Four Blue Devil Grapplers Win League Titles

Damon McQueen is either a very good actor or doesn't feel a bit of stress in situations that would cause anyone else's heart to pound. The Huntington High School senior strode expressionless onto the mat and toppled two-time Suffolk champion Ken Collado of Hauppauge, 7-0 to win the League V crown before a near capacity crowd of 1,000 at Eastport-South Manor High School.

McQueen, who was voted the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler Award by opposing coaches, was one of four Blue Devils to win league titles last Saturday night. Huntington finished second to Hauppauge in the team standings.

Nigel McNeil, Lou Puca and Ryan Fox also won weight class titles for the Blue Devils. Corey Jamison, Maurice Loadholt, T.J. Wilson, Duncan Murchison, Nick Lupi and Anthony Puca placed among the top three at their respective weights and qualified for next weekend's Section XI Division I tournament at Stony Brook University.

No one would have blamed McQueen for feeling pressure before taking the mat against Collado, a 2008 state champion. But, the Blue Devil star seems impervious to tension. He wrestled to near perfection for the full six minutes with a dazzling display of skills from every position. "Damon stuck with what he does best, tuned out the crowd and grinded it out against a very tough opponent," Huntington head coach Kieran Mock said.

Temperatures plummeted and the wind howled outside, Huntington was on fire throughout the daylong competition. "I thought our guys did a great job, winning just about every match we should have and a few others that most people didn't think we could," Mock said.

Huntington's qualification of ten wrestlers for the Section XI tournament turned some heads around the county. It puts the Blue Devils in a strong position to finish among the top teams in the Suffolk meet. "We're just starting to peak," Mock said.