Sports

Glenn Looks to Storm Suffolk Wrestling Championships

Quarterfinal showdown at 119 pounds between Huntington's Nigel McNeil and Glenn's Vinny Punzone looms large.

The Suffolk wrestling championships kick off Sunday with first round action and quarterfinals at Stony Brook University.

The most intriguing early matchup? There’s a quarterfinal showdown brewing in the Division I 119-pound weight class, where Huntington senior Nigel McNeil and Glenn senior Vinny Punzone should meet. The two were ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in Suffolk and McNeil, the state champ a year ago at 112, earned the top seed in the tournament.

Powerhouse teams and are well represented in the Division I bracket.

Find out what's happening in Huntingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Knights, fifth in the latest New York State Sportswriters Large Schools rankings, are 12-2 in dual meets this season. They have a chance to really clean up at the Suffolk championships. 

Glenn junior James Dekrone is the No. 1 seed at 130 while Huntington senior Lou Puca is the top seed at 171. Three more Glenn wrestlers have an excellent shot at battling for a title: Ken Meinsen (135), Kevin Massa (160) and Joe Giaramita (189).

Find out what's happening in Huntingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Daniel Romanczyk won the League II title at 135 pounds for Northport. The senior will try to advance in a stacked field. Whitman’s Michael Milanese, who also took the League II title, will try to do the same at 130.

The Division I finals are Monday at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $6.

The state CHSAA wrestling tournament is Saturday at Chaminade.  (13-1), third in the state poll, is the defending Catholic champ and dominated at the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA meet last weekend. 

Suffolk and CHSAA winners advance to the state Federation championship Feb. 25-26 at the Times Union Center in Albany.

Heard in the Halls

St. Anthony’s football star , an All-State linebacker, has signed to play at Division I Army. He broke the news the way all famous teenagers do nowadays: via Facebook . . . The National Federation of High Schools announced Thursday a series of rules changes for the upcoming soccer season, highlighted by any player called for an illegal equipment violation needs to be removed from the game until the next substitution opportunity.

Feat of the Week

Huntington boys swimming didn’t bring home any individual winners at the League II championship on Thursday at Hauppauge, but a pair of swimmers had standout meets regardless.

Junior Jake Goldstein missed out on victory by fourth hundredths of a second in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing in 22.97 seconds. Goldstein came back and placed second in the 100 butterfly (53.93).

Sophomore Thomas Scott placed second in the 200-yard IM in 2:09.29 and second in the 500 free (5:07.09).

The Blue Devils foursome of Scott, Pat O’Brien, Goldstein and Gunther Cassell swam second in the 200 medley relay (1:46.53). The finals time was faster than their seed time, but not enough to edge out first-place Hauppauge.

Games of the Week

The Suffolk fencing championships begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at Brentwood High School. Team and individual winners will be decided. After a 10-4 regular season, Huntington will be a threat. Yet the clear frontrunner is 12-0 Ward Melville. Whitman finished 5-8. Win or lose, the school will be very much part of the equation moving forward. Whitman will hosts the Nassau and Suffolk team champions at the Long Island championship Tuesday at 6 p.m. Admission is $7.

Suffolk indoor track and field individual championship / state qualifier is Saturday 11 a.m. at Suffolk CC Brentwood. Top finishers advance to the state Federation meet March 5 at Cornell University.


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