Huntington won their ninth Suffolk County Wrestling Championship and edged runner-up Islip, 183.5 to 170 points. The Blue Devils crowned four champions, Shawn Riley (31-0, 108-6 career) at 130, Shaheim Bradshaw (145), Jack Sullivan (35-1) at 189 and Pierre Delva (215). Islip crowned two champions, two-time state runner-up Tom Magnani (32-1) at 119 and four-time county placewinner sophomore Ryan Patrovich (33-1) at 140 pounds. The OSW Award went to Brentwood's unbeaten Anthony Rivera (32-0) at 160 pounds.
Rivera defeated state runner-up Rob Parker (28-2) of Northport, 10-2, in the semi-finals and decisioned second-seeded Charlie Paar (33-2), of Huntington, 5-2, in the final. Rivera sustained an elbow injury but gritted it out through the match to earn his first Suffolk title and was voted the Champion of Champions award. Teammates junior Peppy Cabrera (28-2) at 103 and defending champion senior Ken Torres (33-1) at 112 also won crowns. Torres, who edged Sachem sophomore Chris Iorio (28-4), 3-2, finished fifth at the 2003 state meet and hopes to improve on that finish at the state championships next weekend. The other reigning champion, junior Alton Lucas (37-2, 127-11 career) of West Babylon was impressive throughout the two day tournament. Lucas, a state runner-up last year, posted four technical falls and breezed to the 152-pound title. He is a strong favorite to capture a state title this season and is currently ranked fifth in the nation by Amateur Wrestling News. Two county runners-up found redemption, as Huntington's Shaheim Bradshaw (34-2) at 145 and junior Jack Sullivan (35-1) at 189 won decisions in their bouts. Bradshaw used a second period escape for his 1-0 victory and Sullivan used his singles and strong double leg takedowns for a solid 7-2 verdict. Top-seeded freshman Corey Jantzen (22-0) of SWR defeated teammate Charles Hoeg (25-4), 12-2, for the 96-pound crown, and helped his team to a fourth place team finish with 116 points. East Islip finished third with 123 points and crowned one champion among its four finalists as Trevor Baney (36-2) won the 135-pound title. Baney rallied against Islip's top-seeded Chris Wade (36-4) and held on in the waning seconds in a frenetic finish to post a 7-6 win. Islip sophomore Ryan Patrovich (33-1) a four-time county placewinner (4-3-3-1) defeated county runner-up junior Greg Holmes (27-1) of Longwood at 140 pounds. Patovich commented on his county championship, "It feels really good, it has been four years now and I have finally won." He joins older brothers Joe and Mike as county champions. |
