McQueen and McNeil Win County Wrestling Titles

Courtesy HUFSD PIO
Huntington wrestlers Nigel McNeil and Damon McQueen will vie for state titles this weekend at Albany's Times Union Center after the pair battled their way to Suffolk crowns to lead the Blue Devils to a fifth place finish at the Section XI tournament.

The dynamic duo became the 77th and 78th Suffolk champions in the Huntington program's storied history. The Blue Devils rolled up 129 points in a strong showing that included putting four wrestlers in the finals. John Glenn won the team title for the second consecutive year, scoring 213.5 points.

Huntington junior Louis Puca is also headed to Albany after finishing second at 160 lbs. in the county tournament and receiving a wild card entry to the state championships. The three-member Blue Devil contingent gives Huntington a good opportunity to finish in the top ten in team scoring.

McNeil, who was seeded first in Suffolk at 112 lbs. opened the two-day county competition by pinning Copiague's Marcus Evans in 1:35 and then winning a 15-0 technical fall over Amityville's Mico Wong. The Huntington junior looked very impressive in a 10-3 semi-final round victory over fourth seeded Sean McCabe of Connetquot.

As he warmed up for the championship bout against second seeded Malik Rasheed of Longwood, McNeil looked like a man on a mission and few dared to go near him. Once the whistle blew he was all business, chasing Rasheed around the mat and going on to win his first Suffolk title, 9-3.

 "I wanted to tech him," McNeil said after the match about his desire to win by technical fall, which occurs when one wrestler has a 15 point advantage. "I wanted to score as many points as possible."
Although Huntington's coaches repeatedly called out to McNeil to wrestle the match in the center of the mat and not follow Rasheed to the edge, he found it difficult to comply. "It was hard to hold back and not go right at him," McNeil said. "It feels really good to win. I'm happy with how I wrestled."

McQueen, who was seeded first at 119 lbs., was all smiles after he won his third county title. He went through his usual pre-match ritual. "I keep telling myself, 'You're not gonna lose. You're not gonna lose. You're not gonna lose,'" he explained. "Then once the match starts, it all clears out of my head."
The Blue Devil senior, who is making his third trip to the state championship after finishing second there last winter, pinned West Babylon's Leiaje Sidberry in 2:37 and Rocky Point's Dkqwan Johnson in 2:52 before beating back a strong challenge from fourth seeded James McCabe of Connetquot in the semi-finals, 5-1.

 The finals saw McQueen at his best, methodically "refusing to lose" and rolling to a stunning 13-3 victory over second seeded Alex Gomez of Brentwood. McQueen scored from every position on the mat. Suffolk's coaches voted him the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler Award. "I did what I wanted to do out there," he said.

Puca and Ryan Fox weren't as fortunate as their teammates in the finals. Puca, seeded third at 160 lbs., dropped a 7-2 decision to rugged Anthony Volpe of Rocky Point. Earlier, Puca pinned Copiague's Clint Boone in 3:36, earned a hard-fought 5-1 decision over John Glenn's Mike Bosco and pinned second seeded Will Maldonado of William Floyd in 2:36.

Fox, seeded second at 171 lbs., nailed an early takedown in the finals against top seeded Billy Coggins of Rocky Point, but couldn't hold on, losing 9-6. The Huntington senior's march to the finals included an opening round 59-second pin of Commack's Joe Michalski, a 5-2 decision of John Glenn's Alex Rosenberg in the quarterfinals and a 7-2 win over John Glenn's Jarid Cheatham in the semi-finals.
 Blue Devil senior Maurice Loadholt also placed in the competition, finishing fourth at 130 lbs., to give Huntington five All-County wrestlers. Loadholt topped Dan Romanczyk in the opening round, 7-1 before losing a 9-2 decision to eventual Suffolk champ Nick Meinsen of John Glenn, who was seeded first at the weight.

Loadholt then won three straight matches in the consolation rounds, pinning Copiague's Justin Boone in 1:28, grabbing a 9-0 major decision over Brentwood's Alexis Blanco and pinning William Floyd's Tom Gerle in 40-seconds before losing a 9-0 major decision to Andrew Colamussi of Harborfields.
Huntington eighth-grader Corey Jamison came close to placing by going 2-2 at 96 lbs. Jamison cruised to a 10-0 major decision over Central Islip's Walter Ibanez before falling to eventual third place finisher T.J. Fabian of Shoreham-Wading River, 9-1. He then topped East Islip's Kenny Risco by technical fall, 15-0 before getting knocked out of the tournament by Sayville's Matt Leshinger, 3-2. Leshinger went on to place fourth.

Thomas Wilson (152 lbs.), Duncan Murchison (189 lbs.), Nick Lupi (215 lbs.) and Anthony Puca (285 lbs.) also competed in the county tournament but failed to place.
Blue Devil Notes: McNeil's win over Rasheed marked the second straight year a Huntington wrestler had defeated the Longwood grappler, as McQueen won a 7-0 decision in last years finals . . . Anthony Puca put a real scare in second seeded Benjamin Lee of Longwood before losing a 2-1 opening round decision. Lee went advanced all the way to the finals before losing 2-1 to champ John Wilkinson of West Babylon . . . Lee received a wild card entry to the state tournament . . . Lupi was knocked out of the tournament by eventual sixth place finisher Byron Kessler of Central Islip, 9-5.

For more photos, go to the Huntington schools athletic galleries page.

Full results from 2010 Dr. L Robert "Doc" Fallot Memorial Suffolk County Division 1 Wrestling Championship held at Stony Brook University Sports Complex, Feb. 12-13, 2010.


Team Scores

• John Glenn ............. 213.5
• Hauppauge .............. 166
• Longwood ............... 161.5
• Rocky Point ............ 132.5
• Huntington ............. 129
• KingsPark .............. 105.5
• Sachem East ............. 96
• Connetquot .............. 82
• West Babylon ............ 82
• Brentwood ............... 74
• Sayville ................ 60
• Islip ................... 60
• Central Islip ........... 60
• Mt. Sinai ............... 59
• Riverhead ............... 46
• East Islip .............. 43
• Westhampton ............. 42
• William Floyd ........... 35
• Deer Park ............... 32
• Sachem North ............ 29.5
• Harborfields ............ 27
• Bay Shore ............... 26
• Smithtown West .......... 23
• Shoreham-Wading River ... 21
• Lindenhurst ............. 16
• Smithtown East .......... 15
• Walt Whitman ............ 11.5
• Amityville .............. 11
• Ward Melville ........... 11
• West Islip ............... 9
• Newfield ................. 7
• Half Hollow Hills West ... 6
• Commack .................. 6
• Northport ................ 5
• Centereach ............... 4
• Copiague ................. 3
• Miller Place ............. 2
• Patchogue-Medford ........ 2
• East Hampton ............. 0
• Eastport-South Manor ..... 0
• Half Hollow Hills East ... 0
• Bellport ................. 0
• North Babylon ............ 0

Division 1 Brackets

Championship Finals

•   96 - Mark West (Hauppauge) dec. Conor O'Hara (Sachem East) 8-3
• 103 - Max Soria (Kings Park) def. Mike Soria (Kings Park) by FFT
• 112 - Nigel McNeil (Huntington) dec. Malik Rasheed (Longwood) 9-3
• 119 - Damon McQueen (Huntington) MD Alex Gomez (Brentwood) 13-3
• 125 - Ryan Gerondel (Sachem North) dec. Mike Delvecchio (Kings Park) 9-6
• 130 - Nick Meinsen (John Glenn) pinned Paul Baumann (West Babylon) 1:02
• 135 - Kevin Panebianco (Hauppauge) dec. Eric Kogel (Mt. Sinai) 10-4
• 140 - Stephen Dutton (Rocky Point) pinned Edwin Perry (Riverhead) 3:35
• 145 - Andy Rodriguez (Central Islip) dec. Jesse Marro (Hauppauge) 3-2
• 152 - Nick Terdick (John Glenn) dec. Kyle Wade (Islip) 3-2
• 160 - Anthony Volpe (Rocky Point) dec. Louis Puca (Huntington) 7-2
• 171 - Billy Coggins (Rocky Point) dec. Ryan Fox (Huntington) 9-6
• 189 - Chris Di Iorio (Sachem East) pinned Jake Smith (Smithtown West) 5:09
• 215 - Steve Provenzano (Islip) dec. Greg Martin (Kings Park) 7-5
• 285 - John Wilkinson (West Babylon) dec. Benjamin Lee (Longwood) 2-1

 Most Outstanding Wrestler:  Damon McQueen (Huntington, 119)
 Champion of Champions: Stephen Dutton (Rocky Point, 140)
 Most Pins/Least Time: Anthony Volpe (Rocky Point, 160), 3 pins in 4:04
 
 Consolation Finals 3rd/4th

•   96 - T.J. Fabian (Shoreham-Wading River) pinned Matt Leshinger (Sayville) 4:57
• 103 - Alan Gomez (Central Islip) dec. Corey Rasheed (Longwood) 6-4
• 112 - Sean McCabe (Connetquot) pinned Nick Mauriello (Hauppauge) 4:11
• 119 - Pete DeTore (Westhampton) dec. James McCabe (Connetquot) 3-1
• 125 - Casey Brice (Longwood) dec. James Dekrone (John Glenn) 5-1
• 130 - Andrew Colamussi (Harborfields) MD Maurice Loadholt (Huntington) 9-0
• 135 - Steven Rojas (Brentwood) dec. Nicky Hall (Longwood) 2-1
• 140 - Sean O'Malley (Sachem East) dec. Steven Leshinger (Sayville) 6-3
• 145 - Matt Fusaro (John Glenn) MD Josef Haas (Sayville) 8-0
• 152 - Patrick Jennings (Longwood) dec. Rich Lugo (Deer Park) 4-1
• 160 - Mike Bosco (John Glenn) dec. Will Maldonado (William Floyd) 2-1
• 171 - Chance Menendez (Hauppauge) dec. Jarid Cheatham (John Glenn) 5-1
• 189 - Joe Giaramita (John Glenn) dec. Adrian Mack (Bay Shore) 2-0
• 215 - Reggie Robinson (West Babylon) dec. Joe Bilello (Deer Park) 3-2
• 285 - Sean Walsh (Lindenhurst) dec. Andrew Slawson (East Islip) 7-4 UTB

Consolation Finals 5th/6th

•   96 - Anthony Donofrio (Longwood) dec. Chris Powers (Mt. Sinai) 2-0
• 103 - Thomas Dutton (Rocky Point) pinned Eric Orellana (Brentwood) 2:47
• 112 - Vinny Punzone (John Glenn) pinned Mico Wong (Amityville) 3:38
• 119 - Alonzo Lopez (Longwood) dec. Michael Meringolo (Walt Whitman) 5-3
• 125 - Dan Treacy (Ward Melville) dec. Brian Culkin (West Islip) 5-1
• 130 - Stephen Drew (Connetquot) dec. Tom Gerle (William Floyd) 7-0
• 135 - Matt Gannon (John Glenn) dec. Jordan Colon (West Babylon) 3-0
• 140 - Anthony Piscitello (Hauppauge) MD Nick Castellanos (Connetquot) 15-7
• 145 - Jonathon Falconi (Brentwood) dec. Kevin Massa (John Glenn) 4-2
• 152 - Anthony Bonaventura (Hauppauge) def. Tyler Conway (East Islip) by FFT
• 160 - Nick LoBue (Connetquot) dec. Mike Merante (Sachem East) 7-1
• 171 - Myles Buhner (Riverhead) dec. Nick Arma (East Islip) 3-0
• 189 - Frank Abbondanza (Mt. Sinai) dec. Peter Vivonetto (Rocky Point) 2-1
• 215 - Brian Slattery (Mt. Sinai) dec. Byron Kesler (Central Islip) 3-2
• 285 - Joe Manna (Islip) dec. Christian Nelson (Sayville) 3-1

The 2010 high school wrestling state tournament will be held at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY on Friday, February 26th and Saturday, February 27th.  For more information, go to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association.