth.