Blue Devils Edge Hills West in Wild Finish, 33-30

There were plenty of thrills and chills last Friday night in Louis D. Giani Gymnasium as the Huntington and Half Hollow Hills West wrestling teams went at it under the huge spotlight that illuminated the mat. The Blue Devils came from behind to edge the Colts in the final dual meet of the season, 33-30.

The week saw many Huntington wrestlers missing practice time due to illness. While the Blue Devils had everyone back by Friday’s match time, many wrestlers weren’t at their best just yet as they were still recovering.

Huntington is in the midst of a complete rebuild of its wrestling program from Finley right through the varsity. First year varsity head coach Andy Marlow is excited about the team, especially all the promising young wrestlers. He knows it is going to take time for the group to mature, but success has come more quickly than many expected at the start of the season.

Marlow scheduled Hills West to expose the Blue Devils to something different. “Hills West was a worthy opponent,” Marlow said. “They are a team on the rise that features some good top position wrestlers and they had some success against us in that position.”

Huntington fell behind early when two of its most promising freshmen lost hard fought decisions. Dante Francis (116 lbs.) looked strong with a series of great takedown shots, but his attempt to win his 18th varsity match came up short, 9-6. Charlie Cirlincione (124 lbs.) followed with another wild match, of which he has had many this winter.

Cirlincione fell far behind before staging a furious rally, but it wasn’t enough as the first year varsity wrestler dropped a 13-9 decision. Freshman Rasiere Blizzard (131 lbs.) was next up and he won by forfeit to knot the score at 6-6.

Walter Kusterbeck (138 lbs.) shook off a week of sickness with a 13-3 major decision to improve his record to 28-5. The next bout at 145 lbs. was nothing short of wild. Huntington’s Eduardo Reyes and Hills West’s John Bholat engaged in a high scoring affair.

Trailing by a large margin, Reyes mounted an improbable comeback. Both wrestlers nearly pinned each other at various points of the match. With the score 16-16, Reyes was called for an illegal hands clasp at the buzzer to drop a 17-16 decision.

“Despite losing17-16, we were very impressed with Eduardo,” Marlow said. “He worked hard in practice all week and bumped up from 138 to 145 lbs. to try to keep us competitive in the meet. He stepped up to the occasion and gave us a back and forth slugfest only to lose on a technical violation in the closing seconds. I think Huntington fans can look for a lot of excitement from Reyes over the next two years.”

With the ultimate outcome still far from decided, Hills West’s David Uribe overwhelmed Joe Conklin at 152 lbs., pinning the Huntington sophomore in 1:31. Blue Devil junior Vince Pupillo (160 lbs.) led 3-0 on an early takedown, but Hills West’s Kade Diaz escaped and took down Pupillo in the third period to eke out a 4-3 decision.

Huntington’s Tom Smith (170 lbs.) won by forfeit to improve to 25-7. Blue Devil junior Will Peters (190 lbs.) was pinned in the next match in 2:31. Huntington’s Jose Quintanilla (215 lbs.) also won by forfeit.

With three matches remaining, Hills West led 24-22. Huntington senior Ethan Naima (285 lbs.) took the mat next and he went right after Hills West’s Kymani Moyd-Toney. The bout was exceptionally fast-paced for a super-heavyweight match. For most of the first period it appeared Moyd-Toney was on the verge of pinning Naima, but the Blue Devil held it off.

The second period saw a complete change of fortune with Naima pinning Moyd-Toney just 24 seconds into the period. The result brought dozens of fans to their feet to cheer Naima, who ran off the mat triumphantly after his tenth win this winter.

“Ethan really came up big and put us within striking distance to win the meet,” Marlow said. “He capitalized on his opponents’ elevator move on bottom, caught him on his back and settled in for the pin. It was a big win for Ethan and for Huntington.”

With Huntington ahead 28-24, seventh grader Jason Bencivenga (101 lbs.) took the mat looking for his 22nd win. But it wasn’t meant to be as Brett Levine pinned the future Blue Devil star in 1:52.

With one match left and Hills West back ahead, 30-28 all of Huntington’s hopes rested entirely on freshman Chris Granito (108 lbs.) and he didn’t disappoint.

“We had to win one of the final two bouts to secure the team victory and Chris Granito came through with a quick first period technical fall in surgical fashion,” Marlow said.

Granito (26-5) scored 15 points in just 1:26 to give Huntington a 33-30 victory in the final dual meet of 2025.

Huntington will now spend the next 12 days getting healthy and preparing for the Suffolk League III tournament at Smithtown East on Saturday, February 8.