Back-To-Back Tourneys Test Blue Devils

Huntington junior Aedan McDonald won the 132 lbs. tournament championship at the Kohl Invitational.

Huntington wrestlers captured weight class titles in both wrestling tournaments the Blue Devils have competed in so far this month.

On Jan. 5, the Huntington High School wrestling team cast aside its struggles in dual meets this winter and turned in an impressive display at the 26th annual Herricks New Year’s Invitational tournament.

The Blue Devils faced off against teams from Herricks, East Meadow, Great Neck North, Hempstead, Massapequa, St. John the Baptist, Southampton and Ward Melville.

The Blue Devils were led by freshman Lucas Cirlincione in the 99-pound weight class and Tazadon Smith at 220 pounds. Both wrestlers captured their weight class championships.

Joe Petrone at 99 pounds, Aedan McDonald and Zach Zboray at 132 pounds, Ryan Baker at 138 pounds and Jon Koumas at 182 pounds all garnered second place honors.

Cirlincione won five matches, including an 8-7 decision, 18-1 technical fall and pins in times of 0:58, 1:43 and 2:30, and Smith pinned all five of his opponents in times of 1:24, 3:20, 0:57, 1:49 and 1:03.

Petrone went 4-1 on the day, including pins in times of 5:50, 3:30, 1:16 and 1:02, while Baker also went 4-1 with four pins coming in times of 1:59, 3:45, 1:23 and 0:38.

McDonald, Zboray and Koumas all went 3-1 in the Herricks tournament. McDonald and Zboray each recorded two pins and Koumas notched one pin.

The Blue Devils traveled to Suffern High School in upstate Rockland County on Jan. 12 for the Kohl Invitational. The Blue Devils finished fourth in the team standings in a field of eight squads.

Monroe-Woodbury finished first with 249.5 points, Sayville placed second with 191.5 points, third place Suffern managed a score of 175, Huntington captured fourth with 134 points, Mineola scored 101.5 points for fifth place; Pearl River came in sixth with 57, East Ramapo finished seventh with 54 points and Burke Catholic was last with 33 points.

Huntington wrestlers McDonald and Smith led the Blue Devils squad, capturing their weight class championships.

McDonald pinned Mineola’s Ezequiel Claros in 3:35 in the 132-pound finals. Smith defeated Sayville’s Nick DeStefano in the 220-pound finals in a 9-7 decision.

Petrone placed second at 99 pounds, falling in the finals to Sayville’s Mack Murtha, 10-3.

Huntington’s Robbie Smith lost a tight match in the finals of the 170-pound weight class to East Ramapo’s Jonathan Lafortune by a score of 7-6.

The Blue Devils will look to turn tournament success into dual meet victory when they host Cold Spring Harbor in a non-league match on Friday night.