Blue Devil Matmen Win Again at Home

The Huntington wrestling team notched its fifth dual meet win of the season, topping league opponent Copiague, 52-20 before a spirited crowd that included Superintendent Beth McCoy.

Huntington’s young team performed well. The lineup included four freshman and one seventh grader. There were a handful of sophomores and juniors and only two seniors.

Once again the new 50,000 lumens strong mat lamp illuminated the wrestling mat circle as the house lights were extinguished. Spectacular senior vocalist Josie Sullivan electrified the crowd with her uplifting rendition of The Star Spangled Banner. Glenn Deveau served as DJ, playing music throughout the evening. Drama club advisor and professional actor Michael Schwendemann was master of ceremonies and was entertaining in his own right.

Copiague forfeited matches to Jason Bencivenga (101 lbs.; 15-5 record), Jose Quintanilla (215) and Ethan Naima (285).

After Bencivenga took a forfeit, Chris Granito (18-1) followed at 108 lbs. by scoring 17 points and notching a technical fall is 1:45. Dante Francis (13-8) was up next at 116 lbs. and he overwhelmed his foe, methodically building a 19-4 lead to take a technical fall in 6:00.

Huntington went on to win six more matches, including pins by Walter Kusterbeck (131; 18-3), Vincent Pupillo (160; 16-5), Thomas Smith (170; 14-4) and Will Peters (190).

Charlie Cirlincione (124), Kingsley Evans (138), Joseph Conklin (145) and Milton Maldonado (152) all dropped hard fought matches.

“Granito, Kusterbeck, Pupillo and Smith have all been dialed in this year and have been working hard to earn bonus points,” first year head coach Andy Marlow said. “Bencivenga, Francis, Cirlincione, Evans and Conklin have all been improving steadily and showing strong promise. Brando Canas, Will Peters and Jose Quintanilla “are all working hard and wrestling tough.”

Huntington has also won two tournaments and finished second in a third. With such a young team and several wrestlers injured, the Blue Devils are performing above expectations. They’ve surprised Suffolk and appear to be very well-positioned to dominate in the near future.